how NFTs are likely to transform video games

The announcement caused a stir this week. Ubisoft launches Ubisoft Quartz in NFTs. This is the first step for a major industry publisher in this segment. Ghost Recon: Breakpoint will be the guinea pig chosen for their test. If this doesn’t bode well for some, it is good to take a step back and get a big picture. Because if NFTs are currently closer to a speculative bubble or even a fraud, they also fall under promises that may change our consumer behavior when it comes to video games.

Foreword: XboxSquad editorials are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the entire team. Good reading!

NFT, Web 3.0, cryptocurrencies: what are we talking about?

Let’s start from the beginning. Before you can explain how they work, you need to define what you are talking about. NFTs and cryptocurrencies are so-called currencies the web 3.0. This term stands for the third great evolution that the Internet is going through. We’re talking about Web 1.0 for the early days of the Internet. As users, we had access to a selection of defined content. Kind of like how magazines advertise certain articles for people to see. Web 2.0, which appeared in the mid-2000s, corresponds to the time in which we could interact with content and thus create it. However, all of these activities have mainly been monetized by a small group of companies like Google or Facebook. Web 3.0 intends to build on what made Web 2.0 so successful, but by replacing the user as the owner of its content and removing intermediaries. And here are the main concepts to remember: the right to property and the absence of an intermediary.

Large companies have understood this aspect well. Additionally, Twitter, Facebook, GameStop, or even Reddit are investing heavily in this next development. It is no longer necessary to have multiple accounts on social networks. The user can switch from one network to another with a unique identifier. Back to the topic. NFTs or non-fungible tokens. Today, NFTs are associated with digital images that internet users spend a fortune on. It’s not just that, however. The term “non-fungible” means that it is a single object that cannot be replaced. In comparison, cryptocurrencies are fungible tokens. You can exchange one bitcoin for another bitcoin, they will be the same. On the other hand, your first issue or Charizard card the Lotus Noir Alpha Edition, signed by its creator Christopher Rush, she is unique.

So you can tell me, how do I own this image if all I have to do is right click save to save it to my computer? Well it’s not that complicated. What is the evidence that your house or apartment is yours? The title deed drawn up by your notary. The notary thus acts as a trusted third partyto ensure conformity and authenticity of the paper. Now replace your notary with the blockchain – the database distributed among all users of the computer network – and the title deed with an address that indicates the tamper-proof transaction. Here you are with your digital proof of ownership equivalent.

NFTs and Video Games: Towards New Business Models

Notice. You used to buy a game from a store and play it right away. There was no question of updates or additional in-game costs. This model is called le buy-to-play

. The simple purchase of the game gives the right to all available content. Then in the early 2000s Everquest changed the genre by adding a monthly subscription to enjoy the title. Success is immediate and will become the most played online game for 5 years. During the same period, a new model for online games was created: les free-to-play. Very early on, these games got a bad rap compared to inferior versions of games that required an initial purchase and were not profitable. More than a decade later, we can see that they are well established and the model is working. Of course, every coin has two sides: les titres pay-to-win – Spending real money to gain more power in a game and climb the leaderboard – still exists and DLCs have become a habit.

That brings us to the present with the Metaverse stories and so on from Web 3.0. With them, a new model begins to show with the tip of the nose. Indeed it is play to earn. The promise behind this model is that players can and make money with currencies and digital items like NFTs by simply playing. Several games have been released in the past few months such as: Axie infinity

, Mad kings or Gods unleashed. When it comes to PC and mobile games at the moment, consoles are not entirely forgotten. In fact, the final meeting with Pearl Abyss shareholders enabled us to learn more about DokeV and the monetization of the title. The publisher thinks big about its title and is currently considering how to integrate NFTs and cryptocurrencies into its future game:

The buzzword in the gaming industry today is play-to-earn games and you probably know that the Axie Infinity and MIR4 had early success with such concepts and they are being implemented in RPG games. We believe that we will have many opportunities in this area in the future.

Heo Jin-young, COO Pearl Abyss

We can also mention Epic Games that plans to do something similar with Fourteen days, which already contains many codes of a metaverse.

Everything that goes up comes down at the same time

As you have understood, we are at the very beginning of this transformation. As with any growing phenomenon, there are many abuses. Many current projects promise miracles and artificially inflate the value of their tokens. Some cryptocurrencies are even perpetual scams and other Ponzi schemes like the Squid Game Token. who embezzled more than 3 million dollars.

Additionally, the environmental impact of these technologies is an eyesore on the blackboard in a climate emergency. According to the latest estimates, the only Bitcoin network uses more energy in a year than the Netherlands, Portugal or Norway. So far, only 39% of this consumption would come from renewable energy sources such as hydropower. If the prospects are numerous and perhaps tend to be better, the deficits in particular stand out for the time being. In short, it is advisable to keep a cool head and to be well informed about the projects. NFTs are sure to take on different shapes in the years to come and one thing to remember is: they are here to stay.