Developing successful games and marketing them globally is no easy feat, and there are no cheat codes to shortcut the process. It requires investment, technical expertise, testing, and a strong go-to-market strategy, whether you’re a billion-dollar publishing house or an individual developer. However, the global gaming industry is expected to be worth $321 billion by 2026, and the sense of community and shared experiences that gaming provides to an estimated 3.2 billion gamers (40% of the world’s population) is a fundamental aspect of gaming, regardless of financial figures.
Web3 gaming is a promising new development in the industry that offers both decentralized game-making for developers and companies and social and economic value for gamers looking to compete and connect with people around the world. By offering new revenue streams for companies through in-game transactions, including the ability to mint NFTs of gaming attributes and avatars, and more personalized experiences for gamers, early adopters of Web3 gaming are highly engaged in pre- and post-launch game development, user experience upgrades, and funding, which directly translates to game maker success.
Web3 gaming also eliminates the downsides of centralization, which Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin experienced while playing World of Warcraft, by integrating smart contracts and turning the game’s virtual items into NFTs. This gives power back to players, who can now own their gaming attributes, even if a game gets shut down. Web3 gaming offers everyone the benefits of decentralization, meaning there is no threat or risk of a leader or corporation emerging to limit experiences. Game makers can then transition from sole arbiter to access broker, enabling gamers to monetize their game experiences.
Web3 gaming has the potential to be a natural bridge between Web2 and Web3, allowing gamers to move seamlessly between game play, socializing, and commerce, in both physical and virtual worlds. And the possibilities from a finance, social, and gameplay standpoint are endless, with 164 million gamers aged 13 to 64 in the United States alone primed for new experiences. However, for Web3 gaming standards to emerge and become the norm, the gaming world needs access to a performant blockchain and developer resources that accelerate progress even further across the ecosystem.
Web3 gaming also allows gamers to invest in owning NFTs tied to their individual game play and create DAOs, which are like fan clubs with direct input on game production and direction. A specific game’s community members can vote on important issues that relate to everything about the player experience and have confidence that the results will translate to better, more accessible gameplay. Building gaming on the blockchain offers fundamental benefits such as verification, security, connectivity, and creativity for everyone involved, while also helping prevent fraud, which is one of the most common challenges in modern-day gaming platforms. Blockchain tech ensures that all transactions and interactions between different parties are verified and legitimate, and it also helps companies guarantee that no individual or party has been paid twice for the same service or goods rendered since each transaction is recorded.
Asset portability is the glue that connects and enhances the entire gaming experience, and what separates Web2 and Web3 gaming. The ability to own and transfer pieces of a gaming experience helps get players invested, builds communities and economies, and offers individual developers and Web2 gaming publishers like EA or Nintendo creative ways to build games on chains, attract funding, and market to those 3.2 billion gamers (and counting) worldwide.
