Source | cointelegraph
Compilation | [email protected]
In the past decade, mobile games have become an important pillar of the interactive entertainment industry. Thanks to the popularity of smartphones, users from all over the world have become hardcore gamers.
Now, the advent of blockchain technology is driving a paradigm shift that allows players to truly own the assets they earn or buy in the game and can create tangible value in the game process.
This new model can provide many opportunities, but most existing projects simply cannot be compared with traditional similar projects.
This also makes many people think that this new generation of games may not be accepted by the mainstream. However, this view may be shortsighted.
In fact, this is not the first time that people have denied a new technology based on early results.
The pain of growth of blockchain games
Web3 games use smart contracts, NFT and other decentralized blockchain elements to create virtual assets. Players can own and trade these assets in a verifiable way without third-party intervention. This innovation of
returns a high degree of power to the players.
However, crypto games are still in their infancy, with many early projects considered too simple and lacking originality and not providing a novel or attractive gaming experience.
Therefore, many people who claim to be gamers do not want to play NFT games because they believe that NFT games lack depth and overemphasize economic benefits.
These games have a mode called "playing and earning" or P2E, where players can use cryptocurrencies and NFTs to generate real cash flow .
Axie Infinity is one of the most representative P2E games. It became an important source of income for many people during the COVID-19 raging, and has made headlines many times. However, with the advent of the bear market and the sharp decline in its own profit potential, Axie Infinity eventually lost its users.
Axie Infinity is not an isolated case, and this is true for many similar Web3 games.
Because it cannot withstand the test of time or major economic shocks, many Web3 games quickly lose fans and users when they cannot provide considerable economic benefits.
This also made many blockchain game critics believe that the development of Web3 games has come to an end.
However, looking back at the technological development in recent decades—especially the rise of mobile games—you will find that it is wrong to judge the future potential of a project or technology based on the earliest products. Why use mobile games to compare
?
If you look at the handheld games around 2005, you will find that the situation is very similar.
The handheld games at that time were too simple and often brought users a poor operating experience. In addition, the game also lacked highlights in image design.
When Nokia assembled the classic game "Snake" to the mobile phone, "Snake" became one of the most popular mobile games in the early days - at that time millions of people were playing around the world.
In that era, people who played mobile games were called casual players.
At that time, many people simply regarded mobile games as a novelty for entertainment by casual players, and believed that mobile games could never compete with games on consoles and desktops.
To this day, games like Fortnite and Arena of Valor have become popular with hardcore gamers, and have even affected the development of the entire game industry.
Now, no one would say that mobile games are not as good as traditional games, because the development of technology has made the difference between the two extremely small (just the difference in the medium).
In fact, by 2022, mobile games have dominated 60% of the market in the gaming industry and become the largest component of the gaming industry.
Although traditional gaming platforms still exist and have developed well, the success of mobile devices has shown that new technologies will transform the entire industry after maturity.
The future of encrypted games
No matter how you view the running and success of P2E games, this indicator should not be used to determine the development potential of Web3 games.
The new generation of games are already under development, and they will achieve inheritance and breakthroughs in traditional games, some of which still have P2E elements, while others use NFT; but it is important that the gaming industry recognizes that games, in addition to providing economic opportunities, need to create truly engaging gameplay to attract and retain players.
Although many people currently use concepts such as Web3 games, P2E games and blockchain games, they are not actually exactly the same.
In the next few years, these branches may be further broken down and even produce new subclasses on how the technology is implemented. Assuming that all future products will be similar, the diversity that is currently revealed in the mobile game market will no longer exist. What will
Web3 become? Only time will tell us the answer, but those who conclude that it won't succeed may think twice. The situation we are facing now in
encryption games can also be seen in the early stages of mobile games development. What kind of application will break through the siege, and it remains to be seen to promote the popularization of encrypted games.
However, in the next 10 years, these types of games are likely to coexist with home consoles and mobile games.
Author introduction: Justin Hulog is the chief studio officer of Immutable Games studio. Previously, he had made many successful games for Riot Games, such as Valorant, "League of Legends Mobile Game" and "League of Legends". Justin graduated from Columbia University with a degree in comparative literature.
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