Web3 Gaming: Elevating Play to Next-Level Realities
In the past few years, blockchain technology has transformed its role from that of a cutting-edge financial investment to become a part of everyday life. While web3 concepts are used for a multitude of practical services, they're also a fantastic source of entertainment. Gaming is currently one of the biggest applications of web3 design. By adding blockchain features to gaming experiences, developers have been able to make games even more exciting and meaningful. Explore this guide to see why web3 gaming is so popular.Â
Key Takeaways:
Web3 gaming is a multibillion dollar industry with millions of players worldwide. Its games come in a variety of styles, ranging from first-person shooters to puzzle games.
It uses blockchain technologies, such as in-game cryptos and NFT gaming assets.
What Is Web3 Gaming?
Web3 gaming is a multibillion dollar industry with millions of players across the globe. Its games come in a variety of styles, ranging from first-person shooters to puzzle games. The main commonality among all of these games is the use of blockchain technology, such as in-game cryptos and NFT gaming assets.
How Does Web3 Gaming Work?
âWeb3 gamingâ might sound pretty high-tech, but it's actually surprisingly simple. Web3 games are just standard games that incorporate blockchain technology into their designs.Â
The majority of web3 games rely on two basic structures: half of each game is a standard video design that uses coding, software and hardware to create a system in which users input instructions and receive a gaming experience. The component that differentiates web3 gaming from other gaming is that of its blockchain technology. While designing their games, web3 developers also connect their systems to a blockchain, setting up multiple smart contracts that trigger when certain in-game actions occur. This design allows web3 games to include all sorts of blockchain mechanics. The following are a few examples:
Decentralized digital identities that turn each player account into a blockchain wallet.
On-chain representation of in-game assets, such as land, tokens, weapons and cosmetic skins.
In-game assets that can be transferred and traded on third-party crypto exchanges.
NFT collectibles that directly tie in to gameplay.
Player-led communities in which users can vote on game rules and design.
Blockchain-based storage for data, such as reward points and player statistics.
Types of Web3 Gaming
Web3 gaming is an incredibly broad industry. Some web3 games are simple mobile apps where you tap a single button, while others are complex worlds that require hours of practice to understand. To get a good understanding of the web3 gaming landscape, it's useful to take a look at some of the most common types of games.
Investment Gaming
Also called GameFi gaming or DeFi gaming, investment gaming emerged as the first generation of web3 games, essentially a gamified version of standard crypto investment, with features such as staking and yield farming. Games like Axie Infinity focus primarily on making money, but they use a game-based interface to make the process more entertaining.
Experience-to-Earn Gaming
Experience-to-earn games (also called play-to-earn or P2E games) gamify standard behaviors. Users might tap a button or take a walk in real life, and then their action mines cryptocurrency thatâs directly deposited in the player's wallet. Ever since the earliest move-to-earn games, such as STEPN, this has been one of the most popular forms of web3 gaming.
Competition Gaming
The modern generation of web3 game development is moving away from repetitive, crypto-focused designs and instead attempting to copy strategies from the traditional gaming industry. Competition-based games involve players battling each other. Though players can earn digital assets, the main goal is simply to compete with each other. Game options like Deadrop mimic first-person shooter competitions, while styles such as Shardbound mimic classic card-trading games.Â
Metaverse Gaming
The final category of web3 gaming is metaverse gaming. This style of gaming prioritizes socializing with other gamers and building a community. Options like Decentraland and The Sandbox create complex worlds in which players can create a character to role-play and interact with other characters.
Key Features of Web3 Gaming
The unique technology behind web3 gaming allows this industry to offer players key features they can't find anywhere else. Depending upon the game you choose, you may be able to enjoy many different fantastic game components.
Digital Assets With Real-World Value
For many players, the big appeal of web3 gaming is that digital assets have actual value. Using blockchain technology for in-game currency and items allows players to trade their assets both within and outside of the game. This allows the market to assign their assets a value, and players can choose to convert their items into other types of currency if they wish to.
Input in Game Operation
Multiple games in the web3 space operate under the principle of decentralization. Instead of having one company run the entire system, the game is run as a collective of players and developers. Blockchain technology allows players to vote on various decisions, such as what mechanics to add to the game or what the price of an object should be.Â
Actual Ownership of In-Game Items
The majority of web3 games emphasize player ownership of in-game items. Users have direct control over the things they earn and create within the game. Not only can players buy and sell their possessions as they wish, but they can choose how to use or upgrade their digital assets.
Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence
Web 2.0 gaming is at the forefront of gaming design. Though virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence technology arenât a requirement for web3 gaming, theyâre far more common within the gaming sector. Many games hope to use these technologies to offer the most immersive and detailed experiences possible.
