Web 2.0 games or traditional games have long been the only form of entertainment in the gaming space. Popularized with the development of computers in the 1980s and the Internet at the turn of the century, traditional video games available through PCs, consoles, mobile phones and elsewhere have amassed billions of users worldwide.
Fast-forward to the 2010s, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies began to make waves in the financial world, and soon after blockchain technology found its way into the gaming industry. Games integrated with blockchain technology have quickly caught the attention of the general public outside of the gaming community through their ability to improve one’s financial position through the Play and Earn (P&E) ecosystem. However, the response from the traditional gaming community is mixed.
A look at the numbers
The proof is in the numbers. The US gaming sector is currently valued at $95.4 billion, while blockchain gaming is projected to generate more than $260 billion in revenue by 2025.
But what makes blockchain games different from traditional games? For one thing, blockchain games have in-game assets that have monetary value and real-world use cases, as opposed to traditional game assets, which are trapped within the game. Second, the assets are owned by the players, unlike the game company that gives users a sense of ownership. Users can freely and seamlessly buy, trade and stake their assets. The combination of all these things is perhaps what sets blockchain games apart from traditional mainstream games.
Blockchain game pitfalls
Blockchain games have been met with some skepticism in the past, and not without good reason. Many P2E games suffer because players constantly collect and remove value from the game, without making any contribution to the ecosystem. Others criticize the high barrier to entry for some P2E games, which require hundreds of dollars of investment just to play. This is why Wemade, South Korea’s pioneering blockchain game developers, advocates including both functionality and fun for a holistic gaming experience.
Well-made games that provide a high-quality gaming experience with the ability to connect the in-game economy with the real economy can break the stigma surrounding blockchain gaming and attract traditional gamers who were previously on the side. defensive with respect to Play & Earn economy models.
The highest grossing blockchain game
MIR4 Global is known to be one of the most successful blockchain games with millions of users playing every month. Although it launched just a year ago, it has registered over 20 million cumulative users and $160 million in in-game revenue in a short period of time.
This Play & Earn MMORPG uses blockchain technology to provide players with more advantages, such as the ability to earn in-game tokens and use them in other games on board the Wemix platform, create and trade NFTs, staking programs, and more. The game features an open world premise that taps into a long-standing fandom of the Legend of Mir series over 20 years, impeccable graphics, and fighting designs.
The game provides users with an experience similar to that of traditional games while remaining innovative with the blockchain features it offers. According to several experts, it is one of the most effective mergers of conventional video games with the blockchain world.
Blockchain gaming has disrupted both the traditional gaming space and the cryptocurrency space. It has transformed the role of gaming from a way to pass the time to providing a legitimate source of income and returning control of gaming assets to users. As industry players address the issues of real-life usage and overall game quality, the industry is likely to see healthy growth in the near future.
