EON: A blockchain-assisted video game platform

We are living in a new golden age of video games. Digital distribution platforms have made both casual and hardcore gaming more widely available than ever before, while streaming, Let's Plays and community platforms have expanded their popularity and deepened interactions between gamers. One can also mention the proliferation of indie games developed by small and medium companies and frequently assisted by crowdfunding, and the appearance of experimental games based on new technologies such as VR or blockchain.

Not everything is rosy, though. Indie game developers still find it hard to compete with bigger companies and publishers, especially when it comes to marketing. Centralised distribution platforms such as Steam or iTunes Store take a large cut of the profits (which in turn forces developers to raise prices, to the detriment of players). They can also be rather inefficient and unwieldy in how they operate, in ways that affect smaller companies, more dependent on the short-term cashflow, more strongly. Those factors stifle indie development, even though it is generally recognised as the most innovative section of the industry.

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The EON Foundation hopes to create a new game distribution and community platform that would use the blockchain to alter the balance in favour of developers and players, and stimulate the development of indie games. While its initial focus is on assisting the emerging blockchain game industry, it plans to eventually encompass a wide range of PC and mobile games, turning the EON Platform into a full-fledged player in the video game distribution market.

How will the EON Platform work?

The central standout features of the EON Platform are built around the tradeable EON utility tokens. Each user will have a unique referral smart contract; every time someone they refer will play a game on the platform, they will be rewarded with EON by the platform and possibly by game developers, who will be able to set up their own reward schemes. Anyone will be able to add new games to the platform, though they will only be made fully available if confirmed by the developers. Those who submit the game will also be rewarded for any users that join the platform because of it. EON or other cryptocurrencies could be used to pay for games at the developers' discretion. The platform will also have a community system, allowing users to post reviews, photos and videos and to upvote or downvote other users' submitted content. Some other activities and achievements on the platform will be rewarded with EON as well.

On the technical side, the platform will use a hybrid model. While all transactions and referrals will be on the blockchain (initially an Ethereum-based one, though a later switch to some other protocol such as EOS is possible), the rest of it will be on a centralised server. Using smart contracts for key activities will allow for more accurate traffic and use tracking, which will be available to the developers. The team will assist the integration of new games with the help of the EON SDK.

Who will win on the EON Platform – and why?

Developers may be the most immediate winners in this model, as after taxes and commissions developers will receive the entirety of the remaining profits with no distribution fees necessary and no need to rely on publishers. They will also have access to a larger amount of users, will have more freedom in setting their own terms in how they deal with them, and will be able to use superior traffic data to guide their marketing decisions. An even bigger advantage may be the system of token incentives for players to bring others to their games, effectively crowdsourcing a large part of their promotion efforts. Players will also benefit indirectly, as developers will be able to afford to lower prices.

Of course, this depends on the platform being a lasting success. The EON Platform team has some advantages that make this seem somewhat more likely. For one thing, many of its members have been involved with various other prominent online gaming companies and projects. One of those companies, the wildly successful social game company Zynga, is among this current project's supporters. Also, the same team has developed Crypto Alpaca, a popular new blockchain game. The company's strategy gambles on gamer community enthusiasm, which can be a powerful asset if leveraged correctly. It is also trying to stimulate the development of more advanced blockchain games that would have more staying power than the ones currently in existence. Since the platform is geared to help small, experimental developers, it is well-positioned to assist such development, which would in turn guarantee the expansion of its ecosystem.

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A promising experiment in video game distribution

The blockchain gaming industry is still at a very early stage in its development, and it is not clear whether it will become more than another branch of social gaming defined by a single gimmick. However, it has a definite potential for growth and plenty of room for experiments, as its industry standards have not yet been set in stone and there are many competing ideas on how it will work. The EON Platform may be considered as one such experiment.

Many of the project's details are yet to be fully hashed out, such as the reward system and the plans for its expansion beyond the blockchain game market. Like all blockchain projects, it is also heavily reliant on two things: a sustained demand for its innovative proposal and the support of a sufficient number of ecosystem participants. There is certainly a demand for a more efficient and more fair video game platform, assuming the EON Platform will prove capable of meeting it. It can probably also depend on Crpyto Alpaca's current player base, and the players of any other games they manage to draw in. Ultimately, its fate relies on the success of the blockchain gaming industry; but if it can rely on that, then its later plans to become a comprehensive gaming platform in competition to those already in existence may succeed as well.

Links:

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eontoken/
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Disclaimer
This review by Bonanza Kreep is all opinion and analysis, not investment advice.