If there are two markets that often go hand in hand, it’s gaming and new technologies. From virtual and augmented realities to artificial intelligence and machine learning, our games are becoming more and more modern and intelligent with every passing day and so it was only a matter of time before the cryptocurrency industry started to make its mark on gaming. The question remains, however, as to whether or not cryptocurrencies could really be introduced into gaming – and that’s what we’re exploring here today.
From developers taking the best traditional trading app formats and turning them into a game, to online multiplayer epics that take in-game currency to the new level, here is just how cryptocurrencies are and could continue to leave their mark on the gaming world.
The World Of Warcraft Example
‘World of Warcraft’ Currency Is Now Worth 7 Times as Much as Venezuela’s Cash
You’d be hard-pressed to find a gamer that hasn’t heard of the MMORPG phenomenon that is World of Warcraft. This epic role-playing game has captured the hearts and minds of countless online gamers across the globe, but beyond its addictive gameplay, it has also proven to shake up digital finance as we know it. WoW’s in-game gold economy has extended right past the four walls of its online prison and escaped into the real world, building an extensive black market as a result and has only rocketed in real-economy worth ever since! Against the U.S. Dollar, the WoW currency even rocketed past the Venezuela Bolivar’s worth.
This virtual currency may be different in terms of actual technological set-up, but the concept behind the use of an online, digital economy is one that has opened the gaming industry up to cryptocurrency use – but how would it work?
How Could It Work?
The Link Between Cryptocurrency And Video Games
In an ideal world, we’d introduce crypto coins into gaming and all would work itself out in the end. In the real world, however, it’s not necessarily that simple. From the fact that most gamers may not understand cryptocurrencies enough to use them, to the need to form some kind of value on these digital currencies, questions around how it would all work and what it could be used for are rife. Here’s what we think:
Cross-Game Trading
Why gaming could be a ‘killer app’ for the blockchain
Today’s biggest game developers, whether on console or mobile, usually have multiple productions with in-game currencies available to players but cryptocurrencies could optimise the way these currencies are used. With the rise of in-app purchases, usually in return for in-game currencies, players could benefit from the ability to utilise their coins across a whole host of games. Through a blockchain network, developers could allow their users to buy a package of coins and then utilise them from app to app as they see fit rather than need to buy coins in each individual app that may sit unused. This will not only promote a better value for money for customers but can even encourage further gameplay in apps they may otherwise avoid due to needing to pay to play.
Minimal Fees
Robinhood adds zero-fee cryptocurrency trading and tracking
If there was ever a perk to come out of blockchain technology for gamers and developers, the lack of extensive fees is certainly one of them! Not only can developers escape the need to pay fees in order to be able to accept payments, but players could find that the overall pricing of the in-app or in-game purchases that they’re making are much lower. By turning in-game coins into a cryptocurrency, they’ll be placing a set value on these coins for a more realistic approach to gaming buys but with the benefit of limited, or in some cases no fees at all.
The potential for cryptocurrencies within gaming is undeniably huge, but whether or not this becomes mainstream in the near future is still up for debate. From cross-game trading to low fees and a real value placed on the coins gamers use, bringing these two markets together could certainly work out for the better – would you use gaming cryptocurrencies?
