Getting Over the “Crypto Wall” To Reach Web2 Players

Introducing web2-friendly in-app currency for web3 games. Here we’ll describe what it is, how it works, and how to implement it.

The best thing about Ready’s approach is that it keeps things simple. The first wave of Web3 games expected players to jump through hoops to play or purchase. Ready’s SDK allows developers to bridge the gap between Web3 tech and Web2 audiences without requiring anyone to leave their comfort zone. — KJ Mercer, Lead Game Designer

In-app purchases have been an obstacle for web3 games. Especially when they want to attract web2 players and maintain compliance to list on the major mobile app stores. The “rgn-coin” solves many of the problems developers face regarding compliance and usability. We’ll break down how it’s used and implemented right here.

The Crypto Wall

Stated simply, the direct use of cryptocurrencies in-game is a brick wall that 99% of players are not willing to climb. This “crypto wall” is also responsible for disqualifying games from App Store and Play Store listing. Even though web3 offers the gaming community, including developers, players, and content creators, increased earning potential and monetization streams, the crypto wall, as it is now, is simply too high to be worth it for most players and many developers.

Ready Games has created a ladder, so to speak, allowing in-game purchases that are both web2 user-friendly as well as connected to tokenized monetization. The key is the rgn-coin, an intermediate stepping stone between the web2 and web3 game currencies.

The Ladder: RGN-Coin

The rgn-coin is a hard currency that can only be purchased in-app, and allows you to integrate web3 elements such as NFTs in your game without disrupting current game economies. Rgn-coins are fully whitelabel customizable to fit seamlessly into any game as diamonds, carrots, cash, gems, berries, jellies, or any other name that synergizes with the game narrative.

Implementing the rgn-coin in games is relatively simple. Here are the basic steps needed to sell your custom “rgn-coin” in-app:

Get the products list from AppStore (iOS) or PlayMarket (Android)
Get the registered products list from RGN SDK:
  RGN.Modules.Currency.CurrencyModule.GetInAppPurchaseCurrencyDataAsync for custom coin currency packs
  RGN.Modules.Currency.CurrencyModule.GetRGNCoinEconomyAsync for "rgn-coin" packs. Important: you need to sell the "rgn-coin" for exact same tiers as it is specified in the response from this method.
When the user attempts to purchase coins, start the in-app purchase process by using one of the available Unity plugins.
When the user purchases the coins and the callback for a successful purchase is triggered, you need to verify the receipt locally.
After successful receipt verification, you need to trigger the RGNCurrency API:
  For custom currencies call RGN.Modules.Currency.CurrencyModule.PurchaseCurrencyProductAsync
  For "rgn-coin" purchases call RGN.Modules.Currency.CurrencyModule.PurchaseRGNCoinAsync
If operation is successfully updated, the coin currency balance will be returned in response.

Implementing the rgn-coin is not only simple, but it’s also a sure way to safeguard against cheaters. In the development of most games, payment verification for in-app purchases is not simple to develop or deploy, and players are known to exploit the in-app purchase system to skip payments. The rgn-coin in-app purchase system in Ready’s SDK uses payment verification to prevent common player exploits, allowing developers to verify purchases and protect their games against cheaters.

For more in-depth information about implementing, using, and tracking rgn-coin activities in your games, please refer to our SDK documentation.

Hard Currencies vs. Crypto

Rgn-coin hard currencies are the only accepted currency in Ready’s NFT marketplace, which is integrated into each game in the ecosystem. Hard currencies are premium currencies that can only be purchased via in-app purchases. Using hard currencies instead of crypto in web3 games is the key to maintaining compliance with App Store and Play Store listing requirements because it allows the entire purchase flow to remain within the store’s framework, allowing Apple and Google to take their revenue share.

Furthermore, hard currencies look and act like regular web2 in-game currencies and are purchased using regular payment methods, providing an unintimidating alternative to crypto for web2 players. This significantly lowers the barrier not only for web3 games to enter the wider market, but for the wider market to enter web3 games.

Rgn-coins of course are not entirely the same as regular web2 currencies seeing as they can be used to purchase NFT items that are connected directly to blockchain and stored in crypto wallets. The NFT payment flow that Ready’s SDK enables in web3 games is unassuming, and wallet creation to store NFTs bought in the game is as simple as creating a password, allowing web2 players to play web3 games without hardly noticing.

Rgn-coins are just one aspect that makes building web3 games on Ready’s infrastructure worthwhile. There are a whole host of features available for developers that make everything web3 about web3 gaming fully integrated, simplified, and accessible for web2-users as well. To start building with Ready’s tools, sign up for free at dev.ready.gg.

To learn more about Ready’s tech, read the public SDK docs.