Why Video Game Makers See Huge Potential In Blockchain—And Why Problems Loom For Their New NFTs

History

Skins, weapons, characters, in-game currency — even virtual land on the metaverse —  these virtual items that players can earn or purchase in-game can all be traded or sold for profit, just like any other NFT. And just like with any other NFT, some of these in-game assets can sometimes fetch an eye-watering amount on the secondary market.

Если даже это вас не убедило, я умолчал об еще одном важном аспекте, так называемая цена за газ. Она же комиссия за транзакцию в сети эфира и ему подобных. Так вот, эта цена всегда колеблется, но в эфире 1.0, то есть текущей PoW версии, за газ заплатить $10 — $60 долларов это вообще норма.

Понимаете куда я клоню? Никто не подумает вводить NFT в масс-маркет игру, на блокчейне, где даже за то что вы просто подпишите транзакцию с вас запросят такую комиссию, помимо стоимости самого предмета. На такое имхо готовы тратиться только заядлые криптаны, но не простые школьнички, студентики и работяги. Поэтому этих ненавистных геймерами PoW блокчейнов в обычных играх вы скорее всего никогда не увидите.

Это же только для «владения» картиночками?

«Криптопанки». Одна из штук, с которых начался взрывной рост популярности NFT

Нет. Хоть NFT и получили свой взрывной рост из-за торговли картинками, это не единственное их применение. Просто так получилось, что именно с картинками эта штука работает лучше всего. По сути это то же самое, что и владение оригиналом художественного произведения — если вас не смущает, что есть люди, готовые заплатить 72 миллиона долларов за «Белый центр (жёлтое, розовое и лиловое на розовом)» Марка Ротко, то и продажа NFT как подтверждения подлинности «оригинала» не должна сильно удивлять.

Ключевая разница в том, что поучаствовать в сделках с NFT обычному человеку намного проще, чем в покупке реальных картин, из-за чего и сформировался довольно большой и активный рынок, где все верят в «теорию большего дурака». Вот в этом исследовании (eng) пишут, что в марте 2021 токенов продавалось на 10 миллионов долларов в день.

Спекулянты, спекулянты повсюду Tjournal

Наверное, зато NFT гарантирует, что разработчик не отберет мою внутриигровую покупку?

Неа. То, что сама технология NFT не позволяет отбирать токены, ни разу не гарантирует, что вы сохраните права на ваши цифровые ассеты. Вспоминаем, что NFT — это сертификат. Разработчик не может отобрать у вас сам сертификат, но ему ничего не мешает «отвязать» его от внутриигрового контента. Снова разные принципы работы «под капотом» с идентичными результатами для игроков. Сравните: «Юбисофт отобрала у игроков уникальную винтовку» и «Юбисофт перестала давать доступ к уникальной винтовке владельцам NFT на неё».

FAQs

What is an NFT game?

What are some examples of NFT games?

Some of the most popular NFT games to date include Axie Infinity, Decentraland, and the Sandbox. New NFT games to keep an eye on include RobotEra and Tamadoge — both of which are building a metaverse gaming ecosystem that offers real-world crypto rewards for engagement.

What is the number one NFT game?

We found that RobotEra is the number one NFT game for the future, it offers a plethora of opportunities for players and investors to take advantage of.  Another is Tamadoge, which sees players will mint an NFT which then creates a unique virtual pet with its own traits. Players can then enter battles with other virtual pets to win TAMA tokens.

Are there any free NFT games?

Yes, there are many free NFT games in this market. Players simply need to connect their crypto wallet to the platform, before playing games to win rewards. However, do note that the most successful players in the NFT gaming space typically make in-game purchases. This isn’t, however, compulsory.

Can you earn real money playing NFT games?

Yes, the overarching concept of playing NFT games is that players can win real-world rewards. In the vast majority of cases, NFT games distribute rewards in their own native token. The tokens can then be sold for other digital assets like Tether, before cashing out to fiat money.

What are the best Ubisoft NFT games?

Established gaming developer Ubisoft recently entered the NFT marketplace via its popular Ghost Recon Breakpoint franchise. However, the developer has since announced that it is winding down its exposure to NFTs — with the venture failing to attract any notable traction.

Блокчейн-игры без вложений

Многие игры требуют немалые вложения для того, чтобы начать зарабатывать. Но некоторые из них позволяют стартовать бесплатно. Это топ игр на блокчейн с заработком

Gods Unchained

An in-game screenshot from Gods Unchained. Source: Gods Unchained

Specifications: GODS token costs $0.4246, has a 24-hour trading volume of $2.57 million on Immutable X, with over 13 million NFTs released, and over 65,000 unique asset holders.

