As the world becomes increasingly digitalized, it’s no surprise that the gaming industry has seen a shift towards online and mobile platforms. However, with this shift come new challenges, such as security concerns, trust issues, and limited possibilities for players. Blockchain technology is emerging as a solution to these challenges and is revolutionizing the gaming industry. In this article, we’ll explore how blockchain is transforming gaming and the potential benefits it offers for players and developers.
Secure Transactions
One of the most significant advantages of blockchain in games is the ability to make secure transactions without the need for a centralized authority. With blockchain, players can buy, sell, and trade in-game items and currency with nearly complete transparency and security through the use of transactions and smart contracts interaction.
This eliminates the need for third-party marketplaces and minimizes the risk of fraud and theft. Because the blockchain is immutable and public, unfavorable situations will almost always emerge from smart contract bugs, instead of the classic cases of attack on centralized points of failure like server data theft.
Having said that, integrating these secure transactions in a way that is comprehensible and usable so that it provides a good user experience is an ongoing challenge. In a way, there is a sort of trade-off between transparency and security, versus accessibility and usability.
New Gameplay Opportunities
Blockchain technology also opens up new possibilities for gameplay. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which often implement known standards such as ERC-721 and ERC-1155, enable the creation of unique, collectible in-game items that can be bought, sold, and traded on the blockchain. This allows players to truly own their in-game items and gives developers the opportunity to create new revenue streams.
Unlike a traditional sale, in which the creator gets paid usually just once, NFTs can continue to reward creators every time they are sold or bought based on the conditions that are specified on the blockchain. The same logic can also work for brands or platforms (i.e. owners).
Decentralized Gaming
Blockchain also enables decentralized gaming, allowing players to connect directly with each other without the need for a central authority or intermediary. This creates a more democratic and fair gaming experience, where players can trust the system and each other, without the need of an overseeing entity or authority.
This all relies on the logic which dictates how and when players can carry out this interaction, which is written on-chain through smart contracts. Any player can interact with a game contract—or set of contracts—directly and play according to its specified rules without the need or approval of any third party. As with the previous points, depending on what type of interface is supplied to the players (as well as their technical expertise) this can result in user experience of varying quality.
The Economic Impact of Blockchain on Gaming
Blockchain tech in gaming creates opportunities for players as well as developers or creators with new revenue streams.
As mentioned, blockchain technology offers true ownership of in-game assets, allowing players to buy, sell, and trade their items without any restrictions. This creates a more dynamic and flexible gaming experience, but the same applies to revenue for players. As they are able to customize their gameplay and earn rewards through their in-game achievements, they can also earn profits, depending on the game model used as well as their in-game actions.
Developers will typically monetize games through in-game assets and cryptocurrency. For example: developers can passively earn a cut of the profits earned from each in-game item trade. Additionally, blockchain technology also allows funding through ICOs instead of traditional sources.
The Metaverse and Blockchain Gaming
In simple terms, the Metaverse can be considered a virtual world that exists connected to the blockchain gaming environment. Players can interact with each other through graphical or augmented reality interfaces, and perform in-game actions through avatars, which act as in-game representations of themselves. While not every action taken in the Metaverse (such as a player exploring a virtual world) will have its direct and complete counterpart written on the blockchain, what’s on-chain is still used as the source of truth for these worlds.
One of the most popular blockchain-based metaverses is The Sandbox, a virtual world where players can create, share, and monetize their gaming experiences. The Sandbox allows players to own and trade their in-game assets, which can range from huge estates to decorative objects, and even allows them to earn cryptocurrency through their in-game creations.
The Metaverse has the potential to transform the gaming industry by providing players with an even more immersive gaming experience. With blockchain technology advancements, more metaverses are expected to emerge, providing exciting opportunities for players and developers.
Code example
Here’s an example of a token we could create for a blockchain game:
pragma solidity 0.8.4;
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/extensions/ERC721Enumerable.sol";
contract GameItem is ERC721Enumerable {
mapping (uint256 => string) private _tokenURIs;
constructor() ERC721("GameItem", "ITM") {}
function mintItem(address player, string memory itemURI) public {
uint newItemId = totalSupply() + 1;
_mint(player, newItemId);
_tokenURIs[newItemId] = itemURI;
}
function tokenURI(uint256 tokenId) public view virtual override returns (string memory) {
_requireMinted(tokenId);
return _tokenURIs[tokenId];
}
}In this example, we create an ERC-721 token that represents unique in-game items. Players can mint new items by calling the mintItem function, which creates a new token and sets its URI based on what the player decides. This URI could redirect to other metadata not stored on the blockchain, such as item image or flavor text.
Players could then trade these in-game items on the blockchain, establishing and transferring ownership based solely on their own actions.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the gaming industry, from enabling secure transactions and creating new revenue streams to providing a more democratic and fair gaming experience. As more developers and players embrace blockchain in gaming, we can expect to see even more exciting possibilities in the future.
Related Posts:
Posted in Blockchain, NFT, Smart Contract, Software Development
