Gaming on the Ethereum Blockchain: Audited Smart Contracts and why This Matters to Blockchain Gamers
We are living in a new era for blockchain. Previously, most envisioned the usage for cryptocurrency as a ‘payment’ system. Satoshi Nakamoto intended Bitcoin to be a decentralised marketplace provider using the coins as payment. This idea was scrapped due to the headaches creating and managing such a system would provide. While these ideas weren’t new, the implementation of them was. Decentralised exchanges have become a staple of modern cryptocurrency, chipping away at the control of ‘centralised’ exchanges.
Ethereum is a perfect example of how the industry has shifted to a ‘decentralise everything’ mentality. The first successful ICO, Ethereum has used its massive presence and war chest to build an extremely innovative system to integrate independent programs and code segments on the Ethereum blockchain. These are known as ‘smart contracts’ and can come in a multitude of varieties. From auditing shipping processes to ensure quality from packing to delivery to sequencing genome data, Ethereum smart contracts have shown great diversity in the short time its been integrated and adopted.
One of the latest innovations to smash their way into the crypto sphere is an old idea. Gaming on the blockchain. To explain why this is an idea, we must first understand multiplayer gaming:
Multiplayer games have typically always been about playing the game on a ‘meta’ level. Trading with players in Peer-To-Peer trades, learning how things work together, what is most worth pursuing, and what skills are useful to have. One of the key components of multiplayer gaming is the exchange of goods and services. In many games, players are always weary of scams and scammers. An issue in many multiplayer games where there is player-to-player interaction is the ability to defraud users with fake items, duplicated items, or even sabotage in the form of espionage. Some people can even fake a trade, only to get your money in return for nothing! This ‘layer’ of gaming have always been a thorn in the side of users. This system creates distrust inherently, as you must always assume the other user is dishonest and go from there.
In addition, there is the possibility for users of multiplayer games to hack the systems and exploit the game itself. The lack of infrastructure to independently know whether users are honest in their intent and usage was deliberated since the days of Everquest 1, concluding in no actual way to conduct this verification. Typically, violations must be handled personally by administrators. Therefore, the integration of blockchain technology into gaming is a natural way for these users to address many issues. The blockchain is a direct solution to many of the trust and verification issues in video gaming as well as automatic enforcement of violations. Instead of relying on a centralised authority (game manager, administrators), you can automate these processes and ensure all gamers are acting within the rules of the system while interacting. Therefore, removing the influence of fakes and duplicates entirely.
One of the first examples of on-chain exchanges of non-coin items is the Rare Pepe market, ran on the Counterparty chain. Using the fully-automated processes of the XCP blockchain, these cards can be traded anytime. In addition, upon receipt of the item, you know for a fact only you own it. This market was healthy and active for a long time, demonstrating market demand for these services. With the advent of smart contracts, gamers expanded on this idea and delved further into ‘how they could address these issues of trust, ownership, and fungibility’ while creating a true ‘game’. In a smart contract, these processes can be fully automated and verified, thus, removing interaction from top-level administrators, all while being ran under a ‘game’! Using the ideas of decentralised governance and full transparency, free exchanges of items or ‘things’ on the blockchain is now rapidly growing in popularity, all while being conducted under a full ‘game’ system.
The ‘gamification’ of the blockchain has been a massive success. With rapid growth in popularity, various games from Cryptokitties, Ethereum Towns to CryptoHorse emanated. But with this massive popularity comes a weakness: unscrupulous actors can ride the coat-tails of popularity to use these vectors to create an otherwise legitimate seeming operation, all while hiding malicious code in the smart contract.
Not all Ethereum games are equal — the main point of this article: The same due-diligence is required when selecting a game to play as one would do before you invest into an ICO. The ability to hide functions in a smart contract is notorious, from overflow errors and built-in back-doors for developers to issue coins freely. If you’re spending money to play a game, always be cautious and vigilant. Although there has been no major reported cases of an ‘Ethereum game’ exit scamming, the possibility is always present.
A smart contract is merely a delivery system for a package of code, and all crypto users should be aware that this code can, and has been used in malicious ways in the past. While smart contracts are a very powerful tool, one should remember that if someone is talented enough, this vector can be used to defraud end users who do not conduct proper due diligence. To prevent this from ever happening to you, ensure that any Ethereum game you play is audited by known and reliable contract auditors. If you do not see an audit page and the reports, do not play or invest in the game until you receive clarification from the developers and independent smart contract auditing firms. This process ensures that all of users are protected from seemingly legitimate services, and enhances the legitimacy of other already established games.
These auditors are well known for smart contract auditing: Solidified, Securify and Smardec
In order to protect the crypto domain as a whole, users must be aware of, and enforce these expectations. If a smart contract is officially non-audited, assume it wasn’t for a reason. Gaming is a great way to build a community inside and outside of the crypto world, and I expect we will see more full-fledged games in the near future.
With more complex code and games, the need will arise for more intensive auditing processes and rigorous self-regulation by the crypto community. We can definitely expect more, larger, in-depth video games on the blockchain. As this industry growths and expand, remember the reason for using the blockchain in the first place: To guarantee fungibility, transparency, and verifiable implementations of interactions.
Originally published on: The Crypto Collectors
