Are Blockchain Games Profitable Or Even Worth Playing?

in blockchain •  6 years ago 

I tried several games, but most were uninteresting or cost a lot and had little to do. 0xuniverse is a cool concept for sci-fi fans and I’ve found it to be somewhat profitable. I also tried out Drugwars, MyCryptoHeroes, CryptoKitties, Axie Infinity, and Megaocryptopolis. I’ve played many more, but those are games that I more genuinely put some time and money into and I’ve found that for all of these games you are more than likely to lose money unless you get REALLY into it and then get something extremely rare and can make some money off it. You probably can profit on these if you put in the time, yes, but you must really enjoy them and most as super basic. Therefore, I like 0xuniverse because it’s more interesting and the plans they must add more seem very intriguing. Not only that, but I was able to acquire a planet (an in-game collectible) and sell it in less than 5 days for the equal value to what I spent on my first few planets when I started. Unfortunately, you need some money to invest in starting off in almost all these games, but it doesn’t take long to be able to make your money back if you play patiently and smart. A lot of these games are built off the microtransaction powered business model and are simple so most pose the likelihood that the average user will lose money. I am curious though to hear from you about your experiences with blockchain games because I’ve yet to find profitable games.

The irony in these crypto microtransaction games is that a lot of them are geared at younger audiences based on the simplicity but require payments for everything you do. Since that is the case, I don’t see it being adopted by younger audiences as they won’t be able to convince their parents to get them crypto to spend on EVERYTHING they do in-game. Kids would go nuts with it and lose most of their money, or in an ideal world it would teach them how to manage risk and financial skills and they could profit from their gaming, but I think the first option is more likely. Now, these transactions make sense as they ensure that the game collectibles indeed have value and I know people fall prey to this business model all the time, but the difference is they get hooked first. In these crypto models, people must pay right from the beginning so unless you’re super intrigued, you probably won’t bother.
I used https://www.stateofthedapps.com/ and https://dappradar.com/ to find all the top games on Ethereum and Steem. I wasn’t about to explore everything even though I know Tron and EOS are big in the DAPP marketplace now.

I’m sure the main concerns going in are:

  • Why is blockchain going to make gaming better?
  • Why do I want to spend money on every transaction in-game?
  • Are blockchain games profitable?
  • How can I tell which games are more profitable and which aren’t?
  • Why are all the games based around collectibles or gambling?

Let’s answer these questions

Why is blockchain going to make gaming better?


It depends on what you consider better. Currently, a lot of blockchain games are basic, but in the future, if major games adopt these earning models then gamers may have a much easier time being compensated for their time and monetizing their gaming experience. The main attraction to blockchain games is that you can earn money from them. For casual gamers and crypto enthusiasts, blockchain games in their current state may be fun. Also, for those who like gambling with their crypto may now have a platform to do so and a community built around it to interact with.

Why do I want to spend money on every transaction in-game?


With risk comes reward. The game collectibles have value because of the transactions and crypto being spent to acquire and create these collectibles. It’s what back their value in the first place and then when they have a big enough player base that value can start to move around via trading collectibles which can have their value determined by rarity and exclusivity. Therefore, you don’t want to play just any game, but rather games that you enjoy and games that you can tell are at least somewhat profitable.

Are blockchain games profitable?


They can be, but most are likely to have you losing money get sucked into those micro-transaction powered pay to win models. Luckily the difference here is that you can make money too. So, in some cases, it’s more like invest to win and profit, rather than pay to win. Some are not so profitable. 0xuniverse I found it very easy to be earning money back in just days of starting whereas on Metrocryptopolis it will take me a little over a year to earn back my original investment which is reflective of real life. The issue is that I’m not so sure people will have enough interest that people will even be playing it in one year.

How can I tell which games are more profitable and which aren’t?


You can’t in the long term necessarily because say you play a game that isn’t popular now but gets popular and any assets you had go way up then yes it was profitable, but in the short term, you can see what games will be profitable. You look at the active user’s base and or traffic. I check the lists above for rankings and users as well as Alexa web rankings for website traffic to preliminarily check before signing up and then evaluate the cost to start, do basic transactions, how easy it is to acquire more collectibles, how easy it is to sell them, if you can make passive income off the collectibles, and how hard would it be to break even or earn profit from when you start. To answer this for 0xuniverse, it has decent traffic, transaction costs are too heavy, it’s easy enough to acquire new planets and sell them, you can make passive income off planets by renting out in-game resources, and it’s not too hard to break even as I sold one of my newly discovered planets for the cost of my first few.

Why are all the games based around collectibles or gambling?


It’s not hard to see early on that most current games are all based around micro-transactions and that is easiest to capitalize on for collectibles and for gambling. Collectibles require there be a limited amount and or that new ones can be created that could have the potential to be more valuable. For example, with a more rare planet on 0xuniverse, you can use those resources to build a better ship to find an even better planet and then sell that for a high price, but you will waste some ETH to send out ships every time you attempt to find a planet. There is a limited number of planets to discover and only a chance that you will discover them so in a way this isn’t far from gambling either.

