Gaming is something which revolutionized gradually over a period of time – started right from “pong” in 1975. Since then, its popularity has been on the rise, so much that the gamers around the world had spent around $138 billion in 2018. 

Blockchain, on the other hand, is a pretty new concept, which is experiencing its meteoric rise across the globe with its technological advancements. It was in 2017 when Blockchain and gaming got together, through the creation of CryptoKitties, a blockchain game on Ethereum blockchain. It drew enough enthusiasm in the crypto space as the community grew rapidly than ever before. In less than a year, it received two million enchanting eyes and four million purrfect paws.

Gaming space is boosting along with blockchain, but it also needs to weigh the potential to integrate and overcome the traditional hurdles.

Blockchain + Gaming

There are lots of gaming and gambling sites embracing blockchain with full arms, as it provides a decentralized asset exchange, secure and fast payment networks, and enabling the developers to monetize their own creations properly. Blockchain provides Proof of Provenance, adding huge payment benefits, especially for the creation of gaming tokens along with seamless transactions.

Evolution of Blockchain in the Gaming Sector

Blockchain entered the gaming industry with either card games, digital breeding cats, or digital casinos. But the game fanatics are taking big steps into the gaming multiverse. Gaming calls for non-discrimination between different players from a broad spectrum of the global society. It is focused on fairness and transparency, like Blockchain. This is a requisite, especially when it comes to massively multiplayer online games (MMO). In order to maintain fairness and trust, the decentralized nature of blockchain becomes enticing.

Ways Blockchain can Change the Face of the Gaming Industry

• Interoperable Profile of Players

The crypto traders and investors use public addresses for transactions across blockchain networks. Once we create games on their blockchains, they can take their addresses from one game to the other. This means they can transact with their cryptocurrencies from the same address across different gaming platforms.

• Enables the Projection of Values on Intangible Assets

CryptoKitties was started in November 2017, and by December 6th, the players have already spent 6.7 million USD on this game. This proves how a crypto game can affect people across the globe. When you build something fun and beneficial, it will be embraced worldwide.

• Enables the Players to Store In-game Assets Securely

Hackers love being around centralized servers as once they break the encryption; its a very easy target for them. The blockchain gamers can store their assets securely in crypto wallets, with no immediate risks from hackers.

• Allows the Gamers Greater Control Over Their Favorite Games

The gamers likely go for the decentralized app (dApp) route to launch blockchain-based games.

1. dApps has smart contracts as its backend code while the front end can be in any programming language.
2. It runs anonymously, and the users have to reach a consensus in order to modify a dApp.
3. dApps use crypto tokens using a standard cryptographic algorithm. No entity can possess the majority of those tokens.

• Opens New Territory for Developers

Blockchain is constantly under evolution when it comes to enabling open communication between the players and the developers. A player can come up with a great idea, and on agreement by the committee, the enhancements can be made.

Some Examples

Here are some of the examples of how blockchain can change the face of the gaming industry. Back then in 2014, Huntercoin became the first real blockchain MMO game. It was Namecoin’s fork, which was experimented to check if the blockchain network could handle tons of players. It became a huge success due to the added incentive feature, where you can click on the screen to nearby or faraway locations and can collect the hunter coins.

The next phased of blockchain gaming became evident with Taurion. This upgrade from Huntercoin is massive as Taurion is a graphics-heavy modern game, created by Xaya. This game makes use of the blockchain by offering players a world with no centralized servers and authority. Taurion seems to be a rather significant step forward in the blockchain gaming sphere as the gameplay itself does not appear to be hampered by its blockchain backbone.

Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is currently unregulated. Kindly ensure that you undertake sufficient risk assessment when trading cryptocurrencies as they are often subject to high price volatility. The information provided in this section doesn't represent any investment advice or WazirX's official position. WazirX reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend or change this blog post at any time and for any reasons without prior notice.