How can Crypto-Currency and Blockchain Improve Gaming?

Taking gaming to the next level

The history of gaming is one of constant innovation where new paradigms constantly replace and improve on the old, finding new bold ways to bring this entertainment medium reach its best potential.

Be it 3D graphics, multiplayer network gameplay, and, most recently, VR and AR technology, the gaming ecosystem has always benefited from state-of-the-art technology.

Now is the time for Blockchain and Cryptocurrency to take gaming to the next level.

Blockchain technology mainly brings the advantage to securely store, access and distribute data. It may not sound as exciting as 3D graphics or virtual reality, but nonetheless it could be equally important — especially for games with user-generated content (UGC).

We at The Sandbox believe that a properly integrated blockchain-based system can vastly improve both the creative user experience and economic dynamic of games with UGC.

By itself, a blockchain system might not seem that interesting— it doesn’t make the game look any better, load any faster, or magically become more exciting to play.

But when implemented into an entertaining game (which provides a fun place to play) with a large community (which provides an audience to sell and trade with) it can coalesce the experience into a more satisfying, coherent whole that can reward both players and developers.

Games that allow players to add their own content into the game, in turn make the experience richer for everyone. In some cases, content creators can even financially benefit from their creations by selling them via a centralized store.

But even if creators can sell items, there are still several issues with current systems.

Issue #1: Copyright Infringement

It’s hard to prove who created something first and published it for sale. There are many techniques to copy and modify items or products to hide their true origin. Given enough effort, it can prove impossible to demonstrate something is a copy.

Blockchain technology puts an end to all that. Its tamper-proof ledger technology records the creation of an item and its properties. If anyone has a Copyright claim, they can simply go to the blockchain and check who uploaded the item first, thus claiming the rights to it.

Issue #2: No Incentive for Creation

Nowadays there are games that have no limitations on what you can create nor on how much you can create. As consequence those same games don’t offer any tangible rewards for the creative efforts of its users.

In The Sandbox, a user can create whatever they want, and they have the possibility to, when uploading that creation to the blockchain, set a scarcity for that item. This scarcity by itself determines that the object now has value, which the creator can profit from when they sell it to other players.

Issue #3: Marketplace Abuses

Some platforms with a centralized store system allow players to sell to each other, but not directly; they take a large percentage of the revenue impacting greatly on any potential earnings for the creator himself.

This doesn’t allow for frictionless transactions between the creator and the publishing platform, since the creator will always have some part of the sale price taken away from him in the form of a fee, thus demotivating him or her from uploading additional creations.

Such a platform definitely requires special considerations and requirements to be put in place; for example, all items on sale need to be uploaded to the blockchain in order to prove their scarcity and ownership, and in turn be sold.

The process of uploading in The Sandbox will be implemented through the use of non-fungible tokens (NFT). Think of these tokens as a representation of the different items you uploaded. Each of them will have its own unique identifier, called a “hash”, and be stored on the digital crypto-wallet of your own choosing.

Once the upload is finished, you own N copies of whichever item you uploaded. Now all you would need to do to receive some form of revenue, is publish it on any marketplace and wait for someone to buy your item.

Take into account that once you sell the item, you no longer have ownership over that copy you sold, because you transferred ownership when you sold it.

Even if the same item is sold infinite amount of times between different users, it is easily traceable to see who uploaded it first and credit them their respective copyrights.

And since the items are stored on the blockchain and not on an centralized server, the trading, selling, and buying of these items will be seamless with anyone they choose, even between different marketplaces or platforms.

On The Sandbox platform’s marketplace, however, we will utilize a blockchain based currency called $SAND as the basis of all transactions, providing a secure channel for exchanging goods without fears like credit card fraud.

Here are some of the potential benefits for creators and other users:

• Creators will get paid for what they create, allowing them to profit from their time and creativity.
• Purchases made by players can be resold if desired, allowing players to recuperate some or all of the currency they spent depending on the current value of the item.
• Users can get a 100% and immediate payout for items they sell rather than having a centralized currency exchange determine how much of the total amount the player keeps and under what circumstances players may withdraw money they have earned.
• Creators get copyright protection that prevents other players from stealing their creations and claiming them as their own. Secure copyright ownership of user created content is secured through blockchain validation and Smart Contracts.

And these are the potential benefits for developers:

• Developers can sell items and content via our decentralized marketplace, giving the entire amount of the price of the item to the seller, thus not forcing them to go through a centralized, restrictive service.
• By extension, developers can also sidestep the app stores and ad/social networks that currently serve as the gatekeepers developers go through before having a direct economic connection with the player.
• Blockchain governance provides transparency and authority controlling transactions, permissions, and roles, freeing the developer to focus on making a great game.

When you review the benefits for players and developers alike, it becomes clear that a UGC game paired with this type of blockchain ecosystem makes a lot of sense. Is it possible that blurring the line between in-game commerce and real commerce can actually create more freedom and opportunities for players? Stay tuned to find out!