If you are really interested in this and or you really enjoyed this and you are curious to hear more about 0xuniverse specifically, let me know in the comments and I will do a full review of 0xuniverse. It’s the most profitable and most interesting as far as I’m concerned. Let me know your thoughts on blockchain based video gaming and what it means for the future of the gaming industry. I’m still a little skeptical on how it will affect big games, but I’m curious and interested, to say the least. Share in the comments below!


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I've never heard of these kinds of games, but it would be interesting to see more of these kinds of games on a more mainstream level. For me, I think right now, like any other idea, it's just in a developing and growing phase.

Perhaps in the near future, we'll get MMO or big RPG games that use crypto coins and reward them in some kind of big trading plateform. There's a game called EVE Online where people pump thousands of dollars into ships, just to have them be destroyed in seconds. Once people start making crypto games like that, there'll be a new genre to love/hate.

Really great points! Thanks for dropping in

Came to read your article from Publish0x. I also write there. Your articles are excellent.

I never play any games online, and I have never played any games for money either. I did bought a game many years ago the only game I enjoyed was command and conquer. This game was released in the year 1995. I still play it from time to time.
Coming back to your questions. Whether games are profitable? or worth playing?
My only advice in this matter is if you like playing games on Blockchain profit or not, go for it.

Thanks for the write up.

I recently delved into blockchain games and i'm scouting out which games are interesting and I saw 0xuniverse passing by too.
graphically it isn't that bad actually, but everything you do has a cost because it's an ETH chain game right? More importantly does it have a deep gameplay.... is it fun and interestingly enough to play for extended time?

I especially like Steem Monsters (soon to be Splinterlands) and I recently started fiddling with an EOS account and play EosKnights for a casual idle pasttime.

I think the main reasoning shouldn't be that you play these games for profit but for fun with an added bonus having your collectibles having a "sort" of value like physical card games have.

If you play these for profit only it turns really fast into a grindy job and it quickly loses it's spirit and fun factor IMO.

Yeah agreed. Are most EOS/Steem/Tron games not requiring you to spend crypto? I know a lot of steem games don't require you to, but they want to post to your blog to earn Steem and stuff which I think will create loads of spam personally. I don't think you should play for profit, but with these micro transaction models that's largely the point. I mean like for cryptokitties how fun is it really just pouring money into to breed new cats if they aren't going be worth anything. Maybe blockchain games are still just in too early of a stage.

I have not played a single blockchain game but I am intrigued to try especially if it can make me a small profit and I enjoy the game. Oxuniverse sounds interesting I might check it out. What is the minimum you need to start out?

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The average planet was selling around 0.005-0.007 you need one planet to start

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Steemnova is worth playing but there's no steem attached to it. Steemmonsters can net a massive profit if the cards are worth a lot and you sell some. The other games are either gambling or ponzi schemes and best avoided.

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Steemnova and we have @therealogame account throwing members of our alliance votes.

Also Drugwars has the sharing your fight and pantheon upgrade to pay steemians.. Thanks fundition!

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Sharing your fight and pantheon upgrade to pay steemains sorry what do you mean I'm somewhat amateur in drugwars. I'd join yours

Go to battles...

Then history...

Then has a row of buttons for sharing. Click the one for steem. It shares on your page. The drugwarsfights tag?... Yeah those... Look at my profile you will see a recent one.

Upgrades to the pantheon gets a bigger vote from fundition.. Again look at my recent post...

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Great Post, I first saw it on publish 0x before here on Steem, lol!
I think Blockchain Games will have a great future because the gaming community is global and players spending a lot of time playing these games. Rare items and skins are the basis of the gaming blockchain economy and from my research the Enjin project does very well.
From the current games available I like @steemmonsters the best. It is a great fast pace trading card game with daily quest rewards, season rewards and live tournament prizes. The community is pretty active and the Steem I spent on those cards pretty much hold or raised in value. You need to invest 10$ for starter pack to get started.
The other game Drugwars is not so much fun to play but easy to manage with some decent rewards for the early investors.
Overall the industry needs to evolve those concepts a lot, but the first taste of it is already great!
!bookkeeping drugwars

Yeah and I suppose they have to experiment. Cool to know that you have earned profit. I feel like you have to get over that initial investing ordeal and dive in somewhat dedicated to earn a profit no? How many hours would you say it took to earn that on Drug wars?

Every game is different and has its own economical incentives. With Drugwars it was important to build buildings that produce drugs and resources very early. I didn't spent more than 30-45min a day spending my ressources and checkin for some battles.
Steemmonsters is a little bit different and more time incentive to get the rewards or win the tournaments, but in my opinion the game is more rewarding and fun to play.
You also have the choice just to trade Monster Cards by placing low bids in the market and sell the cards back for higher. Now Peakmonsters also puts out a "Rental Market" where expensive cards can be leased and rented. Therefore you can make passive income just by holding the "good" cards.
It all depends on the game what possibilities it offers for different kind of players, investors or whoever wants to get involved. I guess its more easier if you like playing the game and you are enjoying to dive into it, but its not always necessary.
The next big game that comes out is @nextcolony and they are running a very limited planet auction...I hope it will be fun to play.

True I'll definitely give drugwars a more serious consdieration

Hi @masterthematrix!

drugwars

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