Blockchain use cases in the leisure and entertainment sector

Over the past decade, observers in the financial and technology markets have looked at crypto and blockchain, asking if and when it will enter the mainstream. It looks increasingly certain that the future is now. With each passing week, new blockchain use cases are reported in crypto and business media, with applications ranging from poker to pharma. That should come as no surprise, given that three years ago 87 percent of businesses in the US and Europe were evaluating blockchain adoption, and today that number is almost certainly even higher.

Much is currently being made of the use of blockchain in industries such as finance, banking and supply chain management. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. Forbes recently reported that 90 percent of US and European entertainment companies are “considering their blockchain options.” So what are these options? Here are some that are already being taken advantage of by some early movers.

Streamlining TV and media production

In some ways, TV and media companies have struggled to keep up with the rapid technological progress in their sector. Digitization has unclear processes and distribution online can make it more difficult to control, and not least to make money.

Blockchain can solve these new challenges and can also ease problems that have caused complications for decades. For example, during the production process, managing cast and crew members scattered in different locations around the world can be very challenging. As Tony Fountain mentioned in a recent Rolling Stone article, Blockchain effectively eliminates the bureaucracy that hinders many large projects.

It is also telling to note that investors like Parkpine Capital are investing heavily in entertainment-based crypto startups. Founder Ahmed Shabana recently noted that thanks to crypto, “the film and entertainment industry is poised to reinvent its business functions.”

Double down on crypto poker

The casino sector was one of the earliest Bitcoin adopters, and especially in the US, it’s fair to say that crypto has already become a common payment method. The very specific reasons why it is such a good fit for this sector have been covered extensively elsewhere and we won’t dig into them again here.

However, the growth potential comes from the fact that casino games represent only one aspect of iGaming. There are 120 million online poker players around the world, and about half of them live in the United States. All the advantages of crypto that we referred to also apply when iGamers look for sites to play online poker for real money. In fact, playing blockchain poker for real money online is starting to catch up with casino games in terms of popularity. Online poker players are by nature wise about risk and return. Blockchain offers optimal security, anonymity and transaction speed. For players in the US, the added driver is that banking restrictions in all but a handful of states make the other transaction methods more difficult.

Play to earn will transform gaming

P2E, GameFi, call it what you will, it represents a new type of gaming and given the scale of this sector, it is something we cannot afford to ignore. As gaming has evolved over the past decade or so, online platforms have emerged where millions can compete. But they have brought with them their own challenges, everything from security to efficient revenue generation.

Blockchain can deliver an effective gaming solution that provides increased security, clear ownership of in-game assets, more accurate and meaningful valuation of such assets, better payment methods, improved collaboration potential and much more.

The problem with the established “freemium” model is one that was evident as long ago as 2009, when no one over half a dozen computer geeks had even heard of Bitcoin and the Farmville craze was at its peak. The in-app purchases and microtransactions that can improve the yield of cows or make carrots grow faster led to the emergence of a “pay-to-win” environment.

P2E effectively stops me from creating an ecosystem where in-game engagement is rewarded and those rewards have a clear value that can be used in-game or outside of it in other games or in other ways within the ecosystem. Assets can be traded or exchanged, which promotes increased engagement and builds community within and around the games.

P2E is in its infancy. Both the games and the best practices are still under development. However, it seems clear that blockchain adoption is set to become an important part of the global gaming industry, one that PwC estimates will be worth more than $320 billion by 2026. If that doesn’t represent mainstream adoption, then it’s hard to say what does .

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