What Is Web3 Gaming? — Game-Ace
Web3 drastically changes the nature of our interactions with the internet. Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and NFT power up a previously unknown level of decentralization that lies at the core of the Web3 concept.
The gaming world is also experiencing a shift. GameDev has always been a pioneer industry in adopting cutting-edge technologies, so it is no wonder we can see Web3 gaming blossoming.
What is the difference between regular and Web3 games? What tech stack should a Web3 game development company work with? Game-Ace gathered the main info you need to know to comprehend the essence and value of Web3 video games.
Web3 Gaming Explained
Web3 games are digital games built on blockchain technology. It allows players to become actual owners of their in-game assets through non-fungible or fungible tokens, and this is a major turning point where Web2 and Web3 games differ.
In traditional games, players don’t actually own anything, as the copyright laws implies that every element of the game belongs to the copyright owners that are mostly developers or publishers. In turn, players basically just buy a license to interact with assets and have no real power over them.
Web3 technologies change that, allowing users to truly acquire in-game assets, sell, trade, or hoard them without risking that a game development team or another party will interfere. Decentralization, also brought by blockchain, allows gamers to use their assets across different Web3 games and platforms, creating a new digital economy.
Different Types of Web3 Games
1) Play-to-earn (P2E) games work according to their name: a user plays the game to earn digital rewards that could be cryptocurrencies or NFTs. Usually, the gameplay offers users a set of quests or tasks to complete. The longer users play, the more rewards they gain.
The biggest benefit here is decentralization: game developers don’t have any control over assets, as they are generated by players and for players. To start your journey within any play-to-earn game, first, you need to buy crypto tokens.
The most popular P2E games are RobotEra, Calvaria, Tamadoge, Lucky Block, and Axie Infinity.
2) Walk-to-earn games have a more non-standard approach: players gain assets by moving in real life. The majority of such apps reward their players for simple walking or other physical activities like working out, running, etc.
Depending on the game, users can earn cryptocurrencies and exchange them into fiat currencies or use them for in-app purchases to level their game character.
The most prominent examples of this type of game are Walken and STEPN.
Contact us for more information about web3 game development.
Key Features of Web3 Games
Web3 games offer new approaches to the world of gaming. The cutting-edge technologies combined with the determination to reinvent gaming experiences create a set of new features that have already become typical for Web3 gaming.
1. Ownership
As we have already mentioned, blockchain and NFT change the approach to ownership over digital assets, which is a cornerstone for all Web3-related activities on the internet. When players acquire full ownership over assets they buy or generate within the game, they receive an opportunity to maximize the value they get.
What does that mean? In the concept of Web2 gaming, in-game assets like ammo, weapons, or skins are relevant solely within the reality of one game. With Web3, users are not limited by one platform: for example, when getting a unique in-game reward as NFT, players can transfer them to other Web3 or even metaverse platforms or sell them through special marketplaces that operate cryptocurrency.
Basically, in-game assets turn from virtual objects with restricted, disputable value into NFTs backed up with real financial worth.
2. Transparency
Blockchain makes every process in the game transparent, providing the same amount of data for every user. It brings two significant benefits: first, it is a guarantee that a game is fair and no one is tampering with the game environment or cheating. Second, the advanced digital economy demands a high level of transparency for efficient operations.
Transparency equalizes players and developers, allowing everyone to easily track the game’s progress and changes, creating a ground for complete trust in the game’s integrity. In turn, it attracts high-skill players who handpick the gaming platform.
3. Decentralization
Decentralization is another key feature of the Web3 ecosystem. For the game world, it means enhanced immersion for players: they receive the freedom of action and can extract real benefits from the game without needing to involve any third-party intermediates.
Players gain more power and break from the limitations of Web2 games where the main authority belongs to developers and publishers. Such democratization attracts the gaming community that strives for autonomy, fairness, and independence, meaning that any NFT game development company has a chance to connect with a new audience of top players.
4. Decreased Downtime and Enhanced Scalability
One of the biggest benefits of Web3 over Web2 games is almost absent downtime. As Web3 games run on blockchain and hence are decentralized, there is no common system that can break down and demand maintenance from authority.
