“ICO and blockchain technologies will soon turn the gaming industry upside down.” This was the conclusion that game developers reached in 2018 at the international conference GDC. Consider the advantages of using cryptocurrency for game development companies and players.
Additional motivation to play
Cyber-sportsmen can receive real rewards for in-game achievements, but the introduction of cryptocurrency in the products provides this opportunity to non-professional players as well. When a player knows, that for each victory or a set record, he will receive not just drawn crystals, but digital currency, he will be motivated to play more and achieve better results.
Cryptocurrencies in games do not only create additional motivation for gamers, but also attract crypto enthusiasts. According to Statista, in 2018 there were more than 28 million blockchain wallet holders in the world. Each of them is a potential user of a game that uses tokens as a game currency.
Ability to use earned cryptocurrency in other games
Another advantage of games with digital currency is the ability for users to spend tokens earned in one game on in-game purchases in another game. So far there are few websites on the market that allow cross-game use of assets, but every year they will appear more and more.
In the coming months, for example, the IQeon PvP platform, which is at the stage of Open-Beta testing and gathered online games of different genres in one place - is planned to be released. Using blockchain technology, this startup offers users to monetize their gaming achievements in digital asset - IQN. Subsequently, they will be able to use IQN for purchases in various applications on the platform or transfer them to other cryptocurrencies through trade platforms.
Increased security against hacker attacks
Continuing the example of the IQeon platform, experts have already rated it as a successful startup. In 2018, the IQeon platform was among the top five cryptocurrency projects with the lowest investment risk, according to ICORating.com.
The secret of trust in such projects lies in the specifics of the blockchain technology itself. Their distributed server infrastructure provides higher protection against hacker attacks. And due to the fact that transactions within the platform occur in a digital asset, users are guaranteed the security of payments and personal data.
The security of this technology is the fact that attracts a large number of investors to blockchain based projects. According to the ICObench agency in 2018, during ICO, the cryptocurrency startups attracted about $5.3 billion of investment - about 4 times more than in 2017.
Stimulate player-to-player trading
In games that use cryptocurrency, players are free to trade with each other. Due to the smart contracts implemented in the game logic, they have the opportunity to make purchases and sales:
- Securely - smart contracts eliminate the possibility of fraud and create transparent conditions for payments;
- Fast - micropayments are made only using in-game cryptocurrencies without relocating tokens to the outside world;
- Without intermediaries - the fulfillment of the agreement between the players is ensured by a smart contract.
Favorable conditions for game developers
In GooglePlay and AppStore, the profit from monetization is the subject of a store commission. In addition, developers have to wait a long time to transfer their own revenues (in the case of GooglePlay - more than 60 days). If the game uses ICO, the profit is transferred ten times faster, and no less importantly, without a commission.
Another advantage for developers in the use of cryptocurrencies is that ICO allows to create gaming community long before the release of the game. Crowd sale can last more than a year, and at the same time, the audience will grow all the time. Due to such a long promotion strategy and personal interest of users (some of them have already bought tokens ), the game is more likely to be successful. Because hundreds and even thousands of players are eagerly awaiting the release.