Similar games: Hearthstone, Slay the Spire

Pros: Free to play, backed by former Magic: The Gathering exec, multiple ways to earn

Cons: Gameplay can be repetitive, limited ranked opportunities

In this tactical card game reminiscent of Hearthstone and Slay the Spire, players must strategically outsmart their opponents by building decks that are flexible enough to overcome most opponent strategies. It also helps to have decent cards — as any Yu-Gi-Oh, Gwent, or Magic: The Gathering player would happily remind you.

So how does this NFT card game implement P2E in its basic gameplay loop? For starters, like with IRL card-based games, certain cards in Gods Unchained are highly valuable, and can even be sold as NFTs. Via an in-game “Forge,” players can opt to combine their non-NFT cards, creating a Meteorite NFT Card in the process. Neat.

Additionally, players may opt to participate in ranked PVP matches held “on most weekends” as per the game’s site. Participation in these ranked weekend events grants players expansion packs, which contain NFT cards of varying rarity commensurate with the player’s performance during that period of play.

Thanks to its deceptively deep gameplay mechanics and balanced game design that keeps things from becoming a pay-to-win mess, the game has garnered wide community support since its launch in March 2021. Since then, Gods Unchained has cleared more than $2.5 million in trading volume on its NFT marketplace Immutable X. With more than 13 million NFTs released to date, and more than 65,000 unique asset holders, players looking for a Hearthstone-like fix with P2E potential may look no further.

Full List of Play-to-Earn Games

GameFi «выстрелил» в 2021 году, а токены некоторых проектов всего за несколько месяцев выросли более чем в сотню раз. Яркий пример – токен Axie Infinity (AXS), который менее чем за год вырос с $0.50 до $160.

в блокчейн-игры нужно оценить не только преимущества, но и риски, которые могут возникнуть.

See also

Или поздно. Тут как посмотреть: возможно, мы проиграли эту войну еще тогда, когда нормально восприняли внутриигровые покупки в синглплеере. Я бы предлагал бороться с ними, с корнем проблемы, а не её декорациями в виде NFT. С другой стороны, сейчас можно отлично нарубить кармы на очередном полыхании в комментах, почему нет.

Особых минусов от NFT в ближайшее время ждать тоже не стоит — поверьте, маркетинговые отделы могут испортить вам удовольствие от игры и без новомодных блокчейнов. Ну а по поводу трат энергии на расчет хэшей давайте не будем — все равно никто не поверит, что залайкивающие мемы про Грету и «получай, природа!» геймеры вдруг стали защитниками окружающей среды.

Так что сочиняйте удачные комменты, готовьте боевые картинки и крепитесь — подобных новостей будет только больше. И да помогут нам Древние.

How do NFT Games Work?

Now that we know the role of NFTs — let us offer some clarity on how play to earn games work.

Now, the main difference here is that traditional games also allow players to purchase assets. However, as noted above, players will not have ownership of any in-game assets purchased.

The price of an NFT in the market will vary depending on the popularity of the game as well as the utility of the token.

Alternatively, non-players can also gain exposure to NFT games by investing in the native digital tokens of the crypto project.

For example, those looking to invest in the future growth of Tamadoge can do so simply by purchasing TAMA tokens. In theory, the value of TAMA will be directly correlated to the success of its NFT gaming ecosystem.

Top 10 Crypto Games

In this section, we review the Top 10 crypto games based on their token’s market cap, starting with a classic.

Axie Infinity

Source: Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity put GameFi on the map during the last bull run. Axie’s meteoric rise took the world by storm. With a stunning artistic direction, each Axie works as a piece of art.

But even more so, the game boasts some impressive figures. These include $3.6 billion traded in the marketplace, with 2.8 million active daily players. Nothing to scoff at.

You can engage in three modes of gameplay:

1. You can go on adventures and engage in PvE battles against Chimera. Winning your battle against a Chimera grants you variable rewards in the form of in-game NFTs. You can use these NFTs to upgrade your Axies.

3. You can breed your Axies to birth even more Axies with exciting new traits. You can keep these Axies and grow your set of collectible items, or sell them on the open market.

Axie Infinity has also announced a land feature, which has yet to be released in full. But so far, this is what we know. You’ll be able to use your land to farm for resources and tokens. Staking for rewards is already live, and full land features are set to be released by end of year.

