Can Blockchain Games Win Over Traditional Players?
Web 2.0 games or traditional games have long been the only form of entertainment in the gaming space. Popularized with the development of computers in the 80s, and the Internet at the turn of the century, traditional video games available via PC, consoles, mobile phones and other venues have gathered billions of users worldwide.
Fast forward to the 2010s, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies started making waves in the financial world, and soon after, blockchain technology found its way into the gaming industry. Games embedded with blockchain technology have quickly gained the attention of the general public outside the gaming community through their ability to improve one’s financial position through the Play and Earn (P&E) ecosystem. However, the response from the traditional gaming community has been mixed.
A look at the numbers
The proof is in the numbers. The US gaming sector is currently valued at $95.4 billion, while blockchain gaming is projected to generate more than $260 billion in revenue by 2025.
But what separates blockchain games from traditional games? First, blockchain games have in-game assets that have monetary value and real-world use cases, unlike traditional in-game assets, which are trapped inside the game. Second, the assets are owned by the players, as opposed to the gaming company giving users a sense of ownership. Users can freely and seamlessly buy, trade and bet their assets. The combination of all these things is perhaps what separates blockchain games from traditional mainstream games.
The pitfalls of blockchain gaming
Blockchain games have been met with a certain amount of skepticism in the past, and for good reason. Many P2E games suffer from players consistently cashing out and removing value from the game, without making any contribution to the ecosystem. Others criticize the high barrier to entry of some P2E games, which require hundreds of dollars in investment just to play the game. This is why Wemade, South Korea’s pioneering blockchain game developers, are advocates of including both functionality and fun for a holistic gaming experience.
Well-made games that provide both a high-quality gaming experience with the ability to connect the in-game economy to the real economy can break the stigma around blockchain games and attract traditional players who were previously on the defensive about Play & Earn economic models.
The most profitable blockchain game
MIR4 Global is known to be one of the most successful blockchain games with millions of users playing every month. Although it was launched only a year ago, it has registered over 20 million accumulated users and $160 million in in-game revenue in a short time.
This Play & Earn MMORPG uses blockchain technology to provide players with several benefits such as the ability to earn in-game tokens and use them in other games onboard the Wemix platform, create and trade NFTs, wagering programs and more! The game boasts an open world that capitalizes on a long-standing fandom of the Legend of Mir series spanning over 20 years, impeccable graphics and combat design.
The game gives users a similar experience to traditional gaming, while being innovative with the blockchain features it offers. According to several experts, it is one of the most effective fusions of conventional video games with the blockchain world.
Blockchain gaming has disrupted both the traditional gaming and cryptocurrency space. It has transformed the role of gaming from a way to pass the time to provide a legitimate source of income and return control of in-game assets to users. As industry players address the issues of real-life usage and overall gaming quality, the industry is likely to experience healthy growth in the near future.
