When you hear "playing games to make money", perhaps the first thing you think of is those e-sports players who are highly skilled and win in milliseconds. They are at the top of all players, and it is difficult for ordinary people to reach their realm. ; Or, there has always been a demand for manpower such as "game testers" in the game industry. Although the entry threshold is low, it is a high-hours and low-income hard work that may not be suitable for everyone. Is it just a dream for ordinary players to make big money by "playing games"? Things are unpredictable. After the emergence of "blockchain games", this way of making money that does not require extraordinary skills and independently determines the game time has quickly become the focus of the industry and even formed a unique financial system such as GameFi. Of course, Blockchain games are not created out of nothing, they also have their theoretical basis and operation mode. Through this special enterprise, we will understand what is a blockchain game.
Blockchain games, also known as NFT games or GameFi games, have to start from the new technology of blockchain to explain the opportunity for their emergence.
In recent years, many new terms have emerged in the technology circle. If you are careful enough, you will find that many of these technologies or fields are actually interlinked, and they are all centered on blockchain technology. In simple terms, blockchain is a technology for data recording. In order to ensure its correctness, algorithms are used for encryption, and collective verification (distributed ledger) is used to avoid tampering, which can solve many of the security problems of traditional data centralization. Sexual issues. With blockchain technology as the bottom layer, it can provide a reliable trust foundation for new types of currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum without the intervention of third-party institutions, and also has the advantages of transparency and openness. Therefore, blockchain is gradually being applied to various fields, one of which is NFT.
The Emergence of Blockchain Games
The so-called NFT is essentially a cryptocurrency, but what is more special is that because each NFT is unique, it cannot be divided into smaller units like Bitcoin, which also makes the use of NFT out of simplicity. It can be used as proof of digital data. This digital data includes pictures, videos, and even characters, items, etc. in the game. Following this line of thinking, the combination of blockchain and games is also gradually coming to pass.
At the end of 2017, a DApp (decentralized application) project called CryptoKitties was officially launched. It is also regarded as the world's first blockchain game. Players can purchase and breed virtual games through the web. Cats, since each cat has multiple sets of appearance characteristic genes and characteristics, there can be as many as 4 billion combinations after pairing. The developer initially just wanted to prove that digital goods can also be unique, and blockchain technology is not It can only be used in the financial field, so "Mystery Cats" is regarded as an experiment. As for why cats are chosen as the theme, it comes from the meme of "cats rule the online world".
▲ The concept of decentralization brought by block key technology has gradually gained practice in various fields.
Blockchain games do not equal the metaverse
The novel "game" experience brought by "Mystery Cat" has set off a cat-raising trend in the currency circle, and once caused serious congestion on the Ethereum network. Players see new possibilities, opening the door to the prosperity of blockchain games. In the past year, with the "metaverse" boom brought by Facebook's renaming of Meta, and many topical blockchain games, all of which are based on the metaverse, which also caused confusion among some new players. In fact, two There is no absolute relationship between the. The metaverse is just one of the manifestations of blockchain games. Whether it is card battle, development management, or role-playing games, there will inevitably be their own economic systems and role props, so they can be Packaging with blockchain technology depending on how developers design.
FAQ about BlockChain Games:
At present, the growth of blockchain games and GameFi is very rapid. Although they have great development prospects, they also seem to hide unknown risks. Therefore, the author also addresses the questions that ordinary people often have. Please go to a blockchain application development experience for many years. Guo Xianzong came to help answer. Gravity (Beyond Unlimited Co., Ltd.) founded by Guo Xianzong focuses on cloud technology, financial technology, and multimedia. The company's NetPute game community platform provides a platform environment and underlying technology to assist developers. Reducing the cost of game development and maintenance can be said to be deeply involved in the field of blockchain and games.
As long as it is a blockchain game, does it belong to GameFi?
Yes, from a broad perspective, GameFi is the combination of games and blockchain, so it also integrates the characteristics of blockchain, such as immutability, transparent information, and the introduction of native cryptocurrencies. Players are in the game. Game tokens or NFTs can be obtained, and these encrypted assets can also be traded on the blockchain to achieve the effect of Play to Earn. NFT is often referred to as encrypted art. It uses the immutable scarcity of the blockchain to solve the problem that digital files such as pictures and music are easily copied in large quantities in the past, and it is difficult to prove the owner. It is applied to blockchain games. , then any virtual props, equipment, characters, or appearances can be traded in the open market as a unique NFT; in addition, the game currency used in the game can also be converted into A valuable cryptocurrency, as for its liquidity and value, depends on the market and users, not game companies.
