It is unavoidable that NFT games will gain traction. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a kind of digital money that is stored on a blockchain and may be used to monitor the ownership of an asset wherever it moves, as well as provide resale percentages to previous owners. For the world’s 3 billion gamers, the act of searching for unique objects, collecting limited trinkets, and unlocking uncommon art and mementos to touch and enjoy should be a no-brainer.
However, for many, NFTs remains a difficult sell. They might be intricate and suffer from bad user experience design (get ahead of this with our UX Design Foundations course). There is an inherent instability in NFTs, and their environmental effect in their present use is difficult to overlook. For gamers, the specter of loot-boxes continues to loom large — these paid-for random bundles of stuff drained money from users.
However, NFT gaming is one of the most significant new NFT trends for 2022, and developers and publishers will find it difficult to ignore. We go into further detail on what NFTs are. the in-depth piece, but to learn what it all implies for NFT games, continue reading (or jump straight to our NFT gaming explained section). As more large publishers – including Square Enix, Ubisoft, Konami, Epic, Capcom, and EA – invest in or explore the usage of NFTs, it’s likely you’ll be developing for or utilizing them soon.
So, what does the future hold for NFT gaming? Consider the following…
01. NFT games will increase in value
Let us begin with the most significant. In gaming, NFTs may be used to unlock and enhance previously experienced gameplay. As Chris Clarke of KokoSwap argues, “in the gaming business, if the player invests their value in the game, it makes perfect sense for them to extract that value.”
This is Ubisoft’s position, as shown by the development of its own platform, Quartz, and its in-game NFT, Digits. Quartz was launched in response to fan anger at the end of 2021, yet the publisher persisted. This is critical because NFTs have the potential to successfully establish a secondary market for digital NFT games and commodities.
Quartz provides current users of Ghost Recon Breakpoint, the company’s open-world tactical shooter, additional cosmetic items through NFTs, which are often back-dated to reward long-term gamers. Due to the usage of NFTs, users may acquire exclusive ownership of an in-game object and then trade, sell, or keep it. Although the concept of players earning money from NFT games is not new, NFTs are more safe and versatile.
02. Players will assume command
As previously said, gamers have become used to purchasing in-game things through microtransactions and season passes. However, NFTs empower players by allowing them to sell products and potentially earn a share of future resales. This is monumental for gamers who grew up selling old games to pay for new ones in an age of digital gaming.
FIFA, as well as Fortnite, already provide limited-time skins. Both NFT games instill a sense of scarcity, yet the creator retains complete control. Players may exert influence over the selling and resale of things using NFTs. If you joined FIFA Ultimate Team later in the season and missed the season’s initial kits, you may purchase them from other players.
Along with things, players may purchase NFTs of new abilities or XP. Using FIFA Ultimate Team as an example might allow users to earn money by designing unique teams and selling them to other players on an NFT marketplace.
This Ultimate Team example highlights a critical point of contention among dedicated players. Those with deep means might just purchase a fantastic pre-made squad and win trophies, collecting NFTs as a reward, and never look back. In some ways, NFTs have the potential to reintroduce the worst parts of real-world football, as the wealthiest ‘clubs’ prosper.
NFT games, on the other hand, may embrace the ownership that players may bring. Customization is important to many NFT games; this concept might be broadened to allow developers to create NFT-powered assets for their favorite NFT games and sell them on a marketplace.
This might include fan art and projects centered on a certain game. This is where something like the GameStop NFT marketplace may be beneficial — by providing a platform for fans to share their own material. However, using NFTs in this manner would imply that publishers would cede some IP rights to their gamers.
03. The popularity of play-to-earn NFT games will skyrocket
Internal markets and economies may be beneficial. The development of Earn-to-Play NFT games, such as Axie Infinity (think of its Axis as Pokémon), demonstrates the way forward. Some gamers even make a livelihood playing these NFT games. With over 3 million daily players, NFT games like Axie Infinity are here to stay.
While many Play-to-Earn NFT games have a strong resemblance to non-NFT products like Pokémon and Stardew Valley, there are allegations that others are merely backdoor blockchains in which the gameplay takes a back seat to purchase and selling bitcoin disguised as collecting objects.
Aleksander Leonard Larsen, the co-founder of Axie Infinity, said that 50% of its users had never utilized bitcoin before to play the game. This demonstrates how NFT games may aid in the development of the user experience and make blockchains more accessible.
Even the most popular Play-to-Earn NFT games, such as Axie Infinity, may be an uphill battle to manage crypto wallets, buy-in fees, hidden expenses, and more before you can begin collecting your prized Axie. There is potential for improvement, which might be accomplished by combining the greatest concepts and user experience design from Play-to-Earn and Free-to-Play.
Additionally, Play-to-Earn has several concerns with its volatility. The value of things might fluctuate, which can result in a significant number of players abandoning a game to payout. There may be issues if the numbers entering do not equal or exceed those leaving.
However, since Play-to-Earn NFT games are designed similarly to Free-to-Play NFT games, the roots are still there for gamers to connect with, as long as ‘Play’ is always prioritized above ‘Earn’ and they are not money-grab trade applications disguised as cuddly animals. You can read about Exceptional things that you need to know about Gods Unchained by visiting http://seriea-fantasy.com/exceptional-things-that-you-need-to-know-about-gods-unchained/