Sure, the team has faced incredible challenges with the tokenomics of its SLP and AXS tokens. Still, the game is backed by recognizable powerhouses like Samsung, Google, and Ubisoft. I, for one, am curious to see where Axie Infinity will go from here.

The Sandbox

Source: The Sandbox

The Sandbox is a metaverse experience like no other. It made waves during the 2021 bull run, with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry like Snoop purchasing plots of land in the game. Other celebrity investors include the likes of Orlando Bloom and Justin Timberlake. (No small 🥔.)

STEPN

STEPN has become a household brand in the crypto space. It’s been credited with introducing normies around the world to the GameFi scene. It’s also the first of several play-to-earn games to incorporate real-world utility via move-to-earn (M2E) gaming, and is available on Solana, Binance Smart Chain, and even Ethereum!

It works like this:

You buy a shoe as an NFT. Then, you go on walks. The more you walk, the more you earn. Owning multiple shoes also grants you a multiplier effect, so you can earn more tokens. The allotted amount of daily energy is capped per shoe, so to increase that cap, you need more shoes.

You can also specialize and upgrade each shoe for a specific purpose. Your shoes have sockets where you can lock in digital items like gems to increase traits like luck. This is the gist of it anyway, enough to give you an idea of the gamification features.

Will STEPN make a comeback? That remains to be seen. But let’s give credit where credit is due. The team continues building, boasts a healthy treasury as well as a runway, and only time will tell whether this project can deliver once the dust has settled.

Gala Games

Gala Games isn’t a game in itself, but a notable crypto game launcher. The platform actually has several functioning games. However, they launch NFT sales prior to a game’s release, which can justifiably raise a skeptical brow or two.

The two games you can play right now are Spider Tanks and Town Star, with many more still under development, like Mirandus, Battlestar Galactica, and The Walking Dead: Empires.

Spider Tanks is a PvP brawler where players can buy tank and weapon NFTs and duke it out in one of the many arena maps. The game is free to play, but owning the NFTs gives you a considerable advantage.

Town Star is like many mobile games, and reminds me of Farmville. You start out with a plot of land and buy NFTs that you use to build your community. A healthy community generates more GALA tokens over time. (GALA tokens are used throughout the ecosystem.) That’s the idea, anyway. Like Sims, but with money.

Several other games are under development by Gala Games. They include a much-anticipated game based on the platform’s partnership with the creators of The Walking Dead. You can check out the list of games under development here.

My Neighbor Alice

Source: My Neighbor Alice

My Neighbor Alice is an adorable game with a cute interface. The graphics and branding are reminiscent of certain Nintendo-style games à la Animal Crossing. When it comes to playability, the game plays like the Sandbox.

Illuvium

If you’re interested to try Illuvium, you can try to score one of CoinGecko x Illuvium’s exclusive private beta 2 access passes here.

The game is open world. You collect Illuvials, which you capture while exploring the world. You can also sell your Illuvials. There are two modes of gameplay:

1. You play the standard game. You explore, find stuff, battle AI, you know, all the stuff you get to do in any other open-world game. So what makes this game different? By playing and doing all that «normal game» stuff, you’re actually earning ILV tokens. You’re also eligible to win prizes.

Like many projects, Illuvium is backed by big names, like Delphi Capital, Immutable, and Quantstamp. But more than that, just watching the trailer should give you AAA game vibes. (You can check it out here.) Sure, the gameplay probably won’t be on that level. But it does go to show that the team has some amazing design experience under its belt.

And yes, like many other games, there are land purchases happening on Illuvium too. Oh, did we mention that the game is integrated with Immutable X?

Valhalla (Floki Inu)

Have you heard of Floki Inu? If you haven’t, that’s quite all right. Because the FLOKI token is yet another meme coin featuring a dog, out of the hordes of other dog coins.

But don’t be so fast to cross this one off your list just yet.

So what makes Floki different? The project has the ambitious aim of becoming the people’s cryptocurrency of choice. This mission involves creating an ecosystem that provides holders with real utility.

And that’s where Valhalla comes in.

Valhalla is a simple turn-based combat game. It’s totally free to play since it’s currently running on the Kovan Testnet. The Testnet is on Optimism, by the way, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution.

Alien Worlds

Alien Worlds is a bit of a strange one. Only because it’s the only game on the list that’s really a gamified finance game cloaked in game design.

And you know what? That’s fine if it’s done well, and Alien Worlds has done just that. Even a cursory glance at the tokenomics snapshot below will have you nodding your head, going, «Oh yeah. They’ve definitely put a lot of thought into this.»