▲ Surpavity founder and CEO Guo Xianzong
has 5 years of experience in the application and development of blockchain technology in ITRI, and in the 2021 ABA Chain Gold Cup Hackathon Competition, with "the application of the instant game community platform in the blockchain" Project, led the team to win the Fintech Innovation Award in the Enterprise category
What is the difference between blockchain games and the current game ecosystem?
Under the framework of traditional games, centralized servers are used to store game data. The amount of virtual coins and virtual treasures obtained by players in the game is determined by the developers, which will generate There are two major problems. One is that the game assets obtained by players investing a lot of effort, money, and time may disappear because the manufacturer decides to terminate the operation due to poor profits. The other is that these seemingly rare virtual treasures may disappear. Because the marketing techniques of game companies are suddenly released in large quantities, in a state where it is difficult to determine scarcity, it is naturally impossible to identify its true value.
On the contrary, blockchain games solve the problem of virtual treasures disappearing suddenly through distributed ledgers. Even if the game project is no longer in operation, it can ensure that the records of these treasures will still exist on the chain. In addition, many blockchain games have also begun to move to the management form of DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), which is driven by the power of the community to drive the development of the game, to some extent, realizing the recent public ideal of decentralization for Web 3.0.
▲ The trading of characters and props in blockchain games is similar to that of traditional games, but your ownership will not be damaged because the game stops operating.
How is Play to Earn of blockchain games achieved?
Play to Earn is usually considered to be the main feature of blockchain games. At present, most blockchain games are in the form of web pages, but some games are also launched on mobile platforms. According to the type and mechanism of the game, players can get rewards provided in the game by fighting, solving tasks, brushing copies, etc. These rewards may be cryptocurrencies or NFTs. Therefore, players must have their own encrypted wallets before playing. For example, the most common It is the Meta Mask wallet nicknamed "Little Fox Wallet", so that it can store the digital assets obtained by players in the game. Of course, in order to obtain actual benefits, players also need to find an exchange that supports the exchange, in order to carry out the "withdrawal" action and exchange the cryptocurrency into a common legal currency, and since the cryptocurrency and NFT have room for value-added, the vision is accurate. Players who have, will get more lucrative income than the invested funds, and achieve the goal of making money.
▲ Depending on the public chain where the game is located, the supported encrypted wallets are also different. For example, most games based on the Ethereum chain support the Meta Mask wallet.
Is the blockchain game a Ponzi scheme?
Because to enter the blockchain game, you may need to prepare an encrypted wallet, spend money to buy virtual currency, initial NFT roles, etc., unlike the common free online games and mobile games, you can enter by registering a wash-free account, so there is indeed such a saying in the market that it is believed that making money while playing a blockchain game is to take the high cost of later players entering the game as the game income of early players. However, as a player, the first thing to do is to open your eyes and choose a project, collect more background information of the project team, including the investors, partners, the white paper behind it, or go to Etherscan to inquire about players who hold game tokens Not much, although there is no guarantee that there is no risk at all, at least it can reduce the chance of being cut leeks.
▲ The emerging Gala Games platform provides another way to make money, allowing players to become "nodes" to provide computing power support for the platform, and then they can get node rewards.
Why do most blockchain games operate on the Ethereum chain?
The main reason is that Ethereum developed early, and it is a relatively old blockchain. Therefore, in terms of related resources, development ecology, community development, etc., it will be much more complete than other emerging blockchains, while most developers Solidity, the programming language designed for the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), will also be more familiar. On the other hand, the two standard protocols for NFT, ERC-721 and ERC-1155, are originally from Ethereum. The ecology is extended, which also creates the environment of the ether chain, which will be more conducive to the growth and development of blockchain games. However, we have also seen the emergence of many new blockchains such as Solana and Fantom, which can avoid the slow transaction speed and high handling fees of the old blockchains, and even meet the needs of players to save game assets across chains. It is not impossible for the game to be cross-chain, but it will involve the mortgage delivery procedures of multiple smart contracts between the public chains. If there is a loophole in the contract, it may be hacked and cause serious losses, so it is not the case at present universal.
GameFi indirectly weakens the control of developers, why are there more and more new games?
The development cost of traditional games is quite considerable. Until the game is officially launched, all the expenses during the period, including personnel, marketing, market testing, etc., must be absorbed in full by themselves. The risk of people running out of food is often a real problem that many independent developers have to face. The blockchain game provides another direction. Developers can start selling NFT virtual treasures and issuing virtual currency in advance without waiting for the game to be completed. Players who enter at this early bird stage are usually promised to play in the game. After the official launch, you will get some special rewards or rights, plus the space for value-added, it will be more attractive to investment-type players, willing to spend money to buy, and even assist in the promotion to raise the floor price, and developers can also Because of these benefits, the pressure on development funds is relieved. Of course, for large game companies, although funding is not a big problem, it is naturally impossible to stay out of the way in the face of new game trends, so for example, the Japanese company Square Enix, which has launched the "Final Fantasy" series, also integrates blockchain with NFT is included in the future layout.
