Implementation of blockchain in the gaming industry: reality, prospects and experience of BeFund

Implementation of blockchain in the gaming industry: reality, prospects and experience of BeFund

Virtual games arose in parallel with the development of electronics with which they could be played. This has always been a promising direction of development: it was in game development that excessive requirements for hardware were set, here non-standard ideas were implemented, which later found application in other industries. And big money has always revolved around games, and even international battles have unfolded — remember, at least, the stories from “ Tetris “. Therefore, it is quite natural that promising blockchain technology has revolutionary significance for gaming.

The flip side of gamedev

2000% — this is how much the activity of blockchain implementation in the gaming industry has increased in 2022. This is an unprecedented surge that has attracted more than 2.5 billion in venture capital investments. And not for nothing, because according to experts, the game market is now valued at 8 trillion dollars. That is why even those who do not like all kinds of video games are ready to compete for the redistribution of such a lasso piece of the pie.

But the first thing everyone should understand is that blockchain does not improve the graphics of video games, does not add new unique stories or game mechanics. Visually, the player will never know if the blockchain is present in his favorite game or not, but he can get more benefits from its implementation. It should also be said that purely blockchain games are not that many and their characteristics are not distinguished by anything too special. After all, keeping the entire code in a distributed database is impractical and expensive. Therefore, the best results are achieved by involving the blockchain to perform certain operations in games, where all the advantages of this technology are fully used.

Games and money

The first thing that blockchain is useful for games is the possibility of internal calculations. Almost every commercial game involves purchases:

  •     Game items or resources;
  •     Access to new levels, unlocking the technology tree, etc.;
  •     Characters or their abilities;
  •     Experience, exclusive rights and so on.

Mostly, the payment system and fiat currencies are used for the purchase. In previous articles, we have repeatedly given examples of such operations, for example in the article “ Why blockchain payment systems are more profitable than any other — BeFund’s expert opinion “. To put it very briefly, the cost of such an operation includes numerous commissions, the execution time is not always short, and the security guarantees are purely declarative. Therefore, cryptocurrency payments are more profitable for absolutely all participants: from platform owners to average players. Compared to traditional payments, only intermediaries suffer, which are simply absent in this scheme. But who is to blame?

Have you ever encountered a situation where players receive monetary rewards for game achievements, completing levels or completing quests? At most, they receive game points or in-game currency, which has no monetary reinforcement and can only be used within the given game. Another thing is cryptocurrency, which is a great alternative for real motivation to keep playing. With blockchain, it is extremely easy to create reward algorithms, and the main thing is to actually put a certain amount of coins in the player’s crypto wallet at the right time. Play-To-Earn business model games build their entire strategy on this principle. This gives people the opportunity not only to waste time playing games, but also to earn money from it. There are even cases when avid gamers turn their hobby into a source of primary income, no worse than, for example, daily office work.

Newzoo at the time of writing suggests a 9.6% increase in in-game payments by 2023. Experts partially attribute this to the transition of many platforms to payments in cryptocurrency, which encourages players to be more willing to give their money for in-game purchases.

Ownership in games

Do you want to own a unique sword that splits your opponent on the pixel from the first time? Or the most powerful engine that accelerates your car like Lightning McQueen? Almost any non-standard and very cool thing in the game can be purchased both from the developers and from another player, and if necessary, you can sell your own thing and earn money. However, where is the guarantee that your fellow player will sell something truly unique or sell at all? Unfortunately, sorting out ownership of things like game items is extremely difficult. And all virtual games, without exception, attract fraudsters who seek to deceive honest players.

Ownership in games

Do you want to own a unique sword that splits your opponent on the pixel from the first time? Or the most powerful engine that accelerates your car like Lightning McQueen? Almost any non-standard and very cool thing in the game can be purchased both from the developers and from another player, and if necessary, you can sell your own thing and earn money. However, where is the guarantee that your fellow player will sell something truly unique or sell at all? Unfortunately, sorting out ownership of things like game items is extremely difficult. And all virtual games, without exception, attract fraudsters who seek to deceive honest players.

And once again, the blockchain, namely the technology of non-fungible tokens — NFT, becomes a saving solution. Digital assets of this type certify the ownership of a specific file (or even an item) and are permanently stored in the blockchain for verification of this right. This gives players confidence in the product they are buying from others and ensures the integrity of the transaction. Currently one of the most popular blockchain games in the world, Axie Infinity is completely based on NFT, where each character is unique and can be traded to any other player.

Since we have already talked about money and property rights, we should also talk about security. Blockchain takes security in games to a completely different level, guarantees players anonymity and protects against the loss of personal data. The blockchain gaming platform guarantees the legality of transactions between all parties: the developer, players, and users among themselves.

Successful examples and experience of BeFund

The implementation of blockchain in gaming cannot be called a novelty, as one of the oldest examples is the game CryptoKitties, launched on the Ethereum blockchain back in 2017. That is, for six years in a row, players can create kittens with unique abilities, trade them or store them in the form of tokens until they grow in value.

But you should not think that blockchain games are monotonous and devoid of cool graphics and plot. Take a look at Age of Rast . To start the game, the user must have a wallet that supports NFT. It is a ticket to a rich and unexplored virtual world of distant space and adventure.

The BeFund team has unique expertise in the development of the cryptogame “ To the Moon ” implemented with partners at the initial stages of blockchain penetration into the world of gaming. Our developers have created a backend and integrations with crypto exchanges Binance and Tron. The game combines elements of racing and action, where your cryptocurrency winnings depend not only on success, but also on the combat characteristics of the starship and the skill of controlling it. The lunar shuttle is fueled by cryptocurrency and you can refuel with many popular coins. The exchange rate of the cryptocurrency used as fuel is of great importance for the flight. In any case, racing with real players is worth your attention, and the winnings are immediately returned to the connected crypto wallet.

The result

Why, despite all the obvious advantages, are not all game developers in a hurry to implement blockchain in their own products? In fact, large companies have been conducting their own development in this direction for a long time, but as of today there are several important difficulties:

  •     Blockchain capabilities are still not fully explored, so everyone is looking for optimal solutions separately and in secret from competitors;
  •     It is difficult and expensive to put a finished product on new rails. That is why new platforms work mostly with blockchain;
  •     To play crypto games, you need to have a suitable wallet and perform certain settings. Accordingly, everyone who does not use cryptocurrency falls outside the target audience of developers.

 

But the statistics are inexorable and technical progress does not stand still: the percentage of blockchain adoption by game developers is growing every year. Therefore, if you have an idea for your own game, the BeFund team will gladly help you realize this process. For this, we have qualified developers and relevant experience.