Games And Kin: Where Do We Start

Following up from the partnership team’s last post on Launching the Kin Ecosystem. I wanted to touch on a market opportunity and category we are looking at: games.

It is easy to brainstorm use cases for Kin in games because most games already have a virtual economy of tokens or points. But in order to look at this category fully, we need to answer a few key questions. Will Kin and blockchain add more value as an in-game currency? Should we focus more on streamers, fans and the indie game developer communities? Where will Kin be the most useful?

I should note in advance that I am name dropping gaming brands that I personally like. These are my dream use cases so be aware the below are not real implementations that are in the works.

Kin for Virtual Economies

Game developers can reward their gamers with Kin. Gamers can spend Kin to not only unlock in-game value in a single game, but across multiple games or digital services that have integrated Kin. The developer can choose when they award their users to optimize engagement and retention.

I’ll relate this to a game I’m currently addicted to- Call Of Duty WW2.

My daily reward, payroll and purchase in COD's virtual economy

Every four hours, I earn 100 Armory Credits that I can spend on in-game items that range anywhere from 150 to 8000+. If COD based it’s virtual economy in Kin instead of building a proprietary system in house- my experience would be enhanced:

• Kin can be used by more digital services. For example, other platforms, games, services can accept Kin earned in COD and Kin earned in other digital services can be used in COD creating more value by expanding the economy.
• The Game Developers, as part of the KRE, would be rewarded based on the number of transactions their users generate within their digital service. Developers don’t need to rely solely on in app purchases or ads for additional revenue.
• Game Developers can access and analyze transaction information from the blockchain about their gamers to engage and re-engage them more personally.
• Game Developers can use the stand alone wallet to promote their game to additional users.

So why isn’t this already happening?

• For this to be worthwhile, the currency needs to be used by more than one digital service to provide value to gamers.
• Some games might have more popular earning opportunities than spending, creating an imbalance for that game. As a game developer, you might worry if your gamers are not spending the Kin they earn in your game on your in-game value. The partnerships team, the Kin SDK and the KRE will help you with this.

Streamers and Fans

Kin’s goal is to create an alternative ecosystem of digital services — one that is compelling for consumers and is fair and open for developers and content creators. Our vision is to create a world where people are compensated for the value they add.

Streamers provide insight, entertainment and positivity and should be compensated by those receiving value (the fans and the game devs). Kin provides a way for them to be compensated, natively. Streamers already have a few revenue streams; subscriptions, donations, ads, merchandise and sponsorships. Out of these, donations can represent a large share of their income (ref1 and ref2), but there is no native way to donate.

If I join Twitch Prime right now, I would get Call of Duty WW2 in-game items and monthly supply drops containing in-game items (screenshot below). If I start streaming my mediocre gaming sessions, my many fans would then donate using a linked Paypal account to support me. I could just give my wallet address for donations and ask for addresses to reward my viewers, but we could do better with Kin SDK in a few ways:

My incentives to join twitch prime

• By embracing Kin, not just in games, but as a donation method, viewers can compensate the streamer easily and with a currency not only compatible with, but also native to the game. This opens up opportunities for both the game developer, but also the players who earn Kin.
• Users who might otherwise be hesitant or unwilling to donate in a real-world currency would be more inclined to donate with Kin that they’ve earned in the game, or on another social platform. As Kin is earned through action, users who lack payment capabilities (i.e. <18, no credit card, outside region) will begin to invest economic value into the community. As most communities see majority of income from a very small share of users, this can help make the community more viable for the creators.
• The blockchain is public, the data can be used by content creators and fans to show how it’s used in-game, and to provide better insights on what to improve on, or what to produce in the future.
• Kin is a cryptocurrency, it can be exchanged back for real-world-dollars, so that streamers and content creators can keep the lights on.

Why isn’t this happening already?

• Similar to above, a donation of Kin is only valuable if you can use it somewhere else. This is why we are working with a variety of digital services to integrate Kin and many brands to become part of the ecosystem.
• Donations in Kin will be on the blockchain and public, which will add a new dynamic for the current anonymous donations
• Not all viewers have a wallet address to donate or receive crypto so streamers will never want to limit the ability to donate.

Where Should We Go From Here?

Our goal, as the partnerships team, is to grow the Kin ecosystem so that it’s useful and successful in the long term. We can’t just pick a single newsworthy digital service because that would provide minimal added value to their users. We’re seeking out a strong portfolio of game partners and developers to add value to games. We would love to hear back from you — share your thoughts!