The journey of the game industry has been a significant one. Today gamers are looking for a gaming experience that is far and beyond just passively sitting with their console. What started with mobile games then moved on to the PC, and now these games are said to take a huge leap with the development of Web 3.0. Web 3.0 is said to provide a wholesome and immersive experience. But ever since the buzz around Web 3.0 started, the question of whether Web 3.0 gaming is a fad or a trend has been going around. It’s time to understand why it is important to look at Web 3.0 as a fleeting development.
Web3 Gaming
Many video game publishers are venturing into the Web3.0 space. This has helped strengthen the power and popularity of Web 3.0. The term Web3 has been quite often used in a tone that denotes the transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 being quite natural.
Web3 entered the space in 2017 with names such as Crypto Kitties and Axie Infinity dominating the space. The main reason behind the popularity of Web 3 games is the decentralized nature, and it also helps the gamers move from the pay-to-earn model to the play-to-earn model.
How does Web3 help in gaming?- Gamer’s Perspective
The Role Of NFTs
One of the most important elements in the Web3 space is the NFTs (Non-fungible tokens). With decentralization being the core of Web3.0, NFTs seamlessly facilitate the ownership of the in-game purchases that the player has made during the game. NFTs can also be acquired in the form of rewards as they move forward the levels in the game.
The most interesting aspect is that these assets that the gamers purchase is not specific to one game. The assets can be traded across games, and the owner of the asset is also likely to get a royalty from the resale.
Revenue Sources
Be it Web2 games or Web3 games; both involve chipping in some amount to be able to access the in-game assets. But with technology such as blockchain, the money, and effort that the gamer spends on a game does not go unnoticed. The assets that the gamer purchases can be sold on other platforms or even be rented to other players. This can serve as a source of recurring revenue for the gamer.
The Future Of Web3 Gaming
We are living in an era where our data is being sold without our permission. Hence, decentralization has become the need of the hour.
- The advantages of decentralized gaming are quite evident. Tracking or selling of data to third parties and information is completely protected and anonymous.
- Blockchains also eliminates the risk of dupe payments that is likely to happen with credit or debit cards.
- Many centralized companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc., charge an upward of a certain percentage to sell games on their platforms. The majority of the developers feel that this amount is not fair.
- Web 2 gaming profits are characterized by large actors or brands who dominate the market, and they end up reaping an unfair share of rewards. The developers and the end-users do not get adequate compensation for their efforts. The gamers, unfortunately, end up paying a premium amount for something that they have no real authority over.
- When it comes to Web3 games, the development fee is low, and the end users get tokens or NFTs, which makes them feel that they have a say in the governance decisions of the game’s future.
Now that we have discussed the advantages, it is also important to throw light on the hurdles that we have on our way.
- Fairplay is very important in Web3. The tokenization mechanism must be strong. It should find a balance between all the stakeholders. The developers, investors, and media outlets should be able to reap the benefits. The investors and developers cannot be blamed entirely. For certain games, they are still required.
- The balance between rewards and gaming experience can be quite challenging to achieve. Some games like Axie infinity have more to do with the investment rather than the game experience. Rewards must be yielded as a result of effective gameplay. Games should be focused on play and earn rather than play to earn.
- The gas fee is another loophole when it comes to NFT gaming. The congestion of the crypto network has led to skyrocketing gas fees. Blockchain like Solana and Polygon are much faster and cheaper.
While an immediate solution seems a little far-fetched, let’s leave it to the future. There’s no doubt that each of these issues will be solved over a period of time.
Conclusion
Taking all that we have discussed into consideration, there’s no doubt why developers are resorting to Web3. Web3 will help the gamers embrace camaraderie in a way they haven’t done before. The sole purpose of Web 3 gaming is to build gaming communities.
It’s time for the gamers to break free from the forces that monopolize gaming. Healthy collaborations are the key to the development of the gaming industry.
