Web3 Gaming: The next gaming revolution
I believe we are watching the next revolution of gaming unfold in front of our very eyes.
The web3 space is opening the door to allow gamers and game economies to take the next natural step with games: ownership & digital economies
web3 is the newest iteration of the current internet as we know it (web 2.0) where the internet is decentralized and supported by blockchain technologies (this includes crypto & NFTs).
I am not saying any of this is brand new as we’ve seen games with economies and tradable assets in the past. What I am saying is the use of fungible and non fungible tokens (NFTs) is a massive improvement to the technology required to do this efficiently. This, I believe, is the key to allowing more widespread adoption of ownership for gamers in the games they play.
You might be thinking “That’s cool, but why is this so revolutionary?”
Previous gaming “revolutions”
The gaming “revolutions” of the past were about simplifying access to games or reducing social opportunity cost.
Let’s start by looking back at some of the major shifts in gaming and how they affected the gaming market:
Arcades allowed those who didn’t have home computers to have a social place to play games & play competitively with others
Home Gaming began to be a lot more popular when computers became more affordable. Affordability as well as the release of gaming consoles enabled widespread adoption of games, LAN parties, and local social events focused around gaming.
Social Online Gaming enabled massive multiplayer experiences with people all over the world
eSports created full time positions for gamers to pursue becoming the best in their craft and allowed them to build massive followings and fanbases. eSports was empowering the gamers, the game studios, and the fans. Passive players learned tips and tricks from watching the best at work
Mobile Gaming gave simplified access to games through mobile devices we carried everywhere we went
A few things I want you to note about these revolutions are:
Most of these existed before “revolutionizing” and technology took them to the next step
- Mobile gaming: we had snake on our Nokia phones but it wasn’t until smartphones where this really took off
- Home Gaming: we had personal computers but consoles are what took this to the next level
- eSports: The eSports world took a major step with Twitch & other streaming platforms
The revolution in the sector did not completely replace gaming as we knew it previously
- Arcades still exist, LAN events still happen, People are still mobile and console gamers, etc..
The new age of gaming
SO, how does this all tie back to what is going on today?
Above I mentioned how some of the gaming revolutions had to do with Social Opportunity Cost but that isn’t the only opportunity cost when gaming, there is also a financial opportunity cost.
What if — for all those hours you put into the games you play and the items and achievements you grinded, you were able to reap some sort of benefit or value?
THAT is what we’re talking about here and I understand it isn’t a brand new concept but we are at a point where we have the technology that can perpetuate the concept & push it forward — similar to how the previously referenced technologies elevated other gaming revolutions.
So currently the state of games is:
- put $x in and hopefully you have fun because you are getting $0 out
- maybe there is a grey market where you can sell you skins or account but that could potentially cause you to get banned or its for an in game currency you can’t exchange to any real world currency
Where I see the future moving
The way I envision web3 gaming & the future of the space is this:
- You can put in $x and have the option to take out $y. where $y can potentially be higher or lower than $x depending on the in-game Tokenomics & the value you have received or created from/for the game
- Gamers owning the assets they earn in-game, allowing them to control what they’ve worked for and the value they brought to the games
- A shift in power from game studios to gamers & eSports teams
- A wide & diverse range of approaches to in-game economies. Some good, some bad — where gamers will be able to vote with their wallet and easily move funds out of one game and into another
In short: POWER TO THE PLAYERS
What do you think? Agree or disagree?
Come chat with me on Twitter @ ReadyPlayerRich
