Gaming ecosystems powered by Blockchain technology are experiencing stellar growth. A variety of games in the blockchain ecosystem today are built to leverage the play-to-earn (P2E) concept.
COVID-19 accelerated the growth of the gaming sector, which is projected to reach $200 billion in revenue by 2024, according to Newzoo. With the ever-growing userbase and the size of the game-centric decentralized applications (dApps) market, the conditions for play-to-earn games and dApps look promising.
Blockchain games are changing the world. With the launch of the play-to-earn model pioneered by Axie Infinity, the gaming industry is on the verge of a Web3 revolution driven by modern technologies, particularly blockchain. Let’s find out how the world of Web3 gaming differs from Web 2.
What is Web3 gaming?
New technologies always give rise to new waves of transformation across industries. When the world met the internet and Google, no one could even imagine how it would change business and technology all over the globe. But the world is now facing a new revolution — a shift towards Web3, a more decentralized web. And Web3 gaming is only the initial step in this long transformation journey.
Web3 is a new era of the internet because it leverages the benefits of blockchain technology like decentralization, immutability, and transparency. There will be no central authority over this new internet. Web 1 was static, Web 2 is dynamic, and Web3 will be decentralized. And while we’re still in the era of Web 2, it’s only a matter of time until decentralization takes over and Web3 becomes our reality.
As time goes on, Web3 will continue to gain more traction and become more accessible, especially in the field of gaming. So what is Web3 gaming?
Web 3 gaming utilizes decentralization so that no one, not even a game’s developers, is a central authority. Players retain complete ownership and control over their in-game assets. This means that when a user gets a new in-game item, it stays with them and can be used outside the game and even traded for other assets or fiat money. In traditional games, players lose all their assets once they change gaming platforms.
Web3 lays the foundation for play-to-earn games development while offering asset trading, tradeable game tokens, and opportunities to earn crypto while playing. All the assets are stored in the form of gaming NFTs and are unique by nature.
Thanks to interoperability, Web3 allows for linking in-game assets and players across multiple platforms. The interoperability of Web3 games depends largely on the type of blockchain used for game development. For example, Solana and Polkadot feature cross-chain communication bridges for interoperability.
Blockchain in Web3 gaming
Blockchain has laid the groundwork for the next generation of games by adding a financial aspect. So what is blockchain used for in Web3 games?
- Public databases
Blockchain keeps track of any change and records every transaction in ledgers. It’s open-source and shared across every user’s system, so it can’t be faked. With blockchain, you get a solid public database of stats, NFTs, users’ progress, and game tokens that cannot be changed.
- Play-to-earn game logic
With blockchain, you can introduce a play-to-earn logic into your Web3 game. Players can win tradable assets, get valuable skins, and then trade them with other players or just earn crypto coins while playing games.
- Ownership and interoperability
Thanks to blockchain and NFTs, users are true owners of in-game assets and tokens. Web3 gaming has no limits; players can own in-game assets on one gaming platform and carry them into another game.
- Transparency
Blockchain-based gaming keeps track of all in-game progress and relies on a voting consensus while being available to all players engaged on the network. Thanks to blockchain, Web3 games achieve a higher level of transparency and more trust from players.
Top challenges of Web3 game development
There is no doubt that Web3 has a lot of opportunities to offer, but the industry is still new. Many developers still lack expertise and tech knowledge in areas like Web3 and dApp development. At Unicsoft, we can point out the following pitfalls of developing a Web3 title:
- Open-economy design
Most games are designed for closed economies. Players can play and make money, but they cannot trade. Once you add tradeable NFTs or tokens, the former design principles stop working. Developing an intuitive and visually appealing UX is a real challenge for many game designers since it requires them to think outside the box and create a user experience from scratch.
- Scalability
It’s one of the most complicated problems with blockchain technology and is one of the major impediments to massive Web3 adoption. But in 2022, there are layer-2 blockchains like Polygon that can offload the lion’s share of transactions from the main blockchain.
- Game economy inflation
The in-game economy needs to deal with such economic factors as inflation. When handled correctly, your game can benefit. But when handled incorrectly, inflation can turn your game into a virtual Weimar Republic. In-game assets can become so devalued that particular in-game mechanics cease to work.
Let’s take, for example, Axie Infinity. When their game just started, the platform offered massive welcome boosts via in-game tokens. An increase in player numbers and the same bonus policy led to expensive in-game assets that only a few players could afford. Axie Infinity had to change its welcome bonus policy to save the game’s economy.
How to build a Web3 game with Unicsoft?
The development process of a Web3 game doesn’t differ much from the average blockchain project as it proceeds through the following stages – planning, prototyping, design, development, QA testing, release, and maintenance.
But there is one thing that needs particular attention when developing a Web3 game — an in-game economy model. Web3 games can suffer from inflation, which can lead to the loss of interest in users and loss of income.
At Unicsoft, we pay special attention to building a game’s economy mechanism to ensure a working play-to-earn economy where players are rewarded for their gaming skills. Here’s what we pay special attention to when working on this issue:
- F2P components
- Revenue streams
- Tokenomics
- Value retention of in-game assets and tokens
Summing up
With blockchain technologies, NFTs, and the metaverse, Web3 delivers the financial benefits to games while delivering a next-level gaming experience. It’s the first step towards a next-gen gaming industry and a decentralized web.
While offering a wide range of benefits for players, Web3 game development comes with a number of challenges for developers. With over 10 years of blockchain experience, our developers know how to navigate the deep waters of Web3 game development to make the best out of the benefits offered by modern technologies.
Looking for a blockchain development agency for your next Web3 project? Contact our specialists for a free kick-off consultation.
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