Cryptocurrency has been gaining popularity as of late. With it moving into the mainstream, more and more people have been gaining awareness of it and starting to adopt it. With a larger number of people investing in and owning cryptocurrencies, it is soon becoming a massive market and inviting investment from corporations trying to capitalise on the success of cryptocurrencies. One of these industries is the Gaming Industry. In the first quarter of 2022, 128 crypto gaming companies received a massive 1.2 billion dollars in investments. According to joystickgames.com, Axie Infinity, one of the most popular crypto games, has amassed a staggering 1.2 billion dollars in revenue.
Gaming has been extremely lucrative for both people and corporations. Studies have shown that only 5% of millennials owned cryptocurrency, compared to 55% of millennial gamers. So, how exactly does crypto gaming work?
Cryptocurrency Gaming works on the principle of blockchain technology. A game is set up on a particular blockchain platform. This blockchain is made up of many blocks, which are further made up of immutable cryptographic signatures called hashes. These hashes and blocks contain data which is stored by blocks connecting to each other, thereby forming a chain, which is where the term blockchain comes from. The blockchain allows for security and decentralisation, as because of this method there is no one singular authority in charge of all the information as well as the fact that it allows for security as it becomes almost impossible to hack a blockchain network without hacking all the blocks on the chain.
Blockchain gaming has certain advantages because of its structure and model. These advantages over traditional gaming are-:
1. Agency of Gamers Increased
This is because due to the structure of cryptocurrency gaming, unlike traditional gaming where the only ones in power are the game developer and game publisher, and your in-game tokens, assets and skills were lost if the developer didn’t release updates to the game or discontinued it or if a new version was released, in cryptocurrency games your assets are transferrable in NFT marketplaces and you can both trade your in-game items and tokens. In some cryptocurrency games, you can even convert your in-game tokens to fiat currency as the in-game token is a cryptocurrency.
2. Instant Transactions
Since in cryptocurrency games a bureaucracy or middleman authority does not exist as everything is decentralised, the game becomes much more efficient as all gamers can interact with each other directly, helping players enjoy their favourite games efficiently.
3. Ability to Play Worldwide
With the help of cryptocurrency, players can play cryptocurrency games worldwide without working about exchange rates and transfer fees as cryptocurrencies are the medium for monetary exchange.
4. Being Paid for Playing
Since cryptocurrency can be converted into fiat currency, by playing crypto games and earning in-game tokens players are essentially being paid to play these games. Players can also sell their in-game tokens and assets and avatars in the marketplace, helping them get paid in exchange for their in-game progress.
5. Security
In online gaming, security becomes paramount as online transactions and interactions can be unsafe and people can fall prey to scams. Through crypto technology, people can have much more confidence in online gaming as crypto technology prevents illegal trading of digital assets. Through the use of crypto smart contracts, gamers and players can feel safer and ensure they are making secured payments.
6. Anonymous Gaming
The internet can be a vast place full of all sorts of people. In such an environment, most people would prefer to hide their identity. It is also true that cryptocurrencies might be discouraged by some states, or that some people might wish to play games such as gambling that are seen as social vices without that becoming a reflection on their identity or the cause of a loss of respect and social standing. Therefore, with crypto gaming you can hide your identity, as cryptocurrency transactions never reveal personal information unless you voluntarily choose to do so, and all transactions take place between encrypted and encoded wallets that reveal nothing about you. The anonymous cryptocurrency address generated for user purchases also change with every transaction.
