The trade volume of NFTs surged from $135 million to $64 billion since December 2020. The blockchain gaming sector experienced a staggering 2,000% growth in the last year and has secured over $2.5 billion in investments. Housing enduring in-game assets on a blockchain has captivated many individuals. This shift allows players to trade their acquired items for actual monetary value.
Game companies benefit as their assets serve as persistent foundations for other developers to create new experiences upon. Despite these concepts’ excitement, the industry is still in its early stages and faces distinct challenges. Here are the advantages of adopting blockchain technology in the gaming industry.
Real Ownership
In contrast to traditional non-blockchain games where players lack ownership of their in-game purchases, a significant advantage of blockchain gaming is the player’s ownership of assets. Utilising smart contracts to regulate transactions, blockchain-based games ensure this ownership distinction.
Smart contracts operate autonomously upon meeting their coded conditions, leading to irreversible outcomes. Consequently, in-game assets acquired through smart contracts are transferred to players’ public addresses. The transparency facilitated by smart contracts allows all players to access and comprehend the governing rules.
Safety and Security
Centralised servers are beneficial to hackers due to the ease with which they can be compromised, serving as a singular, immobile target for exploitation. Upon breaching the encryption, all assets housed within the server become accessible to the hacker.
Conversely, blockchain technology presents a solution to this vulnerability. Players can securely store their collectibles in their crypto wallets upon purchasing digital items in blockchain-based games. For instance, the Enjin Coin website reveals an Enjin wallet tailored for players to Bitcoin buy while safeguarding it in their in-game assets.
Level Playing Field
Blockchain technology empowers game developers to deploy their gaming applications on a distributed ledger and open-source framework, ensuring transparency. In the blockchain network, modifications to the game’s mechanism require approval from most network members. The distributed open-source framework protects against cyber-attacks, theft, and hacking incidents. With blockchain technology, game continuity is ensured as there is no single point of failure.
Economical Payment Processing
The gaming industry has a global reach, enabling players from various countries to engage in gaming activities together. In typical online games, players often encounter high costs to access the gaming platform. Despite the availability of traditional currencies, transactions can be inefficient.
The challenge arose of finding a solution for transferring assets quickly without enduring lengthy payment processing times. Blockchain technology facilitates immediate global payments without any limitations.
Unlimited Gaming
Under a centralised operational structure, game developers or administrators can disengage from the gaming project at their discretion, leaving players with minimal or no options to sustain their gameplay.
Contrastingly, players can persist with their games in blockchain-driven gaming applications even if the developer chooses to close the project. The game remains active and operational within a blockchain network as long as the network functions. In several instances, new game owners assume command and can terminate the project for its improvement or progression.
Endnote
Given the ongoing evolution and increasing favour of blockchain gaming within the entertainment sector, it prompts a reflection on the industry’s future. The outlook for blockchain gaming appears promising, set to undergo substantial growth and achieve mainstream acceptance in the foreseeable future as more businesses embrace blockchain technology.
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