Benefits of Web3 Gaming
All the unique features of web3 gaming make it a particularly useful type of gaming universe. Compared to traditional games, web3 games have many special advantages.
Versatility
Blockchain technology is a highly useful tool for game developers. For example, it makes it a lot simpler to manage things like player rewards and land generation, giving developers more options when designing their games. Web3 gaming systems also have the ability to run online, seamlessly interacting with a variety of DeFi products and blockchain tools. Ultimately, this means that the web3 gaming community has some truly unique games that couldn't flourish with standard technology.Â
Profitability
Web3 ecosystems streamline the process of making a profit from games. Since it's so easy to transfer and trade assets, players can more easily convert their gaming skills into cash. Not every player may make millions, but web3 games come with many opportunities to earn money.
Players' Rights
Since web3 games often run on principles of decentralization and transparency, they're often an ideal way to safeguard players' rights. Players usually retain control of their own data and don't have to worry about their hard-earned assets being taken away from them. Furthermore, web3 games typically value and respect the input of their communities. Blockchain technology makes it easy to ensure that community members are involved in every step of game production.
Immersion
Web3 games are known for their capability to offer an immersive and seamless gaming experience. In-game transactions and crafting are directly linked to real blockchain assets, so gamers can feel particularly connected to their games. Instead of having all gaming experiences take place within a specific program, gaming experiences have real-world ramifications that can be explored through multiple blockchains and online communities.Â
Challenges of Web3 Gaming
Though web3 gaming has many benefits, it's not always a perfect ecosystem. Here are some of the issues that web3 gamers may encounter.Â
Complicated and Confusing Systems
Web3 games operate with some nontraditional technology, so they can be quite confusing. Instead of simply downloading an app or launching a website, users might need to do things like create a crypto wallet or interact with a Telegram bot. This adds an extra layer of complexity that may make it hard for web3 games to onboard new users.
Lackluster Gaming Experiences
While web3 games have the potential to offer an immersive experience, it's not a requirement. The focus on investing and profitability has led to some criticism from the gaming community. There are quite a few projects designed simply to make money, and these often struggle to engage players. Many gamers complain about web3 games with overly repetitive mechanics, cheap artwork or bland storylines. It can take some time for gamers to sort through the vast amount of web3 projects and find games that are fun to play for hours at a time.Â
Web3 Gaming vs. Traditional Gaming
Both web3 gaming and traditional gaming hope to appeal to the same user base. Both styles of gaming endeavor to entertain people by appealing to their competitive and creative instincts. Thereâs quite a bit of overlap in the styles of games being released, and the same developers and gaming studios are working in both traditional and DeFi spaces.
However, unlike traditional games, web3 games can take advantage of newer technology. This style of gaming offers many unique aspects not found in traditional games:
In-game assets that can be traded outside of the game's ecosystem.
Full ownership of gaming activity and personal data.
Connections to popular blockchain ecosystems such as The Open Network (TON).
User-led management and development.
Potential to earn valuable items by playing a fun game.
More emphasis on individual developers, instead of big gaming studios.
Ability to pay as you go, instead of having to buy the game up-front.
The Future of Web3 Gaming
Web3 gaming is still a fairly new industry, with many changes ahead. Currently, the big trend in web3 gaming is Telegram play-to-earn models. However, online discussions suggest that users may be shifting away from simpler games. There's been a growing demand for more complex games that mimic the depth and creativity of AAA games.Â
Analysis suggests that users are particularly interested in role-playing games with endless possibilities for fighting, crafting, exploring and more. In the future, web3 games may begin to prioritize entertainment and engagement over investment opportunities. You can expect to see fewer games with DeFi tie-ins, and more games that try to mimic the appeal of games like League of Legends and Roblox.Â
Is Web3 Gaming Worth Trying?
Web3 gaming is poised to become one of the biggest blockchain industries. Fortune Business Insights⢠predicts that the industry will be worth $614 billion by 2030. With so much potential profit, web3 gaming is certainly worth exploring. Both amateur traders and professionals have the chance to earn money through different games in web3 spaces.
However, keep in mind that the days of earning thousands of dollars just by tinkering around with a new GameFi product are most likely over. With so many products on the market now, it's much harder for players to earn money by tapping a few buttons. Instead, the big investment opportunities are more likely to come from supporting the products themselves. While you might be able to make a little money by playing a game, purchasing a new game's crypto and watching it grow is likely to be a more efficient and profitable use of your time.
The Bottom Line
Web3 gaming's capacity to combine entertaining game mechanics with profitable blockchain technology has helped this industry soar. Not only are blockchain games currently worth billions of dollars, but they're also poised to capture more players than traditional online games. Investors who want to be on the cutting edge of web3 trends would certainly do well to pay close attention to web3 gaming.
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