The global gaming industry generates a significant amount of revenue each year and 2018 was no exception, with its estimated $134.9 bln generated in gaming revenue. No wonder why gaming is one of the most popular industries with 2.5 bln. gamers all over the world.
Such a popular activity, combining as it does technology and entertainment couldn’t help but attract blockchain enthusiasts, who see it as a realm of endless possibilities. You’ve probably already heard theories of how gaming and cryptocurrency can come together to solve the main problems of the industry regarding ingame trading. Today more companies are popping up trying to offer blockchain solutions to issues in the gaming industry. We at Freewallet have decided to take a look at how cryptocurrencies are shaping blockchain gaming today.
Establishing big partnerships
ENJ aka Enjin caused a big buzz in the media this year thanks to its huge price pump. The rumors and talks regarding a possible collaboration with Samsung made the price skyrocket. Later, the collaboration became official and ENJ was included in the cryptocurrency wallet for the Samsung Galaxy 10S. Enjin Coin is now among a few of the supported cryptocurrencies in the Samsung Galaxy S10 crypto wallet.
So why did Samsung choose Enjin? Enjin is one of the leaders in the blockchain gaming sphere which can work cryptopayments into mobile games and applications. In the future Enjin, may create an ecosystem for Samsung applications and games where users can freely exchange in-game items.
ENJ is working in this direction and developing a platform which will help game developers integrate blockchain technology in order to tokenize gaming assets. They even provide SDKs for popular engines like Unity and UE4. This will allow developers to create, integrate and manage the distribution of ERC1155-compliant tokens on the blockchain. Currently, their solutions are used by 11 indie gaming project from the crypto space and even some Minecraft servers.
Creating virtual property
Imagine a game where you can explore a world, create everything — from buildings to pieces of art — and rent out or sell your creations for crypto. Now imagine all of that but experienced in VR. This is pretty much what Decentraland is.
It is a virtual world based on the Ethereum blockchain where players can create 3D objects and do whatever they want with them, from selling them to giving them away. The game is similar to a game that was popular back in the 2000s — Second Life. For many players back then, the game was really their second life and the Decentraland is looking to create a similar experience.
Have doubts about that? Just check this out — despite its early development stage, some enthusiasts are already buying territories in the game. One of them even bought a plot for as much as $800000 with the ingame cryptocurrency MANA
Basically, it has become their virtual property and the possibilities of what they can do with their property are limited only by their imagination. You as a player can create an art gallery for artists and sell tickets for attendance or build a hotel and rent out rooms for travellers in this virtual world.
The future of the game mostly depends on the community and the rules they set. Even though this project is not finished, it may be worth keeping an eye on.
Funding the blockchain gaming industry
Blockchain gaming is as young as the technology driving it. The development of the industry needs fresh minds and creative teams to drive it forward. To attract more developers, key players in the cryptosphere have allocated special funds for supporting young teams.
At the end of 2018, Tron decided to move into the gaming industry and announced the creation of the Tron arcade — the company’s $100 mln. grant for game developers. Besides Tron, Ripple, along with blockchain gaming platform Forte, has created a $100 mln. fund also to support blockchain gamedevs.
The main goal of these funds is to empower developers to create and implement their ideas, to introduce new games and content into an autonomous ecosystem and to build a strong community of content and entertainment.
Making alliances
The gaming industry giants are not rushing into blockchain gaming without putting in the research beforehand. Recently, French gaming industry giant Ubisoft became a member of Blockchain Game Alliance. Ubisoft, Enjin, Ultra, Consensys, Alto.io, EverdreamSoft, Gimbl and B2Expand will promote blockchain technology within the gaming industry.
Currently, they work in a special group setting and promoting a universal standard for the blockchain gaming space and deliver recommendations, tutorials and thought leadership in specific technical areas.
As already mentioned before, blockchain gaming is a young industry just as blockchain is young technology. But things have been put in motion, and blockchain gaming will be developing alongside with its father technology. Today it is important to create a strong community which will make this process of growth faster. In the future, we expect more initiatives and partnerships to materialize.
About Freewallet
Freewallet is a cryptocurrency wallet for web, iOS and Android devices, which has been a mainstay of the crypto community since 2016. With Freewallet you can hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Monero, and 30+ other cryptocurrencies all in one place.
From the very beginning, we have wanted to make cryptocurrencies accessible to everyone and create simple apps, without complex settings and features, that even your grandma can understand. Thanks to this, Freewallet has become one of the most popular wallets in the world with over 3 mln. of users on board.
The Freewallet Family includes Freewallet: Crypto Wallet (iOS, Android, and web version), 30+ wallets each tailored to their own coins, and Freewallet Lite (an HD-wallet on iOS and Android). Freewallet was the first company to release Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCH) and Bitcoin Gold (BTG) wallets for Android.
