Over the last few years, blockchain technology has been introduced into several areas of the economy, driving innovation, fostering growth and providing added value. Gaming industry is one of them, who has wanted to take advantage of this new technology by the blockchain game development.

Blockchain technology is used in the gaming industry, either to create games entirely based on it or to integrate blockchain elements into existing games.

Blockchain in game development: why use this technology?

Strategy games in real time (RTS) or massively multiplayer online (MMO) are genres perfectly adapted to Blockchain technology, since the gameplay allows the creation of multiple kinds of assets who govern the rules of the games themselves.

In terms of categories, collective card games are among the first games to use Blockchain technology. The cards themselves, as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), become tradable items. Then, other categories have been added, such as adventure, action, role-playing games and casinos.

One of the key features of blockchain technology is Ownership. Blockchain technology has become essential for new digital worlds and gaming experiences. They allow players to have an active participation, on their own, in the games they play. Historically, games have been payable, but the value was accumulated only for companies and platforms. Blockchain and NFTs turn this situation around.

But, why is blockchain technology valuable for the gaming industry? We review here three of the keys:

• It allows for innovative and more interesting gameplay
• By maintaining money in the game, it ensures value for the players.
• It rewards players with real-world value

Best blockchain for game development

Anyone who wants to evolve in Web3 game development should be aware of the main blockchain game development platforms. Let’s check out.

Unreal Engine

For real-time 3D computer graphics in video games, motion pictures, and television, Unreal Engine is a leading game engine. It enables game developers the freedom and fidelity to create 3D environments and lifelike animations across several platforms. Additionally, Unreal Engine gives developers the tools they need to produce cutting-edge graphics, physics, and interactive experiences that are setting the bar for the entire game industry.

Unity Web3 Game Development

Unity is a cross-platform game engine that was created by Unity Technologies and released in 2005. It was initially created for Mac OS X. For new and independent developers, development teams, and independent or solo developers, Unity is incredibly approachable. Additionally, the Unity Editor tool allows developers and artists to create in the editor itself and deploy to numerous platforms. It functions similarly to Photoshop.
Next-generation crypto games with a wide range of Web3 features can be made by developers using both Unreal Engine and the Unity Web3 game creation platform. The games’ ability to interface with public blockchains in a seamless manner will be ensured by choosing the best blockchain game development platforms. Additionally, it enables users to take part in token economies as part of a realistic gaming environment.

Benefits of blockchain gaming for developers

GameFi World

Blockchain gaming represents an opportunity for game developers to enter into the GameFi world. This is where gaming and finance meet in a world powered by blockchain technology, NFTs, and smart contract functionality.

Game developers’ interest in blockchain is focused on decentralized finance or GameFi (57%), the play-to-earn model (46%), NFTs that offer ownership of in-game items (44%), and in-game digital currencies (42%).

Drawing venture capital

It is a reality that game launches based on Blockchain technology are attracting great attention from investors. Studies indicate that in the first quarter of 2022, Blockchain gaming companies received one-third of the total funding for gaming startups, which shows that games based on blockchain technology are booming.

Blockchain gaming projects raised $156 million through investments and partnerships in September 2022 (Source: DappRadar).

The blockchain gaming market is growing

According to the latest ‘Blockchain Gaming Report‘ from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar, blockchain games grossed $1.3 billion in Q3 2022. Despite the cryptocurrency market facing a hard winter 2023, Web 3.0 and metaverse gaming industries had massive investments in 2022.

Blockchain gaming for developers: the drawbacks

Scope for scalability

Scalability is a system’s capacity to manage expanding data volumes. Scalability of a blockchain refers to how well this technology can manage a growing volume of transactions, in other words, how can blockchain tolerate increases in demand.

Blockchain-based games are limited by the relative slowness and cost of transactions, which is why they tend to be fairly straightforward, being another of the factors against the industry. Plus, adding computational complexity often congests networks.

So scalability remains a top concern. Right now, the biggest challenge is the lack of ability of most blockchains to scale.

Higher costs

Blockchain applications development cost may differ depending on several factors that will help determine the final budget of the project. The size of the developer company, professionalization, and specialization of people involved, the third-party subscription for the testing phases, or the complexity of the project are all factors involved in the definition of costs.

In the end, blockchain development company solutions require a considerable investment in terms of time and money.

Competitiveness

Limited availability of talent is another of the drawbacks for crypto game development. In the gaming world, there are still very few developers who have specialized experience in blockchain technology. The lack of developers is an obstacle to the creation of new games. That’s why from Games For A Living we are building a community of developers to create the best games using Games for a Living Network technology. Join our Developers Program!

Uncertain regulations

Although regulations continue to evolve and are constantly changing, these are some of the issues that concern the gaming Industry based on blockchain technology, in terms of laws.

• Money transmission licenses
• Fraud control
• Metaverse income regulation
• Game items tax
• Classification of NFTs as material goods, money, financial asset or crypto asset
• If the platform disappears from the network, what happens to my NFT? Do I lose ownership of the money invested?
• How to deal with a stolen NFT

NFTs seem to have come to stay and therefore it is necessary to create legislation that regulates these crypto assets and provides security to those who invest in them.

Traditional gaming

Concerns that the success of blockchain technology may divert funding away from traditional gaming companies is another reason playing against the industry. This makes blockchain gaming unpopular in the eyes of some traditional developers, who see centralized gaming as a major competition.

Conclusions about blockchain game development

In a centralized system, data is only visible to administrators, making the system opaque and disadvantageous for users. At this point, Blockchain technology represents the best solution. A decentralized system that exists between all parties involved, allows visibility of authenticated transactions and saves time and conflicts as there is no central authority monopolizing power.

An expert developer will be in charge of designing the architecture, developing and launching your blockchain project to the market.

In conclusion, blockchain gaming brings advantages to both the player and the game developer. Both can benefit from the functionalities offered by these crypto games, some by designing them and others by investing in them.

So it seems that betting on blockchain game development is betting on the future of the video game economy.