Is Crypto Set To Disrupt The Gaming Industry?
Tectonic changes are happening in the gaming industry with numerous disrupting technologies. Already, mobile gaming surpassed PC and console gaming in revenue. In addition, cloud gaming could eliminate the need for the high-end client device, and the traditional platforms are becoming increasingly better performers. The best examples are 4K gameplay on the relatively affordable new generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
Crypto and blockchain are another technology that is threatening to disrupt the current order of things. There are more than a few use-cases for crypto in the gaming industry. You can play games or items with Bitcoin, or in more advanced games, incorporate crypto as an integral part of the game and utilize blockchain for digital assets.
iGaming as frontrunners for crypto adoption
Like with other tech novelties, the iGaming industry is the early adopter of crypto. There is an increasing number of online casinos that accept cryptocurrency payments. While this is not the ultimate guide to bitcoin gambling, we can point out some advantages.
Security is the essential benefit of dealing with crypto payments. Blockchain is a P2P network without centralized authorities, and there is no way to disrupt the payments.
Crypto also provides anonymity and can help if your country doesn't allow online gambling. Transactions are much faster than other payment methods, so there are a lot of advantages. The most obvious downside is the digital currency's volatility and frequent ups and downs in value.
How can crypto disrupt the gaming
The gaming market in the world will be over $200 billion by 2023. Although it sounds counterintuitive, the games that earn the most are free-to-play. For example, Fortnite is a free-to-play Battle Royale game that earned an incredible $2.2 billion in 2017, and in 2021 PUBG mobile generated $2 billion, reflecting the transition towards mobile gaming dominance.
Genshin Impact had the biggest growth of 220%, which led to $1.3 billion in revenue. How are all these games earning if they are free? In-game purchases are what drive insane revenue figures. Millions of players globally want new cool skins, weapon models, and other in-game items.
Gamers use real money to buy game assets, and this is where crypto could be the most disruptive creating alternative to payment methods. It could further speed up the transaction and make them available to more people. But, so far, the most prominent names don't support such payments.
Crypto games
We already have crypto games that utilize digital tokens in the parallel gaming universe. Axie Infinity is the most known game that has Pokemon-like characters who fight. All monsters called Axies are NFTs you can buy in the marketplace. If you want to play Axie Infinity, you will need three monsters. The game already had multi-billion-dollar traffic. Mobox, Illuvium, and Space Misfits are some other popular crypto games.
One concern related to crypto games is play-to-earn models, where some users play relentlessly only to sell their Axies or other similar items. In games like Fortnite that earn the most money, all in-game purchases don't affect the game's outcome. For example, you can get a different look, but buying a new skin won't help you with the skill or level of your character.
Games with integrated blockchain transactions are still not mainstream, but more and more gaming studios are looking into the potential of this market. Of course, to deal with the crypto, the user must be tech-savvy, but luckily most gamers are by default, so there are only a few obstacles to broader adoption of crypto in gaming.
NFT in gaming
NFT or non-fungible tokens became popular in 2020 to sell digital assets. For example, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey famously sold his first tweet for a couple of millions, and artists worldwide found a way to sell their art digitally.
NFT enables ownership of unique digital art confirmed by transactions on blockchain based on Ethereum. So how is that related to gaming? Well, suppose you customize your favorite Elden Ring, Final Fantasy, or character from other games with unique apparel, weapons, and look. In that case, you could potentially have ownership if it becomes an NFT.
NFT allows buying and selling digital assets, something top-grossing games are already thriving from, and it could potentially change or disrupt the whole industry.
How will a multi-billion industry that is still rapidly growing deal with different potential crypto disruptions remain to be seen? However, even if studios don't accept crypto payments and microtransactions, the developers can still implement blockchain technology for better security of user data and game profiles. For many gamers, meticulously built character and profile are often more valuable than money.
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