▲ The key to the profitability of blockchain games is often before the game is launched. For example, "The Sandbox" is still in the packaging and testing stage, and a unit of virtual land starts from at least NT$330,000.
▲ Players can learn about the developer’s gameplay and related plans for future games from the white paper provided by the official website, and judge whether it is worth investing in based on this.
What are the risks that blockchain gamers will face?
If you want to enter the field of blockchain games, the technical level of players is still second. Instead, you must first master the creation of virtual wallets, and be familiar with the procedures of exchange deposits and withdrawals. The most direct risks are mainly the rise and fall of value. , maybe you spend a lot of time playing, but the value of the currency may continue to slide, and even the project party runs away, etc. These have actually happened. To distinguish whether a blockchain game can be healthy or not is actually very similar to the stock market. If you want to make money as the premise, you must take the time to understand the team behind the project, the community, and be familiar with the operation logic of the market. , Don't be misled by the hype and propaganda, just relying on the gameplay and type of the game cannot be used as a basis for judgment.
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| ▲ The combination of e-sports events in the future may also be the development trend for the blockchain game industry to expand its influence. |
What is the future development trend of blockchain games?
At present, it seems that more and more developers are willing to invest in the development of blockchain games, and many of them are large game companies. However, since the entire blockchain game ecosystem is still in a fairly early stage, in a state of blooming flowers, whether it will suddenly bubble like an ICO is also a concern for many people, but in comparison, the threshold for making blockchain games is actually much higher than simply issuing currency, which to some extent curbs the flooding In addition, with the different game types and mechanisms, blockchain games can be differentiated and differentiated, and attract players with different preferences, rather than being reduced to a tool for speculating coins. If you want to extend it, the recent popular metaverse issues may be the future development field of GameFi, and it can even be further connected with real assets. Of course, in addition to the formulation of relevant regulations, blockchain games still have a long way to go.
8 Blockchain Game Recommendations:
Since the launch of the world's first blockchain game "Mystery Cat" at the end of 2017, from the early monotonous gameplay and ordinary image quality, it now covers many game types, and many well-known game programmers from major manufacturers are competing to join. Longjing, in fact, has only been in less than 5 years, and it can be said that it has made rapid progress. However, the characteristics of blockchain games are different from traditional games. It is not a simple game work, but more like a continuous development process. Therefore, it is difficult to judge whether it is worth investing a lot of money at present. The 8 blockchain games introduced by the author here are not recommended from the perspective of profit but are based on game characteristics, interest, and topicality. As for whether it will make money or not, it depends on personal vision.
Game 1: The Sandbox
Game Information
● Type: Sandbox Game
● Game Company: Pixowl
● Game Token: SAND Coin
● Game Official Website: www.sandbox.game
The Sandbox became one of the most talked-about blockchain games for a while due to the astronomical price of virtual land (LAND) NFT transactions. The original "The Sandbox" was actually launched on the iOS platform as early as 2012. It is a pixel-style sandbox game that allows players to freely create virtual worlds and mini-games using the objects provided in the game. the best game. In 2018, the development team officially announced the introduction of the blockchain mechanism, 3Dization of the game, and development into a community-driven platform. With LAND, you can participate in governance and determine the development direction of the game. This has also become the main example of the new "The Sandbox". Appearance, although "The Sandbox" is still in the Alpha testing state, the official has released the free game development tool Game Maker and object design software VoxEdit, allowing more creators to participate in the construction of the future metaverse.
Game 2: Axie Infinity
Game Information
● Type: Pet Battle
● Game Company: Sky Mavis
● Game Token: AXS Coin
● Game Official Website: axieinfinity.com
"Axie Infinity" was launched by Vietnam's Sky Mavis studio, after its launch in 2018, its boom has been blowing from Southeast Asia to the world. The game combines pet development and card battles. Each player needs to own 3 first. Only pet monsters called Axie can participate in the battle. These cute monsters designed with the image of salamanders are unique NFTs. Some Axis with better basic attributes can even be sold at auctions up to 500 More than US dollars, so there are certain barriers to entry. In addition to the quality of Axie itself, it is necessary to use skill cards to attack or defend in battle. In addition, the Axie held by the player can be bred and bred, which can be used as a means to obtain Axie with different attributes and skills.
