Tech enthusiasts believe that blockchain-based gaming is the next best thing. We may agree or disagree, but we have to admit that more and more businesses turn to blockchain every day. How does it affect gaming?
By its nature, gaming world is predisposed to keep up with the latest trends. Therefore, blockchain has entered gaming a few years back. Nevertheless, we could say that the process of turning to blockchain completely will take some time.
What Does Blockchain-Based Gaming Look Like
If you are asking yourself how all this could look like in virtual reality and what does it all mean, you can unleash your imagination. To give a simple example the way we see it – imagine being able to develop your own tasks and quests in a game. Let’ s say, you are building a castle, or an island. Then, the result of your work will be stored on a blockchain. Your creation will be considered a property. You would be able to make additions or any kind of changes to it. Furthermore, all players will be able to obtain the true ownership over the characters or items displayed. All players will take roles of miners. And above all, all players would be able to trade among themselves.
We already wrote about this transition of games, especially when it comes to Ripple. European companies as well, have explored the possibilities. Namely, Ubisoft is deeply involved in the development of Ethereum-based games. Ubisoft is the company behind “Assassin’s Creed”, “Far Cry”, and “Just Dance”. Recently, they issued the statement saying:
“The mission of the lab is to explore social, technical and business trends that will shape the future of entertainment. On this basis, we are trying to help Ubisoft to be prepared to these changes. We strongly believe that blockchain is a huge thing, something that will change the gaming industry.”
So, we have this situation where big names in the industry are exploring, developing, observing, while smaller companies are taking the first plunge. Why is that so?
First of all, large companies have a lot more to lose. Starting with funds, ending with image. Therefore, we guess they prefer safety and to invest lot more in planning. Secondly, it seems that the initiative in the form of initial coin offerings is attractive for smaller players and developers.
Pros of Blockchain-Based Gaming
One of the things that makes blockchain-based games so attractive is the immutable ledger. This makes impossible for players to change any data. Although it does not sound positive, it actually is. This feature promotes trust between all parties involved, from developers to players.
If we have blockchain involved, there must be some cryptos around. Games contain items. Value of those items is expressed by game tokens. Players can trade with items using the tokens. By doing so, they create their own mini ecosystem. A marketplace, if you will. Having a game token facilitates the exchange. Otherwise, the transaction would be more complicated and would involve multiple currencies.
Apart from cryptos, blockchain also promotes the use of smart contracts. These digital contracts are there to secure transactions and make them more reliable, and you can read more about this here.
Cons of Blockchain-Based Gaming
The way most people who are hesitant to this type of gaming see it – new technologies can be complicated. For those not familiar with the entire concept of private and public keys and crypto wallets, all this can be confusing. However, we rarely see complete beginners in the gaming world. And even if they decide to try it out, anything can be learned.
The other main reason against blockchain-based gaming is the volatility of cryptos. It’s a fact that some cryptos fluctuate a lot. On the other hand, the reason for this is their decentralized nature, which is a big plus to begin with. So, it is debatable whether this is actually a reason against it.
Either way, it remains for us to see how things will unfold. In the meantime, keep spinning those reels.
We are looking forward to hearing whether you would like to experience blockchain-based gaming.
