Gamers to Your Starting Blocks: The Future of Blockchain Gaming Begins
We explore the beginning of a new era in gaming with the future of blockchain gaming.
There is a scene in the classic 1990 film Back to the Future III in which Doc tells Marty, “Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one.” And that’s certainly true for where the progression of blockchain games has gotten to at present. The future of play-to-earn gaming is whatever we gamers want it to be. Which is very exciting indeed. We’re not pretending it’s possible to predict the future: however, based on current and emerging trends, the future of blockchain gaming looks very promising for the gaming industry, as well as the future of humanity.
With all of this in mind, let’s look at three ways blockchain gaming will continue to change in the future.
#1 — Blockchain Gaming Will Give Players Real Ownership in The Metaverse
The world of microtransactions in games is big business. A recent survey revealed that nearly 90% of MMO gamers buy up in-game assets such as new skins, weapons and gold. And with hundreds of billions being spent on in-game assets, this next point is going to upset the applecart.
You may be thinking that you already own the things you have bought or collected in games, right? Wrong!
If game developers decide to pull the plug overnight on that game you’ve spent countless hours acquiring assets in, it means they are gone for good. This means that you don’t have ownership over your in-game assets now. The advent of blockchain gaming is looking to fix that. When you purchase in-game assets or NFTs , you retain ownership over them for life. This means two important things: you will be able to port them across with you into different gaming experiences in the Metaverse, and that they are yours to sell and trade (for profit!).
Buying in-game assets, or NFTs, that are on the cryptocurrency blockchain is buying something that is verifiably yours. And because they are unique, cool, and limited, they can become highly sought after. Which gives these digital assets real-world value. Imagine a scenario whereby a blockchain game developer released only 50 gold swords as an incentive to early adopters of the game. These would become very desirable in time as more and more players joined the game. The game’s early adopters would be able to sell their gold sword for a tidy sum in crypto that could then be deposited into a crypto wallet and transferred to cold hard cash.
#2 — Blockchain Gaming Legitimizes Real Money Trading (RMT)
Real money trading (RMT) in games is fraught with risk. Not only is it against the rules and can get you booted from a game, but you can also get easily scammed. Blockchain games bring the grey market of RMT, purportedly worth $50 billion, into the light. Currently, game developers don’t want players buying and selling things like weapons, skins and the like to each other. They would prefer that a single-player makes all their in-game purchases through the official channel, which means more money in the coffers of the game developer company.
Being able to legitimately own, sell and profit from your in-game assets is going to radically change the way games are played in the future. We will see a time when playing your favorite blockchain game is a lot like going to work, only fun! And it is already happening.
Companies like NeroVerse are building powerful NFT marketplaces that allow for cross-chain NFT buying and selling. Cross-chain platforms such as this give blockchain gamers limitless power to buy and sell NFTs and truly customize their gaming experiences. Rather than being beholden to large game developer companies for all your digital assets, buying and selling NFTs via a cross-chain marketplace enables such things as private ownership and free enterprise. Two things will undoubtedly power a very strong future economy in the Metaverse.
#3 — Blurred Lines
One potential problem some might perceive with the rise and rise of blockchain gaming, NFTs and the Metaverse is: what happens to our real life? Take for instance Second Life. The people who populate this digital space are not referred to as gamers, but “residents”. And the creators purposely don’t call it a game. For some people, it becomes more important than their experiences IRL. And the lines could get even more blurry when you add NFTs to the equation. Now you can cross-tie your in-game assets — your digital assets can be traded for real money and vice versa — the question now becomes: what is in the game and what is real life? Blockchain games also blur the boundaries between game worlds themselves — what’s often referred to as interoperability. Through blockchain, items will be transferable between different game universes, resulting in a digital multiverse. You will be able to buy that cool gold sword we talked about earlier and bring that into a Counter-Strike game, reconceptualized as a gold assault rifle.
Final Thoughts
Rather than being a bad thing, interoperability paves the way for the future of gaming to be completely reshaped. And just like the quote from the Doc, it will be up to the players themselves to make the future happen. It will be our choices, engagement and uptake of new blockchain gaming experiences that will decide the future of gaming in the Metaverse, as well as the future of how we use this tech to benefit ourselves as a species.
At NeroVerse we’re bridging the gap between metaverses to curate an expansive, cross-world experience for gamers, developers, artists, and NFT enthusiasts alike. That’s why we’re excited to introduce the NeroVerse Marketplace. Not only is the NeroVerse Marketplace your gateway to buying and selling NFTs, it also allows you to discover the next big thing in NFTs before anyone else!
The future is now.
What are you waiting for?
