Power Up and Own Your Play: How Blockchain is Redefining Gaming

There’s no denying the gaming industry is a giant, one that’s constantly innovating. Just take a look at the fact that by 2025, the global gaming market will reach a staggering $256 billion. What’s even more impressive? It is estimated that more than 3.2 billion people play video games worldwide.

It doesn’t stop there. According to Sensor Tower, global mobile game and in-app purchases amounted to $41.2 billion in Q1 of 2022. 

Recent advances in blockchain technology, however, are setting the stage for a major change in the way games are developed, distributed, and played. The question is, what is blockchain’s potential in gaming, and how is it changin

g the landscape of interactive entertainment?

To help break this down for is is Timothy Jooste. 

As the Founder of Koin Games, he is passionate about crypto and gaming. His interest in NFTs peaked when he helped Vivint Smart Home Services grow to 700 employees and generate $300 million of revenue in a single year, adding to his vast sales experience at Vivint Smart Home Services. 

In 2017, he was named the Gold Stevie Award Sales Director of the Year, beating thousands of sales directors across every industry. Moreover, he even sold a $11,000 NFT to the one and only Gary Vee.

In the web3 gaming space, Koin Games combines decades of award-winning game development experience with years of blockchain experience.

From Pixels to Property: Owning Your In-Game Assets

Over the years, gamers have spent countless hours acquiring in-game items, such as weapons, skins, and characters. The problem? As soon as they switch games, their value is lost. However, blockchain disrupts this model with the introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

These unique digital tokens represent in-game assets and are stored securely on a blockchain ledger. As a result, players can trade, sell, or utilize their virtual items across different blockchain-powered games.

Timothy predicts that “we’re going to see mass adoption both from the players but then also the cryptocurrency market.” Shiba Inu coins, for instance, can be used only for peer-to-peer payments or as payment methods with merchants who accept them. In contrast, a cryptocurrency that is connected to a video game ecosystem and used daily by players is a different story. 

Because there are real users and none of these other coins have them, you’ll buy those coins, and the players will adopt them as well.

Play to Earn: Rewarding Your Time and Skill

In blockchain games, players earn cryptocurrency or tokens through gameplay, which is called “play-to-earn.” For example, players can complete quests, participate in tournaments, or breed and sell unique creatures. In addition to enjoying the game, players may be able to create real-world value through their skills and time.

Timothy believes most cryptocurrencies are just gambling. “I mean, you’re just betting on a token, hoping they do something. And that’s why, though I’m not a fan of that, I’m a big believer in gaming tokens in general if the game is fun.”

Security and Transparency: A Fairer Playing Field

Gaming fraud and cheating have long plagued the industry, undermining the integrity of multiplayer experiences and eroding player trust. However, blockchain technology offers robust solutions to combat cheating and ensure fair play. 

Incorporating blockchain ledgers into game development can help developers implement anti-cheating mechanisms that detect and prevent unauthorized changes. Furthermore, blockchain-based authentication systems make it easy to verify players’ identities, reducing the risk of account hacking.

Furthermore, blockchain ensures verifiable randomness in games of chance in order to eliminate manipulation.

Interoperability and Community

In modern gaming, cross-platform compatibility is more important than ever since players want to access their favorite games across multiple devices and ecosystems. As a result of blockchain technology, players can transfer assets, progress, and achievements seamlessly between different gaming platforms. In other words, a unified gaming experience can be provided by standardized protocols and decentralized networks without tying players to specific platforms.

Furthermore, blockchain enables decentralized governance models to empower communities through participation in game development decisions.

Timothy elaborates, “We’re using our token in our video games, and we’ll have multiple games that will work with the same token.” In addition, his team is developing an open protocol that other game developers can build upon.

“And so, that really allows it to have a lot of use cases, both from our players and from other games that don’t want to make their own token, but they want to build on blockchain and offer some unique features that we tweak that cater just to gaming,” he adds.

New Paradigms for Game Development and Monetization

With blockchain technology, games can be monetized in ways that challenge traditional revenue streams. For example, a game developer can raise funds, distribute profits, and reward players with tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) mechanisms.

In addition, blockchain facilitates the development of play-to-earn (P2E) games, where players receive cryptocurrency rewards for their contributions and activities, blurring the lines between gaming and investing.

However, the real potential lies in whichever protocol becomes the preferred foundation for building games. The person or company that does that right as a token or protocol will also make a lot of money. And, when millions of games are brought to the blockchain, the right chain is needed, Timothy explains.

The Road Ahead: Challenges and Potential

There are several challenges for the gaming industry to overcome in order to take advantage of blockchain technology. A few obstacles to address are having a user-friendly experience for mainstream gamers, reducing transaction fees, and scalability. 

However, it is possible to redefine gaming with blockchain technology in the future; this will give players greater ownership, control, and value within the virtual worlds they create.

The Final Boss: A New Era of Gaming

Blockchain is undoubtedly a game-changer despite its challenges. As a result, players will be able to own their games, feel secure, and possibly even generate income. In the future, virtual worlds will offer more ownership, value, and empowerment to players as the technology matures and integrates seamlessly with traditional gaming.

And it even goes behind just gaming. As Timothy perfectly puts it, “That’s actually how we make the world a better place, rising to the very top of our potential as that’s how you affect the world and make it a better place.”