New Crypto Game Model Makes Metaverse Death Real

Play-to-Die: What if death in crypto games could become permanent, just like in real life? It would “open up all new kinds of experiences and gameplay.” This is according to crypto researcher and investor Dave Stanton.

Stanton put forward what appears to be a wild idea. It’s play-to-die. He wants to build a system that allows a beloved character who dies in one game to die forever. The character is minted as a non-fungible token (NFT) that can be bought or sold on the open market.

When the character dies, it burns the NFT.

“[I] believe that the value potential of NFT characters is much greater than traditional gaming characters,” Stanton wrote in a blog. “Thus, introducing a concept of loss by dying into the game is much more interesting and engaging than before.”

Play-to-Die: Dead but alive as an NFT

Death is not a new concept in gaming, so play-to-die can be an easy transition. Characters in first-person shooters, or FPSs, as well as those in role-playing games (RPGs), “die” in the game. Players get a certain number of lives, either a limited number or infinite.

However, the existing idea is that death in games represents nothing more than “a feedback mechanism that you have performed poorly in a certain aspect of gameplay.” In real life, when you die “it’s game over for good.” When you play to die, you die.

Stanton believes the actual death experience can be applied to cryptocurrency games. He hopes this “will unlock new gameplay experiences, new opportunities for players to earn and potentially create some of the most enticing spectator experiences.”

NFTS

His plan revolves around non-fungible tokens, immutable and unique units of data stored on the blockchain. NFTs can be used to represent items such as images, videos, audio, and other types of digital files. And now dead characters in the gaming metaverse.

“NFTs can be bought, sold, traded or used in other contexts outside of just one game,” he said. “These points are significant… compared to previous gaming experiences. Instead of only being able to use the character in that game, a player can now buy/sell on the open market.”

Stanton also talked about the growth of NFTs that can be shared and traded across different blockchains. “That means characters will have a lot more value (not just monetary value, but emotional value to the player) because they’re not tied to a single game,” he explained.

“This interoperability could manifest itself in many ways. Being able to use a character in multiple games is obvious. I think there could also be promotional partnerships, membership opportunities and many more that we can’t currently imagine,” Stanton added.

How does it work?

Non-fungible tokens have brought up new possibilities in the curation and circulation of art. They have received support from pop celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton and Madonna.

Considered by some as the Wild West of the blockchain industry, non-fungible tokens have also begun to draw criminals into the industry. Problems with carpet covers are common. Users have also lost thousands of NFTs worth millions of dollars in phishing attacks.

In his proposal, Dave Stanton theorizes how permanent death in crypto games might work. He envisions a first-person shooter or another fighting or fighting game. In this game, a player’s character is an NFT.

As one wins battles, they acquire skills. But if you lose a match, your character dies and it burns NFT. What could this mean?

“If the game was very popular, any player could start from nothing and purely on merit build up a highly skilled character,” Stanton elaborated.

“Theoretically, highly skilled characters would be rare since many would die all the time in the game. They could then play with this character or sell it to someone who wants a skilled fighter but doesn’t want to put in the work to get it.”

Stanton claimed that this could create “earning opportunities for good players with little or no capital. Rarity is not random (as with current NFT coins) but based on skill, effort and survival.”

“I think there’s also a possibility of skins or items that can only be unlocked by reaching certain levels or surviving a certain number of battles. This will create additional value for these characters beyond just their in-game skills, he added.

Dying while playing

Dying in a game means players lose their character. Stanton said that players “can become even more engaged and attached to their characters and be extra thoughtful about their actions. This can lead to much more engaged players.”

Stanton’s plan means there is a possibility that “audiences will become more attached to various highly skilled long-running characters.” He explained:

“Streaming matches/matches can attract many more viewers in-game and more importantly, outside of it. Similar to how the biggest sporting events in the world (Super Bowl, World Cup, Olympics, etc.) bring fans of the sport to watch as well as many “non-sports fans”. [This is] due to the scale of interest in these events and the impact it has on pop culture. Since the characters will ‘die’ in the game if they lose, it evokes much more emotion for the spectators and can be more interesting than the current games.”

Risky proposition

Not everyone is as enthusiastic about Stanton’s idea. Long Do, game director at NFT pixel art play-to-earn game platform Anomura, told BeInCrypto that the concept of permanent death in crypto games was weak.

“The weakness of the model is that most investors want to see models where there is little risk and big upside,” Do said.

“For example, projects where there is no cost for investors to create, but a big upside if the secondary sale goes viral and the floor price allows them to make money. This type of model goes against current thinking. From a gamification [point of view] it may make sense for those with a higher risk tolerance. There is an audience for this, but it may not be perceived as well by traditional web3 investors.”

Dave Stanton acknowledged the failure of previous experiments with permanent death in the gaming world.

However, “if this is adopted in cryptogaming, we will see many new low barriers to merit-based financial opportunities for players.” It is also “potential [for a] revolution in game viewing because it will feel more real and visceral to non-gaming spectators. Similar to how sports fans feel watching a game knowing that the athletes are putting their bodies, and in some cases like motorsports and martial arts, their lives on the line.”

Crypto games lead Web3 growth

According to DappRadar, the blockchain gaming industry continued to see significant growth in the third quarter of 2022.

The number of unique active wallets in the sector increased by 8%, or 912,000, month over month, ensuring that Web3’s share remained above 48% in Q3. Gameta was the most used dapp in September, with over 1.33 million unique wallets.

Move-to-earn gaming projects are becoming increasingly popular, it says. The Sweat Economy set a record with 10,000 NFTs on the Near Protocol. Blanko’s Block Party and Star Atlas, online NFT games, became the first Web3 titles to be released on the Epic Games Store.

Gods Unchained climbed into the top five collections by NFT trading volume. It recorded over $18 million in sales in September. Investments in blockchain-based games and Metaverse projects fell in Q3 ($1.3 billion) compared to Q2, down 48%.

However, this is almost double the total amount raised for all of 2021. In its Q3 report, DappRadar stated: “The future of the blockchain game is bright and it is on its way to becoming the frontrunner for Web3.”

Play-to-die: Will it take off? Let’s look at this space.

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