Toronto, Dec 7, 2021: If we tell you that you can earn simply by playing a game, would you play? What if you can earn more than most jobs, would you still work? These are the kind of questions that are being raised by the gaming industry for some time now, with answers in blockchain technology. Folks in the Philippines have started earning multiple times of monthly incomes through a game called Axie Infinity. While most of us don’t really care about games, we are on a path where games are going to be more lucrative than a 9-5 job.
The first video game was released in the 50s, since then the gaming industry has made huge advancements and contributions to software and hardware technologies. Today we have games with amazing stories and life-like graphics within huge worlds full of excitement around every corner. For professional gamers, eSports has opened possibilities to compete globally and win substantial prizes. eSports has also surpassed the viewership of all traditional sports except NFL in America.
Even with all this, gamers had no incentive to play apart from the sheer entertainment of gaming. However, blockchain technology opened a new frontier for the industry and its consumers, play-to-earn. “Blockchain technology-based games are simpler compared to the other games out there. Still, they are more lucrative to gamers and the general public because of possible financial gains from the games. These games provide complete ownership of in-game items as NFTs and other forms of assets which can be sold and purchased in and out of the game. And for creators, developing these game items and selling them in the games is another incentive for many communities. The decentralized nature of these games allows for these possibilities which traditional games cannot do.” commented Dev Sharma, CEO and founder of Blockwiz, a global crypto marketing agency.
This form of economy that extends beyond any particular game is among the biggest incentive and have led to the rise of blockchain games. For perspective, the gaming industry in total has a market capitalization of $180 billion, which is $80 billion more than the global film industry. Among these, Axie Infinity boasts an annual revenue of $2.7 billion which is just one among the few famous blockchain games in the last few years. More of these games are already in development and so is the technology that can support the cross-platform transfers among them.
“Blockchain technology provides a public platform for the development of games which reduces cost and technical requirements for the developers. It also provides ready-to-use functionality for many aspects of these games especially trading and exchanging in-game items. The indisputable proof of ownership of these assets secures users which isn’t the case with traditional games. Being decentralized and community-driven, these games also have democratic control over new functions and updates. Essentially, the game becomes what the players want it to be, this is a first in our world.” added Mr. Sharma of Blockwiz.
Blockchain technology has a long way to go to compete with traditional games in terms of gameplay, entertainment, graphics, and other aspects. However, the play-to-earn model has already disrupted the industry similar to how the free-to-play model led to the rise of global online gaming. The integration of games with NFTs opens new avenues for collectors and marketers too. It is also among the few industries that saw extra growth in the pandemic stricken world including blockchain gaming.
The power of blockchain gaming can be realized by the fact that EA, Epic Games, Microsoft, and many other developers are looking into opportunities in the space. It is evident that the age of gaming is only going to get better and needless to say, more profitable to the gamers and many more people involved. The sheer possibilities that blockchain gaming holds are only comparable to sci-fi movies like Ready Player One, which is turning out to be visionary instead of sci-fi as each day passes.