Photo courtesy Carl Raw on Unsplash.
Crypto gaming facilitates online casino gaming with the use of a cryptocurrency say a Bitcoin, Ethereum, or a dogecoin instead of using paper money like US dollar, Pound Sterling, Euro, or a Rupee. It is good for people who prefer using cryptocurrency.
The global gaming industry is worth $150 billion and is expected to reach $314 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 9.6%. It is estimated that the number of gamers worldwide is more than 2.7 billion. The global online gambling market that was $64.13 billion in 2020 is expected to reach $112 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 12%.
Industries around the world are looking to incorporate revolutionary blockchain technology in their products and services. Exciting innovation has been happening in the online gaming space and the developers are trying out new methods in the use of crypto for the purpose of gaming and the related trade of in-game products, the characters, and other new possibilities. The crypto games are rewarding the time and the efforts of the players by providing opportunities to earn and in the process are shaking the traditional games market.
The whole process of Crypto gaming-
In traditional games, the players use paper money to collect items and investment of more money can improve their playing experience by being able to play faster. Crypto games provide players the ownership aspect of what they collect through blockchain technology. The players can own their in-game items and trade in them and sell at a good price. Previously it was the pay-to-play model whereas in crypto gaming it can be the play-to-earn model where the players can make profits from their investment.
In traditional online games, monetization is done by in-app purchases, in-app advertising, and affiliate marketing. In addition, there are in-game coins, but they have no value other than the scope of the game. But there is a difference in crypto gaming as it allows the players to add value to these purchases. Here the in-game products are stored on a ledger in a crypto network and can be traded for cryptocurrency that can be exchanged for paper money.
The in-app purchases in traditional games like the coins, custom characters, extra lives, and other accessories make the developers rich without improving the financial status of the players. The whole merchandise belongs to the game operator.
The in-app advertising in online games comprises rewarded ads where the players have to complete some tasks, watch video ads, and complete surveys to earn cryptocurrencies.
In affiliate marketing, the players have to click affiliate links to refer a friend, earn rewards, and sign up for a free offer.
In traditional games, the in-game assets can’t be sold to other players having only a vanity value. This is different in the crypto games as the assets are distributed all over the world and decentralized as they are run on the cryptocurrency networks. This has the advantage of providing the players with variable ownership of the virtual products and can be traded for cryptocurrency. Every time the player trades in an asset it increases the whole game economy. Therefore the crypto games not only provide players entertainment but in addition also help them to earn money.
Crypto Gaming is exploding-
Research by Newswagg has revealed that the millennials are the largest age group in crypto gaming with 38% of them between the age group of 21 to 38. Of all the millennials having the cryptocurrency, 55% are gamers. It was further revealed that 80% of the gamers who hold crypto would like to use cryptocurrency for gaming purposes.
The Asia Pacific has 22.6 million gamers that hold cryptocurrency and this is the highest ownership rate; followed by Europe with 5.9 million, the Middle East and Africa with 5.8 million, Latin America with 4.3 million, and North America with 3.3 million.
As per CoinMarketCap, there are 162 game-related tokens that have a market cap of $13 billion and have seen a huge jump. The combination of crypto and gaming has become very popular because gaming is one of the most popular pastimes in the world and along with it there is an added opportunity to earn money now. The other opportunities are to get a piece of the gaming world and interact with each other, exchange, give gifts, tipping, and more of communication thus increasing the connectivity which is basic to human nature. The play for money model would continue in the foreseeable future.
Crypto gaming coins to Invest-
Gaming coins combine crypto with video games. There are many online games that use cryptocurrency and the players can use the game’s crypto for purchasing the characters. In the game, there is also the play-to-earn model where the players earn crypto when they complete certain tasks.
The gaming coins to consider as an investment are-
Axie Infinity-
Axie Infinity is a digital pet universe where the players battle, raise, and trade fantasy creatures called Axies. It has a player-owned economy where the players can sell and trade their game assets for digital currency. In order to carry this out, Axie game assets exist as tokens. Approximately around 14,000 exist in the world and to play the game a player needs at least 3 Axies. To buy Axie you should have the digital currency Ether(Eth).
The game is popular because some players earn thousands of dollars of crypto every month by playing. The Axie Infinity stock too has performed very well. It was $0.54 at the beginning of 2021 and at present is at $105 which is a huge jump.
The Sandbox-
The Sandbox is a decentralized platform built on the Ethereum blockchain where the players can build, own and monetize their gaming experiences using virtual scripting tools without the requirement of coding knowledge. The digital assets can be created in the form of NFTs and uploaded to the marketplace.
The player can buy and build experiences on the Land which is the digital form of real estate. Once they win a land they can build assets on it and many lands can be combined to form an estate. A total of 1,66,464 land is available on the map that forms the Sandbox metaverse.
Players can monetize on the platform by;
- Creating and selling assets in the marketplace as NFTs.
- Buying the land, populating it with assets to increase the land’s value.
- Building and monetizing the games using game maker.
The Sandbox is working with the gaming company Atari to create virtual theme parks. Celebrities including Snoop Dogg and Deadmau5 have created their own virtual estates on The Sandbox. The crypto game’s token has seen large gains in 2021.
Decentraland-
Decentraland is a 3D virtual reality platform that consists of 90,601 parcels of land. The virtual estate in Decentraland is the NFTs that can be bought by the cryptocurrency MANA, based on the Ethereum blockchain. Players can purchase land and use it as they wish. It could be for artwork, games, digital tourism, and many other activities.
Enjin Coin-
Enjin coins use tokens that are called Enjin. It works for a variety of games and is not tied to one blockchain game. Players can carry out many activities using these tokens like exchanging currencies, forging items and creating many other things to develop their own virtual world.
We have mentioned the uses and advantages of crypto gaming. But there are certain risks as well-
- Axie Infinity requires investment in at least 3 Axis before playing which could cost around $300 at the minimum. This investment is higher than the traditional games.
- You can lose your token in a scam or if your wallet does not support the NFT type.
- There could be cyber-attacks.
- There is lots of volatility and the tokens face price changes. A player may not be able to exit during price fall.
Almost one-third of the world’s population is engaged in some form of gaming activity. In crypto gaming, the players can own the game’s assets and trade in them for real-world money. The assets are owned by players and they can make money which is a better utilization of their time and efforts. There is the ease of transactions with the ability to play anywhere and it is a win-win situation both for the players and the developers.