The world appears to be ready for the integration of blockchain technology and gaming. Over the past few years, blockchain technology has found a stronger base of support in games, with developers looking towards the innovative technology to make their titles better.
However, while the future does look bright, there are some challenges down the line that should be noted. As usual, this integration won’t happen as smoothly as many believe it will.
Undeniable Opportunities to Look Forward To
As things stand, there is a lot of excitement concerning how blockchain can indeed make games better. Games are slowly transcending from the boring old things we used to play to more interactive and interesting titles, offering real-life benefits including the opportunity to make money.
Going forward, many expect games to increasingly adopt the play-to-earn model. Here, players continue to enjoy their games and play with the incentive of actually winning something. For most times, these rewards can be in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which can then be sold or traded on in-app or external marketplaces.
With NFT mania already gripping the world, it should be relatively easier for players to sell their rewards and make money. Even better, players might be able to use their rewards and NFTs for better leverage in the games they play themselves. All in all, the opportunity to play and have fun while earning money is one that a lot of people are excited about.
There is also the impending entrance of the metaverse. This new and interesting universe is expected to be the next big thing for interactions and engagement. People can come in to explore experiences and interact with others, and gaming is also expected to be a big part of that.
Currently, we have games like Axes Metaverse that has managed to combine all of these interesting concepts. The game, which was built by Azur Games, offers a metaverse environment where players battle it out for a chance to win different NFT-based rewards. By building their own metaverse and incorporating blockchain-based NFTs, many of these games should be able to keep their players engaged for long while offering them a reason to always come back.
Issues Still Abound
While the future of blockchain in gaming is undeniably exciting, there are still some significant challenges to keep in mind.
Ties to the broader market
The first, and perhaps most important, is the fact that a lot of crypto-based projects are still inexplicably tied to the performance of the broader crypto market itself.
At the beginning of this year, NFTs were the biggest craze. People sold their NFTs for incredibly high prices, and everyone was seemingly benefiting from this gold rush. However, things took a turn for the worse when the market went south in April. NFT sales were on the rise, but prices themselves plunged generally
This poses a challenge for gaming platforms. If they are to tie themselves to blockchain and concepts like NFTs, they run the risk of facing tough times when the crypto market starts to slide - something that happened all too often this year.
Game developers need to find out the factors that make their games exciting, beyond just the opportunity to earn NFTs and more. Otherwise, they run the risk of tethering themselves to the market itself.
Security issues
Although none has been experienced for now, security flaws are almost always a constant. Every growing part of the crypto market experiences security issues, and it’s difficult to see how this won’t happen to crypto and blockchain gaming services too.
Last year was a big one for decentralized finance (DeFi), and several protocols still got hacked. This year, hackers have been able to break into different NFT marketplaces to steal funds and tokens. If this trend is to be believed, crypto gaming platforms could also be in for security tests.
These gaming platforms need to arm themselves and be ready for whatever may happen. Propeller security should be implemented now - not when hackers are ready to attack the space.
Usability and interface friendliness
If there is one thing that has consistently affected the crypto space, it is functionality. For as long as crypto platforms have been available, they’ve always had issues with proper user-friendliness. So far, crypto exchanges have largely been able to bridge this gap and design apps that people can seamlessly use to get their way around. But, it isn’t the same everywhere else.
DeFi protocols are still largely clunky, meaning that not many people can use them. The same holds for several trading platforms and NFT marketplaces. Decentralized exchanges are a different level of difficulty to use.
Crypto gaming platforms will need to learn from this and change. If you want people to use what you have to offer, you have to make it easier for them as well. Game developers should invest in proper user interface and user experience design, so players know how to find their way around easily.
Regulatory change
While this isn’t much of a present issue, changes in regulations could always affect blockchain and crypto gaming platforms. The current global regulatory climate is shifting, and this means that countries will be looking to impose their own rules on the crypto and blockchain spaces. If the regulatory winds don’t move in the market’s direction, crypto games will be affected.
For now, game developers can build as they like without necessarily fearing any regulatory blowback. However, things could change at any point, and developers will need to be ready to act.