Source: Alien Worlds

I don’t know about you, but I love a good card game. You can use these cards to mine, fight, and go on missions. The game, as well as the cards, are actually incredibly elaborate and well thought out. The cards don’t have the standard rarity traits like most other NFT projects. Instead, the game combines rarity with something it calls «shininess» (an additional trait).

Like other games, you can purchase land (lol!). You also get to buy different tools, avatar cards, as well as weapon cards, minion cards, and others. You can win in-game «mission NFTs» by completing missions as well.

Alien Worlds has its own cross-chain bridge, so you can comfortably bridge your tokens across Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and WAX chain (a dedicated chain for gaming). It also boasts one of the most active gaming metaverses in the world. No meaningless feat.

Sweatcoin — Sweat Economy

Sure, staking introduces a substantial inflationary measure over time. But the team plans to buy and burn those tokens or redistribute their revenue as staking yields. (Pretty smart.)

Did I mention that it runs on NEAR protocol? 😏

Aavegotchi

Even on Solana, where NFTs are thriving, there’s limited playability when it comes to games. Sure, there’s a ton of fun experimentation going on, especially with gamified staking. But Aavegotchi was at the helm of this stuff before anyone else was even thinking about it.

And they got it right back then.

The game runs on Ethereum, and uses the Aave protocol. To start playing, you need to buy GHST tokens. Afterward, you can get yourself an Aavegotchi. You can pick one up from the bazaar, where you have two options. You can can either purchase one directly via secondary sales, or you can get yourself a portal.

Portals can be open or closed. Closed portals are randomized, so you don’t know what you’re going to get. With open portals, you get to see 10 Aavegotchis inside the portal. But when you choose to access the portal, the 10 are randomized, and you end up with one final Aavegotchi. (The remaining 9 are burned.)

Once you’ve got an Aavegotchi, you can treat them just like you would a Tamagotchi—but with a twist. The main aim of the game is to produce the rarest Aavegotchi you can. You can do so by upgrading its traits over time, something that’s come to be known as rarity farming.

There are several ways to increase rarity. You can increase your Aavegotchi’s rarity by petting them (thereby increasing kinship). You can also clothe them, feed them, and even rename them. In other words, you can make your Aavegotchi truly your own.

You can also stake your GHST tokens in exchange for FREN tokens. FREN are non-purchasable tokens that can be used for raffles and drops. Aavegotchi also offers two types of mini-games:

1. Community-run mini-games

2. Mini-games designed by the team (yet to be released)

The most anticipated release from the team is the Gotchiverse. It’s a pixelated metaverse where players will be able to roam freely, farming, fighting, and going on «Aadventures» with frens!

Closing Thoughts

The primary motivation for players to join a game isn’t to earn money. It’s to have fun, to immerse yourself in another world, to be a hero. A game must first be fun to play, and if it makes sense after, it can incorporate NFT elements to raise the stakes. Long gone should be the days where we launch half-baked games with the promise of future playability.

Can we really blame traditional gamers for being skeptical about NFTs? After all, the traditional video game industry has jaded them with blatant cash grabs. (Looking at you, EA.) Even smaller game developers loyal to their audiences have been sidelined.

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Valerio Puggioni

When compared to conventional gaming consoles, NFT games offer a full wealth of advantages and benefits.

We explore this in more detail in the sections below:

Suitable for All Budgets

First and foremost, NFT games are designed in such a way that people from all walks of life can gain access. At one end of the spectrum, players on a budget can often play their chosen NFT game without actually spending or risking any money.

On the contrary, there are many free play to earn crypto games for 2022 — and even more lined up for 2023. And, the more time dedicated to the game, the more rewards the player can earn.

In contrast, there will also be players that are happy to allocate money to their chosen play to earn game.

For example, the player might wish to give themselves the best chance possible of progressing through the game by purchasing a weapon upgrade, which is backed by an NFT.

In-Game Cryptocurrencies

NFT games feature cryptocurrencies native to the project. In-game cryptocurrencies are typically utilized to reward players. For example, when engaging with the Tamadoge game, players are rewarded with TAMA when winning battles.

However, non-gamers can also purchase these in-game cryptocurrencies and gain direct exposure to the popularity of the game.

This is one of the core reasons why digital tokens associated with play to earn games are attractive for both players and crypto investors.

Future Growth Potential is Huge

It goes without saying that the future growth potential of the NFT gaming space is significant. From an investment perspective, the underlying crypto asset that backs the NFT game will have real-world value. Its value will be determined by demand and supply.

