Roman Semiokhin is a thought leader with experience of a range of different industries, including real estate, education, tech and gaming. This article will look at crypto gaming, a relatively new market tipped to see significant growth in the coming years.
In 2021, the global video game market was valued at circa $195 billion. With increasing numbers of players becoming fully immersed in online gaming worlds, experts anticipate that cryptocurrency will play a more prominent role.
Today, several games have already integrated cryptocurrency into their gaming economies. Play-to-earn games reward winning players by paying them in digital tokens or crypto depending on how much they play or achieve in games, enabling gamers to profit on their enthusiasm and gaming skill.
However, prior to taking the plunge, it is sensible for players to do their homework, exploring the benefits and risks.
Numerous Web3 games allow players to earn crypto by outperforming other crypto gamers or completing particular quests. Many video games also incorporate some type of in-game currency, such as Robux in Roblox and V-Bucks in Fortnite, although most of these games penalise players for selling their in-game currency.
Play-to-earn games enable players to earn digital assets, incorporating specific success metrics to track player’s earnings. Players can also earn assets by levelling up characters or gambling with cryptocurrency in a similar way as traditional gambling games but with cryptocurrency in place of fiat.
Top gaming tokens include:
- ApeCoin (APE), the leading gaming token, with a market capitalisation of $2.23 billion
- Decentraland (MANA), which has a market capitalisation of over $1.8 billion
- Sandbox (SAND), a metaverse with a market cap of circa $1.6 billion
Virtual video gaming money is no new concept by any means. Nevertheless, widespread implementation of blockchain technology has created opportunities for crypto gaming developers to introduce a real-world economics to their games.
By playing and winning games, crypto gamers can earn cryptocurrency or non-fungible tokens (NFTs), acquiring ownership of those digital assets.
In many cases. Gamers can exchange in-game digital tokens for stablecoins on either decentralised or centralised cryptocurrency exchanges. Players can either convert these digital assets into fiat currency or sell or trade them via online marketplaces.
Blockchain is playing an increasing role in many industries and gaming is no exception. In fact, its impact on the video game industry has been particularly profound. Some even claim that, beyond the realms of cryptocurrency and smart contracts, gaming is the first major real use case for blockchain technology.
Zain Ventures founder and CEO Zain Jaffer predicts that, like stocks, crypto gamers who invest early in successful games are likely to be the biggest winners. However, there are significant risks associated with crypto gaming and tokens at this stage.
Crypto gaming rewards players with NFTs or crypto, which become the player’s assets. Gamers can trade those assets for stablecoins or fiat currency that can be spent in the real world.
However, players need to keep in mind that the value of these digital assets fluctuates in a similar way to share prices; players who own these digital assets may increase their yield by holding onto them for a while and trading them at a later date. Equally, it is important to understand that the asset’s value can also decrease over time.
Other risks associated with crypto gaming are hacking and scams. Players must never share their passphrase, as this could enable someone to steal their tokens. Players also need to be wary of sending tokens to the wrong wallet, double-checking the address to ensure it can hold the token being sent.
In addition to value fluctuations, there is also the issue of legality, with online gaming prohibited in some parts of the world. It is therefore vital for players to check the rules and regulations for their region.
For more information about this topic, visit Roman Semiokhin’s website: https://romansemiokhin.com
