The Unfair Advantage Of NFTs In Traditional Gaming
As gamers, playing video games is about competition and accomplishment. It is a way to virtually compete with others in accomplishing a goal. This is to win a game and gather points. That requires skill on the part of the gamer, because playing requires not only good eye and hand coordination. It also requires good decision making on the part of the gamer.
What would happen if you can win a game by purchasing special powers? That doesn’t sound fair, but the gaming industry has been trending towards the purchase of in-game assets (e.g. loot boxes) and are now considering NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). Gamers who can purchase special features (like powers) can achieve victory over competitors much faster. While this does help game developers increase their revenues, it does not always sit well with everyone. This does present a problem for hardcore gamers, and for the right reasons.
Why Use NFTs In Gaming?
An NFT is a digital asset that can represent in-game purchases like “weapons”, “super powers”, “prizes”, “special offers” and other assets. It stores the data about the assets in a public digital ledger (e.g. database) called a blockchain, that is decentralized and immutable. Decentralized means it is distributed across a network of computers, so there will always be a copy of its record even if one computer goes off the network. It is immutable, meaning once recorded on a blockchain it cannot be tampered with since it is protected by cryptographic techniques to secure the data.
This might not mean a lot to gamers, but it can help to implement verification of in-game asset purchases for validation and authenticity. This proves that a gamer owns a special feature of the game, so it is confirmed valid to use during play. It is verified on a system that cannot be controlled or manipulated in any way by the game developers or bad actors. This helps ensure that gamers are using in-game assets properly.
Gamers can also trade NFTs within the gaming ecosystem of their choice. There are different blockchain-based platforms that record NFT assets, so this depends on which one the game developers have chosen. The most popular blockchains used for NFT include Ethereum, Binance SmartChain (BSC) and Solana among others. It is becoming integral to tokenized ecosystems that form what is called the Metaverse.
NFTs have value for gamers because of what the asset’s purpose is in a game. It is mainly used in P2E (Play-to-Earn) blockchain-based games like Axie Infinity and Gala. The NFTs have the special features that give advantage to gamers when playing, helping them to earn more rewards. These rewards are in the form of cryptocurrency tokens.
NFTs can be obtained mainly by purchasing it from a marketplace provided by the game developers. Another way is through the open market, where one gamer can make a bid or offer for an NFT to its owner. The best way to get an NFT is through playing the game, if it offers ways to earn an NFT rather than buying one.
So Far So Good, But ….
Traditional gamers are more used to playing for entertainment. The more serious gamers have ESports, where they can compete with other gamers for prizes. In a sense, ESports has brought gaming to a more competitive level that involves money. That is understood, but it still follows traditional gaming norms in which the gamer’s skill level is the focus. For example, if you don’t have the knowledge or skill to play League of Legends competitively you shouldn’t even join a team at all. You will lose and that affects the team’s standing.
With NFTs, it brings a new advantage to less skilled players. If they bring new powers or features of that NFT to a game, they have more chances of winning. It is like an investment for them to succeed further, but this affects the overall dynamics of the system. That is because in traditional gaming, skill is more important. Having special powers from an NFT is kind of like cheating in a game where the players really have good skills in using the keyboard and gamepad.
According to an article from Cointelegraph, game company Ubisoft got a 96% dislike ratio on their new NFT project (i.e. Quartz). The pushback came from the company’s main base. The issue here is that not only do NFTs give special advantage to gamers, it also costs a lot of money to your average gamer. Most of these gamers are probably below the age of 25 and do not have any knowledge of NFTs and blockchain in general. They also don’t likely have a stable job where they can afford to purchase an NFT, which can be worth over $100.
Synopsis
There seems to be a conflict between NFTs and traditional gaming. Established game titles like Call Of Duty or Ghost Recon were originally developed from a different time. Introducing NFTs will definitely change the game dynamics in many ways. What if an NFT was introduced in COD that allows a gamer to identify snipers before they can strike? That would be horrible for gamers who have specialized in sniping skills as a strategy.
Gamers can always evolve and adapt to changes. NFTs may level the playing field for skilled and the unskilled, but is that really the way things should go? Perhaps we can apply NFTs correctly with P2E games like Axie Infinity. In this case it is not really about skill in playing the game, but strategy. The more features you can create with your NFT, the better your chances of winning. Applying this to traditional games would be giving an unfair advantage to the less skilled gamers. It can also be looked at as a cash grab because gaming companies do benefit from purchases of NFTs (at the expense of gamers).
It also feels more like an accomplishment to earn special powers when playing games. It just doesn’t seem right to have to pay a fortune just to win a game, even though you really lack skill and enthusiasm. For most gamers, it would be more interesting to play if they have to earn an NFT as a reward for winning games. Once they have earned that NFT, it is an achievement that makes gamers proud of their accomplishment. How can you be proud if you just paid to win a game?
Axie Infinity differs from action games like COD or Doom, where mastery of the game pad or keyboard is required. NFT games rely more on using your assets as an advantage rather than having amazing eye and hand coordination. In this case NFTs in traditional gaming should be considered more as a reward system, rather than gamer advantage feature. This will probably motivate and encourage more skilled gamers to play if the prize at stake in a game is higher. This is what game developers have to consider if they want to apply NFTs to their ecosystem.