As such, the value of the play to earn cryptocurrency could increase as the project becomes more popular. For example, those investing in MANA — which backs the Decentraland metaverse, have witnessed gains of over 20,000% since it was launched.

Axie Infinity has performed even better, with peak gains of over 100,000%. This is why new cryptocurrency projects in the NFT gaming space — such as Tamadoge and Battle Infinity, are increasingly becoming popular with value investors.

Immutability

When a conventional video game shuts down, players will typically lose any privileges associated with in-game purchases.

And there is even a chance that the absence of the game might make the NFT question more attractive in the secondary market — which could drive up demand.

What’s more, new games can also be designed that could integrate the existing NFTs. Ultimately, the possibilities of NFT gaming ecosystems are endless.

Upcoming New NFT Games — New NFT Games List

As noted above, there are many popular play to earn games already available in this market.

However, the NFT space is constantly evolving, and as such, developers are coming up with innovative ways to make play to earn games more entertaining and immersive than ever before.

Given this thesis, it could be smart to keep an eye out for upcoming NFT games.

The three new NFT games listed below could be of interest to those in the market for up-and-coming P2E projects:

To reduce the risks of investing in new NFT games, investors might consider diversifying.

Can You Play NFT Games on iPhone and Android?

Mobile gaming is now a huge, multi-billion dollar industry that is expected to grow year on year. As a result, many players will specifically seek mobile NFT games as well as the best NFT apps.

With that being said, many NFT games in this space currently only offer access to the platform online, via a standard web browser.

Nonetheless, some of the best new NFT games discussed on this page are building a mobile app for both iOS and Android, so expect more releases in the coming months.

Tamadoge, for example, is building an app that will not only enable players to access play to earn games, but immersive experiences through augmented reality.

How to Play NFT Games

The requirements for playing NFT games change from one project to another. While some games can be accessed for free, others require players to purchase either an NFT or its native crypto asset to get started.

Below, we take a closer look at how players can get started with RobotEra, one of the most anticipated NFT games of this year.

Create Crypto Wallet

After creating a crypto wallet, the next step is to buy either USDT or ETH. The RobotEra presale supports both assets, but it’s worth noting that ETH will be required for gas fees. Most regulated brokers like eToro offer both USDT and ETH.

Connect Wallet and Buy TARO

Lastly, head over to the RobotEra presale website and connect a crypto wallet. After that, press the ‘buy TARO’ button, decide how many tokens to buy (1000 minimum), and confirm the purchase. After the presale, tokens will began to unlock at a rate of 10% per month.

The Best NFT Games to Play Right Now

Our research found that the best NFT games available in the market today are those listed below:

Some of our readers might be completely new to the NFT space. If this is the case, we suggest starting off with our beginner’s guide to NFTs.

What are NFT Games?

What we call NFT games are simply video games with NFTs incorporated into the ecosystem. They introduce a layer of players having real skin in the game, thus raising the stakes. But not everyone loves them. Traditional gamers remain especially skeptical.

And who can blame them?

The video game industry has been accused of gouging our wallets with unethical cash grab practices. There have been actual cases where fans felt they had been robbed of their hard-earned money, especially regarding paid features such as battle passes and loot boxes.

Why are Traditional Gamers so Skeptical of NFT Games?

Paying to gain an edge over other players has been a bane for gamers in the traditional gaming industry. Once someone buys a game, they expect to play it with no limitations. Instead, gaming studios «incentivized» them to purchase in-game assets with no actual value. Can the NFT market change that, and pull traditional gamers in?

Насколько PoS — мейнстрим?

Если кратко — мейнстрим. PoW считается устаревшей технологией, на смену которой PoS и пришел. PoW, если берем крупных игроков, сейчас используется в блокчейнах Bitcoin (и всегда будет в нем использоваться) и Ethereum (скоро перестанет). Про эфир стоит отметить, что с самого начала его разработки переход на PoS был заложен в роадмапе, и сейчас все ждут выхода Ethereum 2.0, в котором будет куча крутых штук, одной из которых станет PoS.

Уже сейчас мы можем наблюдать огромное количество NFT, выходящих на Proof of Stake блокчейнах. Помните не так давно Little Big выпустила свои NFT? Они сделали это на Polygon — PoS блокчейне, являющимся сайдчейном Ethereum, со всякими плюшками в виде удобной интеграции с кучей сервисов.

Собственно Polygon поддерживает крупнейшая NFT площадка OpenSea, которая буквально вчера анонсировала поддержку NFT на еще одном супер популярном PoS блокчейне Solana:

The best kept secret in web3🤣