Game 3: Decentraland
Game Information
● Type: Open World
● Game Company: Decentraland Foundation
● Game Token: MANA Coin
● Game Official Website: decentraland.org
"Decentraland", which is also known as "The Sandbox" and an important promoter of the metaverse, will be officially opened to the public for free in 2020. The types of the two are also quite similar. Both are virtual platforms based on the ether chain, but the difference is "Decentraland". 》Achieves complete decentralized management. Through the Decentraland DAO decentralized organization, control is transferred to all "Decentraland" users. Players can vote to determine the direction of the policy, including the upgrade of functional agreements, land auctions. The Decentraland Foundation is solely responsible for oversight of time and any proposals related to Decentraland. Players do not have major tasks to accomplish in the game, but they can freely browse the exhibition rooms and artworks established by other people or brands in the world, communicate and interact, and participate in activities such as New Year’s Eve parties and concerts.
Game 4: My Neighbor Alice
Game Information
● Type: Simulation Management
● Game Company: Antler Interactive
● Game Token: ALICE Coin
● Game Official Website: www.myneighboralice.com
"My Neighbor Alice" is a multiplayer construction simulation game, the game idea comes from "Animal Crossing", "Minecraft" and other games, players can build and create their own virtual islands, and use houses, animals and plants, lakes, and other available Trade objects to decorate, but also interact with neighbors, perform various daily activities (such as farming, fishing, insect hunting, and beekeeping), or trade the properties of your own island for profit, players can also be a designer and design their own exclusive The official also uses the reputation system to reward outstanding island owners. The official will also launch shared tasks and competitions from time to time to improve players' status in the game. The official version of the game is expected to be launched early this year.
Game 5: Gods Unchained
Game Information
●Type: Card Battle
●Game Company: Fuel Games
●Game Token: GODS Coin
●Game Official Website: godsunchained.com
Card games have always been the favorite type of blockchain game. Because each card is an independent NFT, it has the same rarity as real-world cards, and "Gods Unchained" can be said to be the most famous one. Led by Chris Clay, the well-known game director of Magic: Arena, it is known as the blockchain version of Hearthstone. The game adopts a free-to-play system, and you can get up to 140 welcome card packs for free by registering, which covers the basic cards that players need for the game. Through the turn-based form of playing cards, you can upgrade cards or unlock new cards by defeating your opponents. In addition to free trading, these cards can also be rented to other players to earn income.
Game 6: Legend 4
Game Information
●Type: Online Multiplayer RPG
●Game Company: Wemade
●Game Token: DRACO Coin
●Game Official Website: mir4global.com
"Legend 4" launched by Wemade in South Korea, the game world view continues the classic online game "Legend Online". Based on the multiplayer role-playing game, it incorporates elements of cryptocurrency. Players can actually mine black iron ore in the game. , smelted into DRACO cryptocurrency at a certain rate, in addition to being used in games, it is also planned to extend to other games in the future. In the update at the end of last year, the official also launched the XDRACO props exchange. In addition to virtual treasure trading, it also incorporates the trading mechanism of character NFT. Its concept is quite special. Character NFT is not a pure game asset, but a combination of original Players' adventures, achievements, and play records are passed on through new purchasers.
Game 7: Star Atlas
Game Information
● Type: Online Multiplayer Strategy
● Game Company: Star Atlas
● Game Token: ATLAS Coin
● Game Official Website: staratlas.com
"Star Atlas", which attracted public attention as soon as it was announced, is a 3A-level work in a substantial sense. It has assembled more than 50 senior industry personnel and has participated in "Star Citizen", "Spider-Man: Away from Home", "Love, In the production of games and movies such as Death and Robots, the team used Unreal Engine 5 to create a huge galaxy space and various ships. The background of the game took place in 2620. There are three major racial camps to choose from. , the resources that can be collected are not the same, so they also have different advantages. The resources of the whole world are limited. With the continuous development of players, the value of some resources and minerals will continue to rise. In order to find new planets, the Special parts must be acquired to upgrade ships or to loot enemies through high-stakes combat. The game is still in development, but ships are currently available for purchase.
Game 8: illuvium
Game Information
● Type: Pet Battle
● Game Company: illuvium
● Game Token: ILV Coin
● Game official website: www.illuvium.io
"illuvium", which is also produced on a 3A scale, combines many elements such as open-world, role-playing, pet training, and battle and collection. Players play the role of an explorer who goes to a mysterious planet after receiving a distress signal but is affected by radiation. As a result of the spacecraft crashing, there are many creatures with magical powers on the planet, Illuvials, which can be captured and subdued by using locally collected crystal ores. In order to unlock the secrets of the planet and catch more rare Illuvials, players must upgrade or fuse their hands. On the Illuvials, and make good use of attributes to match the team to defeat the more powerful Illuvials, the official announcement will be at least 100 Illuvials for players to collect, it is expected to be launched in the first quarter of this year.
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