What’s in a game? Transforming the games industry from the inside (of a game)
Ever wondered what it would be like to actually own in-game items? Your avatar’s sword? The bat you use to play your favourite cricket game? What if you could personalise it, trade it, sell it for actual money — even use it inside another game?
Digital assets are not a new concept in games, but traditionally players owned nothing. The items they collected and used had value confined to their associated game; the moment they deleted the game, these assets were erased.
With the introduction of blockchain technology, it’s the gamer, rather than the publisher, who owns and controls an asset. This means that not only what you win or buy as a gamer you own and no one can take away from you, but also that the item retains its worth outside of the game’s ecosystem. You can take it outside of the game and exchange it for real world value.
A quick look at the technology
Let’s look at some key concepts in the blockchain revolution that make this possible: fungible tokens and non-fungible tokens.
Fungibility describes whether an item can be substituted with another identical item.
Fungible tokens are ideal for cryptocurrencies. Everyone values a fungible token the same so one can be replaced with another of the same type. A bitcoin can be exchanged for another bitcoin, just as a dollar can be exchanged for another dollar — with no loss.
Non-fungible tokens, on the other hand, are assets that are unique and cannot be changed or copied — like your passport. If you give it to someone, you would always expect to get back the exact same item; not one of the same type.
When applied to games, non-fungible tokens can revolutionise the industry. They make it possible for individual gamers to own unique items (a cricket bat, for example) bringing in innovative and disruptive opportunities to reimagine player-to-player, player-to-game, and player-to-publisher paradigms.
How is this going to change the games industry?
FULL ASSET OWNERSHIP — What you win or buy as a gamer you own. Simple as that. No one can decide to remove your item from the game or take it away from you. You won’t lose it if you uninstall the game or delete your account.
But there’s more: thanks to blockchain technology you can permanently record your own history on an item (for example of how it is used within a game or passed between players), which makes it truly unique. Attributes of the item can be altered, improved, degraded across its lifespan — making it more or less valuable.
And if that wasn’t enough, you can use an item outside of its original game; in fact, you can even create new games around it! Non-fungible items can be taken outside of their game and used in a different manner than was originally conceived. As they are digitally owned by the gamers, they can be used in any manner their owners wish. This also means that new environments can be created for an item’s use outside of the original game and intended purpose — which will allow third parties to build and enrich the game’s wider environment and community.
REWARDS — This brings several financial advantages. You are free to personalise, trade, and sell your hard-won items. “Farming” has taken place in MMORPG games (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) such as World of Warcraft for years, with black-market economies created to facilitate reward for gaming effort (levelling-up avatars, for example). With blockchain technology, this phenomenon will naturally form part of the mechanics of the game and community, rather than taking place “off the books”.
This also makes possible a new form of free-to-play. Players who engage the most and are the most valuable (to both the publisher and the advertiser) can be rewarded with items that have a real-world value. For example, a gamer who creates an event that attracts thousands of users can receive a rare in-game reward — which they will be able to use within the game’s ecosystem, take outside of the game, or exchange for real world value.
FULL PARTICIPATION — Players will take more control of the game. Smart contracts (a form of non-fungible token) can enable events and rules to be created by the users themselves, with outcomes and rewards delivered by the players rather than the publisher. Potentially, this could lead to players having an even greater influence on game mechanics and wider player behaviour than the original architect of the game!
As a consequence, games will become more than content to be consumed. When a game community’s actions are permanently recorded and have impact on the game’s ecosystem, a deeper connection between the player and game can be created. This has the potential to change the game from being “content” that is consumed to being a “hobby” to be shared, mastered, and developed.
Because performance and collaboration can have irreversible and tangible effects on the digital assets owned by the players, these changes can have a significant impact on how the player interacts with both the game and game’s community. This can add depth and richness to a game through the efforts of the players.
Stick Sports — Bring Your Own Bat, change the game
At Stick Sports, we believe that when players receive meaningful rewards and digitally own their in-game assets, they will have an interest in the ongoing development of a title and its future success.
Being able to own, trade, loan, customise and develop the key components of a game is a radical evolution in our industry.
With 450,000 daily active users, 55% day one retention rate, and over 70 million downloads across both iOS and Android platforms, we are leading the new era of mobile sports games powered by blockchain technology. Our cricket games dominate the charts in cricket-playing nations and our tennis games have topped the sports charts in 120 countries.
Full details of the new game will be included in our forthcoming White Paper, so don’t forget to sign up!
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