Over the years, technological advancement has revolutionized the gaming industry. At present, we are on the verge of another positive modification in the gaming world. The evolution of games from web 1.0 to web 2.0, and then to web 3.0 may change the way people look at the gaming industry today.
The change from free to play to, play and earn has changed the dynamics of ‘gaming’ by making it capable of generating economies. The US gaming market is worth $95.4 billion. The two countries, USA and China are dominating the gaming industry at present. Experts suggest that by 2023, there will be three billion active gamers in the world.
Gaming in Web 2.0
Today, the majority of people, play games to have fun. Some of the players buy in-game items and update their skills, however, all these activities have zero economic benefits in return. Moreover, if they lose the game due to some reason, or stop playing it, all their money would be wasted. This is the main reason, in web 2.0, gaming is said to be a “resource sink”, a waste of time and money.
Also Read: 6 Ways Blockchain is Revolutionizing Commercial Real Estate
Role of Web 3.0 in Revolutionizing The Gaming Industry
Web 3.0 is planning to fundamentally change the gaming industry, by bringing in the opportunity for the players with the concept of “Play and Earn”. In the new era, players can buy in-game assets, which are only a limited edition, and sell them off to other players inside or outside the game with profits. Here’s how Web 3.0 is changing the gaming industry.
Ownership to Limited Assets
Almost every game today has in-app purchases, either to buy a royal premium or other products like “skins of products”. However, these items are unlimited in number, and multiple players who want it can buy them through IAPs (in-app purchases). The problem with web 2.0 gaming is that even after paying for these products, the players cannot own them.
In web 3.0, blockchain technology brings in the opportunity to enable in-game asset ownership, which allows the players to own these products. Moreover, these assets are finite in supply, which gives an opportunity to the players to sell them off to other players.
Once payment is made by a player, the asset will be an ownership product of the player and not the game. This means even if the game doesn’t work in the future, or the player quits, the asset will still be with the player saving his resources.
Play And Earn Simultaneously
Since gaming had zero earning opportunities, in the era of web 1.0 or early web 2.0, many active gamers had to quit playing and force themselves into the real world to earn and survive. Today, players have switched to esports, and streaming to enhance their gaming skills.
With web 3.0, gamers can play and earn simultaneously. Games will soon become economic, and the players can generate more than a living depending on their skills. Moreover, the players can earn tokens or crypto for crossing each level. These tokens or crypto can be further exchanged for fiat money.
Web 3.0 and Interoperability
The conventional gaming ecosystem is ‘siloed’. This means the games do not communicate with each other. Moreover, the assets that you buy in one game cannot be used in other games.
However, blockchain technology has brought out amazing opportunities for the gaming industry by allowing players to compliment each other and smoothly switch to other games. The players can bring their assets or NFTs in the form of avatars, or skins in other games and use them.
Web 3.0, and The Underlying Technologies
Web 3.0 is the new buzzword, and everyone is talking about it. Web 3.0 is the next step of the internet, and highlight decentralized programming which will automatically decrease its dependency on large business like Netflix, Amazon, and Youtube.
Here are the three concepts that make web 3.0 possible.
- Non-Fungible Coins or, NFTs– NFTs allow the ownership of limited assets like any other cryptocurrency. These can be stored in wallets and transacted from one wallet to another.
The blockchain-based games will allow players to buy in-game assets, which then take the form of NFTs. The NFTs here will define the scarcity of the assets. Only the best players in the game can unlock these assets which will raise the demand for these items in the market.
- Tokens– the economy behind the entire economy will be ‘tokens’. Any member in the gaming ecosystem will be incentivized with these tokens. Either the gaming community, the gaming assistants, or the players, all these members can avail tokens.
- Blockchain Technology– Blockchain technology is transparent and immutable shared ledgers. The open architecture of the technology allows the developers to create games one on top of the other in the form of chains.
A similar concept is used to leverage the metaverse concept. In the second life experience, the players can create their avatars and meet people in the virtual world. Although the concept is yet in its nascent stages, it shows a promising future.
In Conclusion
When the majority of the businesses were going through bankruptcy, only a few industries survived the shockwave of the Covid 19 pandemic. One of them was the gaming industry. During the lockdown, the number of active players gradually started to increase. Today, with the concept of web 3.0 in action, the gaming industry shows a promising future.
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