Is Tokenomics the Key to Game Adoption?

Ever since blockchain gaming has emerged as a promising sector for the industry, many projects have provided a variety of game content and services to Web3 players in recent years. With big names like Axie Infinity and Splinterlands gaining traction, what was once a pipe dream for game developers has now become commercially released products. However, as these games strive for greater success in a highly competitive marketplace, they are also confronted with new challenges — one of the most glaring and immediate being mass game adoption.

Main Obstacles to Web3 Game Adoption

For any blockchain ecosystem (whether a game, a DeFi, or an infrastructure project) that wishes to work effectively, widespread adoption is a must. Pitifully, Web3 games are currently falling short of such adoption and are far from reaching their potential. The reasons for this are manifold. According to MixMarvel, the three major obstacles are listed as follows.

• The Complexity of the Game

Blockchain games are far more sophisticated than traditional games due to their intrinsic technological and economic complexity. Compared to Web2 games, Web3 games have expanded and grown to include many features and attributes other than mere playing. Mining, earning, consuming, voting, and governing have all contributed to an intricate system and an excessive number of different in-game tokens issued in the game.

• The Limited Liquidity

The in-game tokens of Web3 games have limited utility and liquidity, which is quite unsettling and unconvincing given that these games often tout and promote their P2E (play-to-earn) feature to the market. Players’ costs and risks increase as tokens from one game cannot be used in the other, and their willingness to participate falls.

• Rug-Pulls and Scam Projects

Rug-pulls and scams pose a threat to game adoption as well. With game scams consistently making headlines, many players and investors are forgetting the practical benefits of blockchain games. Additionally, developers are wary of the security and credibility of other tokens or cryptos and refuse to incorporate them into their games, which ultimately leads to non-interoperability and lower liquidity.

Tokenomics as a Solution

MixMarvel believes that a well-designed token economy is the key to mass game adoption. A unified, recyclable, and sustainable tokenomics will not only help mitigate the three issues mentioned above but also benefit players and encourage them to engage more actively in Web3 gaming.

• Unified: All in-game tokens should be unified into one utility token.

The first step in promoting game adoption through tokenomics is to allow different game tokens (from the ecosystem) to be unified and converted into a single utility token that can be traded among players without crossing games or chains. Ideally, this utility token will be minted by combining different in-game currencies into one synthetic token. And the synthetic token shall also be able to be “broken down” backward into individual in-game tokens for better utility.

As a result, one utility token rather than multiple in-game tokens will be circulating on the chain, simplifying the token economy structure and potentially motivating players from one game to take part in more games within the ecosystem.

• Recyclable: Tokens earned in the game should be spendable within the ecosystem.

It is critical for P2E games that players can actually spend their game earnings. Hence, to encourage game adoption through tokenomics, the system must also be recyclable, with consumable tokens providing convenience to players.

As the utility token connects the ecosystem’s gaming and finance elements, gamers will be able to spend their earnings in any other dApps within the ecosystem more at ease.

• Sustainable: Tokenomics should be designed to benefit the entire ecosystem in the long run.

Another important consideration for tokenomics developers is sustainability. Tokenomics must be able to encourage asset circulation within the ecosystem and maintain the value of assets therein in order to be long-term beneficial to the game and ecosystem.

For utility token holders, when a new game is added to the ecosystem, they will also benefit as the new game adds liquidity and brings more value to the overall ecosystem.

MixMarvel’s Approach to Tokenomics

As a blockchain content incubator, MixMarvel is also getting involved and helping various game projects achieve their widespread adoption through well-designed tokenomics in their own ways.

On the one hand, MixMarvel provides incubation consulting services for token design. For cooperative partners and development teams, MixMarvel assists them in fully utilizing the characteristics of distributed blockchain business and in creating a new Internet-like interactive experience for mass users.

On the other hand, MixMarvel’s own ecosystem is also constantly growing based on a recyclable digital asset distribution mechanism. FTs including MIX (MixMarvel’s platform token), HEROES (GameFi application DeHero’s community token), and RPG (Rangers Protocol’s ecosystem token), as well as NFTs such as in-game NFT assets of GameFi application DeHero and NFT assets of community co-creation event Loot Rangers; can all be seamlessly transferred in the MixMarvel ecosystem through DeFi (MixMarvel.Finance) and cross-chain tools released by MixMarvel, as the liquidity increases.

MixMarvel believes that a unified, recyclable, and sustainable tokenomics is the key to game adoption and that a wise use of utility tokens can contribute to such tokenomics and pave the way for a prosperous future for Web3 gaming. Nevertheless, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to building a strong token economy. How gaming tokens can truly support the mass adoption of various games remains a task that tokenomics developers should carefully consider before coming up with their unique solutions.

About MixMarvel

MixMarvel is the world’s leading blockchain content-incubation platform and creators community. By in-depth exploring the open world and integrating world-renowned IP with high-quality content, MixMarvel connects investors and mass users through asset distribution, content publication, DeFi tools, infrastructure, community co-creation, and other diversified scenarios in a new ecosystem of dapps. Its ecosystem comprises a broad portfolio of FT/NFT assets, including the MIX, RPG, and HEROES tokens; blockchain content, including the GameFi application DeHero; and infrastructures, including Rangers Protocol and MixMarvel SDK. For more information, visit https://linktr.ee/MIXMARVEL.