While blockchain games such as Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, Star Atlas, Decentraland, and The Sandbox continue to make a splash in the blockchain community, their impact on the mainstream gaming community remains limited.
A recent OnePoll survey revealed that blockchain gaming is still a relatively unexplored field with immense potential for game developers and studios to capitalize on. Out of the 2,000 adults surveyed, 52% were completely unfamiliar with blockchain gaming, while 32% were aware of it but had never actually played a blockchain game.
When asked about the loss of in-game purchases and downloadable content (DLC) due to studio closures and game servers shutting down, 63% of respondents believed that customer refunds should be issued for in-game purchases and lost DLC.
Approximately one-third (34%) suggested that the decision to shut down game servers and take video games offline should be made by the gaming community involved.
Blockchain gaming and persistent online metaverses provide gamers with a way to prevent the loss of their hard-earned in-game assets by linking them to nonfungible tokens (NFTs). By connecting in-game assets to the blockchain, gamers now have the opportunity to resell their items, characters, and other digital assets that would typically have no resale value.
The gaming industry’s highly centralized nature and the growing reliance on digitally downloaded or streamed games often leave gamers at the mercy of studios and publishers who frequently remove games from online stores and shut down online game servers.
Furthermore, the current state of the gaming industry offers limited opportunities for players to make money. Even if gamers could somehow resell their in-game assets, the potential for generating a substantial income from their favorite video games is generally low, although there are some examples in the realm of e-sports.
However, platforms like Axie Infinity, an NFT-based blockchain game where players collect, breed, and battle characters known as Axies, aim to bridge this gap. In 2021, Axie Infinity generated an impressive $1.3 billion in revenue and provided significant income sources for gamers in developing countries, with some earning up to $1,300 per month by playing the game.
Axie serves as a case study on how blockchain technology can leverage in-game assets and robust player economies to unlock value by creating resale markets for in-game items while also offering players sources of income.