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Exploring how Blockchain technology is impacting the gaming industry with Andrew Wagner of BlockchainGaming.com
Gaming is a huge industry and in recent years it has joined forces with blockchain to create a completely new experience. CryptoCurrents guest host John Biggs caught up Andrea Wagnerthe leading figure of BlockchainGaming.comto delve into use cases and how blockchain actually adds to the gaming experience and promises to reshape the way virtual worlds work.
While blockchain is often perceived as a complex and esoteric concept, it is essentially a method for storing and verifying data, especially data that people might dispute. Wagner explained: “In Bitcoin, that data is money. People argue about this all the time. How much money does he have? Can you afford it?”
The principle of verifiable transactions goes further cryptocurrency in the realm of gaming, where disputes over items, scores, and outcomes are common. In games, blockchain can verify who owns an item, what the highest score is, or even who won a game.
Wagner illustrated, “It’s like having unique physical objects in a game that are unique to you and that you can own.” This introduces a greater level of authenticity and ownership within virtual environments.
Decentralization in gaming offers several significant benefits. Wagner highlighted the frustration of “walled gardens” in traditional games. Speaking about his days in World of Warcraft, he commented: “In the end, I couldn’t sell my account or actually trade the gold I’d earned due to terms of service restrictions.”
Blockchain gaming eliminates these barriers, enabling true ownership and trading of virtual assets. Furthermore, from a developer’s perspective, blockchain opens up new avenues for fundraising. Developers can pre-sell items or tokens to raise funds for game development. This not only democratizes the funding process, but also promotes innovation by reducing dependence on traditional publishers.
Despite its potential, blockchain gaming faces significant challenges. One of the main problems is the presence of AI bots in decentralized games. Wagner said: “We lack a decentralized Turing test.” This can lead to scenarios where bots dominate the game, disrupting the intended player experience.
However, Wagner is optimistic about the future. He cited the example of Huntercoin, a decentralized MMO where players fought against a dominant player known as the “Dominator.” While they had to fork the blockchain to mitigate the issue, the organic evolution of the game demonstrated the unique dynamics of decentralized environments.
One of the promising initiatives supported by BlockchainGaming.com is Rising Star, a game where players start out as street performers and work their way up to rock stars. The game uses a two-tier token model, similar to those in popular mobile games, to manage its in-game economy.
Wagner explained: “The game allows you to promote and sell albums and music through the game, functioning as a music marketplace.”
This innovative approach has resonated with players and investors alike, particularly in regions where transaction fees in other cryptocurrencies are prohibitive. “For Rising Star, we have a lot of players coming from Venezuela… where the fees you pay in Ethereum are a lot for them,” Wagner noted.
The integration of blockchain into games is still nascent, with many promising projects in development. Wagner believes that the emergence of high-quality, artistically significant games will help overcome the skepticism currently surrounding blockchain games.
“The better a game is, the longer it will take to make it… all the terrible games came out first,” he noted, suggesting that the true potential of blockchain games has yet to be fully realized.