What does it take for NFT Gaming to hit the mainstream?

What does it take for NFT Gaming to hit the mainstream?

The early and most primitive form of NFTs surged as early as 2012 in the form of colored coins. Nowadays, this technology is one of the hottest trends in crypto. Digital art NFTs are being sold for exorbitant amounts, and we are also witnessing early use cases develop in sports, music, fashion, and other industries.

Leading experts predict that the true application of NFTs will be in metaverses and online economies, like the ones present in massive multiplayer online (MMO) games. However, NFTs and blockchain’s potential in the gaming space still remains untapped and constrained to a niche audience.

In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the causes holding NFT gaming back, and what it will take for this technology to see adoption from a mainstream gaming audience.

Does steam fear losing its monopoly?

The topic of NFT gaming recently made headlines as Valve, the company behind the Steam marketplace, issued a policy update banning and removing all games built on blockchain technology from its platform.

The motives behind Valve’s decision are unknown, but it’s speculated that the company may feel threatened by NFTs. Valve holds a monopoly over all in-game items sold within the Valve ecosystem, charging 30% fees for every Counter-Strike: GO skin or other item traded between players.

Furthermore, any profit players might eventually make by selling in-game items stays within Steam, having no real-world value outside of the platform. The only way gamers can actually monetize their gaming experiences on Steam is by finding buyers to their accounts or risk being banned by selling in-game items on shady black markets.

Epic Games receives NFTs with open arms

The news of this ban may have felt like an enormous setback for NFT gaming, as Steam is the number one digital distribution platform for PC gaming. Fortunately, not all gaming companies see NFTs eye to eye.

Shortly after the announcement, Epic Games, the gaming company behind Fortnite, decided to release a statement welcoming all blockchain games to its Epic Games store.

This move was quite possibly a strategic decision designed to appeal to the growing blockchain gaming audience, and therefore gain a competitive advantage over the Steam platform, its greatest and most direct rival.

Does this mean we will soon be seeing Fortnite skins in the form of NFTs? Unfortunately, it seems that won’t be a reality as Epic Games CEO had previously stated it wouldn’t incorporate the revolutionary technology into its own games.

Regulatory hurdles

Epic Games has also stated that relevant laws have to be followed, only accepting blockchain games that disclose their terms and have an appropriate age rating. But those may be minor hurdles compared to what’s to come.

Sorare, an NFT fantasy soccer game, has recently faced backlash from the UK Gambling Commission. The gambling watchdog started an inquiry to evaluate whether the services provided by Sorare would constitute gambling and required an official license to operate.

The NFT market remains mostly unregulated, operating outside of any form of legal framework. However, pressure from authorities is expected to grow in the upcoming years, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for NFT adoption.

What is holding blockchain and NFT games back?

The recent news has stirred a heated debate amongst the gaming community. A popular narrative between gamers is that blockchain and NFT games lack quality and depth, as too much focus is placed on the financial aspect and very little on the actual gameplay.

Other common complaints include the fact that some play-to-earn games are extremely unbalanced, resembling the pay-to-win model, and require a considerable initial investment to play.

Also, a small portion of the gaming community has developed a strong resentment towards cryptocurrencies due to mining, and how it has caused the price of graphics cards to skyrocket. Regardless of the motives, the mainstream gaming community doesn’t look too favorably on blockchain games. At least not yet.

The advent of web 3.0 and decentralized gaming

The new web 3.0 paradigm will be responsible for bringing several important societal changes. As the internet becomes once again decentralized thanks to the blockchain, gatekeepers and middlemen will become less relevant.

A direct connection between game developers and players will be made possible, threatening the status quo of existing centralized platforms like Steam and Epic Games. In such an environment, Gold Fever and other high-quality blockchain games will have first movers advantage.

About Gold Fever

Gold Fever is a challenging free-to-play RPG that leverages the power of the blockchain with the creation of a decentralized economy.

Gold Fever, in its essence, is a thrilling and addictive online multiplayer video game, mirroring the physical world into the digital one and allowing players to take actual ownership of scarce in-game items through Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

The Gold Fever economy is a junction of many moving parts that are dynamically adjusted. in Gold Fever, all participants have a seat at the table. Being able to vote and to dictate the future of the game through the governance token. Used for proposals on how to improve/evolve this digital world economy.

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