Blockchain gaming’s existential First Time User Experience crisis
Starting out on the wrong foot
Having spent years playing F2P mobile games — and running a YouTube channel on the subject — I guess I’m more sensitive than most to the importance of the First Time User Experience.
Also called onboarding, the first ten minutes of each F2P mobile game is crucial to its overall success.
Not only is the the only part of a game every player will experience (by definition), it creates the first impression that’s significant in terms of getting players to return day-after-day, week-after-week. And this retention obviously plays into long term monetization.
Blockchain game developers are putting the blockchain — and blockchain transactions — ahead of the game.
Of course, blockchain games are the total opposite of F2P mobile games when it comes to scale and monetization.
Instead of the potential to get millions of daily players, the best blockchain games struggle to reach 1,000 DAUs (although I’ve long argued DAUs aren’t a good or equivalent metric in this regard).
And more significantly, blockchain games are currently pay-to-play: you can’t do anything in them unless you spend some cash or Ether — but that’s something that’s got to change.
Games before blockchain
Personally I’m already tired of logging into a new blockchain game and seeing an empty inventory, quickly followed by a prompt to “Buy a hero (or kitty, or car etc)”.
Would it be so difficult to be provided with a non-blockchain character with which I could experience the game? If I enjoy the game enough, maybe then I’ll spend some Ether on saving my character to the blockchain.
Because, despite its nascent status, blockchain game developers are at serious risk of killing their market before it even gets started because in almost every respect they’re putting the blockchain — and blockchain transactions — ahead of the game.
That’s fine, of course, but if that’s the case, don’t try to pretend you’re a game developer because you’re not. You’re a confidence trickster.
