The gaming revolution – why on-chain purchases are the future

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‘Fortnite’ skins and PokéCoins may not seem like a fun gimmick anymore than an in-game necessity, but these kinds of in-game purchases make for an enormous $70 billion plus market.

In-game purchases have been around for a minute. The first microtransaction sold by a major publisher was in 2006 when Bethesda sold horse armor in ‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’ for $2.50.

Since then, the latter has exploded in popularity across different gaming universes. But therein lies the caveat.

In-game purchases such as skins (ie digital assets) are largely limited to the respective game ecosystems in which they are purchased.

For example, the aforementioned Fortnite skins can only be used or displayed on Fortnite.

Additionally, very few of these assets are tradable or monetizable by their owners in any shape or form.

This style approach to in-game purchases is not only frustrating for players, but it’s also a missed opportunity for developers.

By keeping these digital assets locked within their own ecosystems, they limit the potential for cross-platform collaborations and miss the chance to create a thriving secondary market for digital goods.

Now, if you’re reading this, it should come as no surprise that Web 3.0 is being proposed as a solution to the problem.

By migrating in-game assets to on-chain networks like Ethereum’s, players can have a greater range of control and true ownership of their assets.

By storing in-game assets on the chain, players will be able to easily sell, trade and effectively monetize their assets.

Let’s dive into how it works, and why it’s just the tip of the spear.

What in-game purchases look like on the chain

Layer-two scaling solutions like Immutable have worked to provide NFT (non-fungible token) infrastructure on the Ethereum blockchain to reduce the cost of NFT coin.

The NFTs are of course representative of the in-game assets that are purchased.

By selling assets as NFTs, Web 3.0 players have the ability to easily trade and transfer their in-game assets to different wallets.

In addition, NFT assets give the game absolute ownership of their purchased goods.

While some argue that the first order of business is to simply prioritize using Web 3.0 as a way to store and trade purchasable game assets, others believe that we need to move the entire experience on-chain.

By creating a decentralized ecosystem for in-game assets, we can foster a new level of trust and transparency between players and developers.

Bad actors or game developers will not be able to manipulate prices and prevent players from submitting or entire games leaving the market (along with your in-game purchases).

With blockchain, everything is out in the open, verifiable and transferable.

Imagine being able to show off your hard-earned Fortnite skin in ‘Call of Duty’ or trade your ‘World of Warcraft’ sword for a rare Pokemon.

The future of games

So what does the future of games look like with in-chain purchases?

For starters, we can expect to see a lot more cross-platform collaborations and integrations.

Developers will be encouraged to create assets that can be used across multiple games, creating a more interconnected gaming ecosystem.

We can also expect to see a rise in player-driven economies, where players have more control over the value of their digital assets.

With the ability to trade and sell items on secondary markets, players will be able to make real money from their gaming habits – something that is already happening in the world of e-sports.

But perhaps the most exciting prospect is the potential for new kinds of gaming experiences never before possible.

Imagine a game where your actions and choices have real consequences, thanks to the use of smart contracts and decentralized management.

Games can also improve on the largely flawed play-to-earn model, allowing you to earn cryptocurrency by completing tasks and challenges.

Of course, the path to on-chain gaming is not without its challenges.

There are technical hurdles to overcome, such as scalability and interoperability between different blockchain networks.

There are also legal and regulatory issues to navigate – especially when it comes to gambling and using tokens.

But perhaps the biggest challenge is convincing players and developers to embrace this new paradigm.

Change is never easy, and there will undoubtedly be resistance from those who are comfortable with the status quo.

But as more and more players experience the benefits of on-chain gaming, we can expect to see a gradual shift in attitudes.

Takeaways

Simply put, on-chain gaming in the near future is not just a Web 3.0 pipe dream – the possibility of a world where your skins, coins, loot boxes and more are no longer just meaningless pixels is just around the corner.

In-game purchases will become valuable assets that you can trade and sell or even use across different games.

Sure, there are still some kinks to work out – like figuring out how to make everything play nicely together and convince the bigwigs in the gaming industry to get on board.

However, once people start seeing the benefits of on-chain gaming, there will be no going back.

Niko Hosn is the CTO of ZTX and founder of RareMint. Niko is an expert in Web 3.0 games, blockchain development and composability.

Featured image: Shutterstock/lumerb