At the same time, thanks to blockchain, Web3 games work on block minting and high data storage facilities, so they can be easily scaled and expanded.
5. Integration with Old Games
Web3 games are not limited solely to new concepts that are being developed from scratch. Cutting-edge technologies allow the transforming of old-school games and allow any metaverse game development company to integrate them into the metaverse environment.
Web3 makes old gaming models more decentralized, powering every user to have elements of their favorite games in the metaverse and Web3 environments.
6. Player-driven Experience
All mentioned above leads to the formation of a player-driven experience that allows users to tailor Web3 games to their preferences and wishes. Users have a lot of freedom to make their own decisions, earn money, or transfer assets across various environments, basically taking up the reins over the gaming processes.
It is a turning point for the gaming industry, which brings a totally new landscape of opportunities for both gamers and developers.
What Is the Technology Stack of Web3 Gaming?
When talking about Web3 gaming capacities, it is important to talk about the crypto tech stack that makes all the top features possible.
Web3 dApps
DApps are running on a decentralized peer-to-peer network, allowing developers and players to interact with blockchain platforms. They power up in-game transactions and assets.
Smart Contracts
Smart contracts are self-executing programs that ensure that the terms of the agreement running on a blockchain are followed. In the context of Web3 gaming, they govern various game processes and are used by players in voting for a change to be introduced to the game.
Digital Wallets
Players need accounts to store the items they acquire while playing the game, and blockchain-based digital wallets play this role. Every gamer receives a personalized wallet address.
XR Hardware
Extended Reality (XR) is a general term for a set of technologies known as AR, VR, and MR, which offer an immersive experience of different levels of deepness. XR allows users to truly dive into the gaming world in real-time and open new interactive capacities.
Node/Web 3 Providers
Nodes are vital parts of blockchain-powered platforms, as they are designed to read and process data stored in blockchain networks. It is essential for the usage of cryptocurrencies in Web3 gaming.
Open Media Standards
The Web3 gaming concept implies enhanced interoperability, which creates a need for common standards for media text, audio, video, 3D elements, and other objects to ensure that platforms can co-exist in one environment.
Future of Web3 Gaming
Web3 gaming is still in its nascent stage, and 2022 was a rough patch for all Web3-related projects due to reduced popularity and decreased investments. Still, some projects managed to win the loyalty of users and investors, proving that Web3 gaming will only grow further, even if not at such a fast pace.
While the potential of Web3 games looks highly prominent, they are still far from mainstream adoption: only 12% of gamers have even tried Web3 games. The majority of Web3 players are aiming for earning cryptocurrency rather than seeking an immersive gaming experience.
This is definitely an issue for the gaming community: while the main motivation remains connected to earning profits, there is almost no challenge to go deeper into Web3 game development and leverage advanced storytelling with Web3 technologies.
However, Web3 gaming environment is starting to experience a surge of true gamers who are there for rich experiences, interactions, community, as well as breakthroughs in visuals and stories.
The border between Web2 gamers and Web3 games is breaking, mainly thanks to fully-fledged Web3 games that can compete with top Web2 games like Counter-Strike or Dota2. Such projects have given a significant boost to the Web3 gaming industry, demonstrating that there is an audience interested in exploring Web3.
The investments poured into Web3 games also give a proof that the industry will keep only flourishing: for example, the industry managed to raise over 750 million USD during August-September 2022.
Enter the Web3 Gaming World With the Help of Game-Ace
As you can see, Web3 gaming is still in an evolving state and is far from revealing its maximum potential. A new stage of development in the industry is happening due to the inflow of Web2 gamers, meaning that there is a new set of opportunities for game developers to tap into growing audiences.
While the Web3 gaming market is still undersaturated with quality entertaining games that truly unite the earn-to-play model and the best practices of Web2 games, it is a good moment to claim your market share and make a name for your company as a prominent Web3 game developer.
Game-Ace as a top game development company can guide you through the main aspects of Web3 game development and help you conceptualize the final vision of your game. Contact us to get an estimation for your project and discuss the ways of our beneficial cooperation.
Originally published at https://game-ace.com.
