Blockchain: A New Era for Gaming Industry

Posted by Juned Ahmed on August 17th, 2018

Gaming is one of the most popular and profitable fields for mobile users in the entertainment domain. It has undergone constant evolution since ancient days. Competition has now become an important part of human nature and is the driving motivation for gaming for many people. With the introduction of the internet, many gaming projects started operating online, and the introduction of newer technologies like AR, VR, and AI to gaming further enhanced the player experience and became a professional ecosystem and robust marketplace. Players can customize their experiences via microtransactions and purchase of virtual items. However, the existing gaming platforms and apps are affected by many deficiencies. For example, the aspect of security and efficiency of the market for the digital goods earned by the gamers while playing the game is still lacking and very much desired. Technologies like blockchain and smart contracts are being developed to save from such situations.

Blockchain technology has not taken decades to develop like other innovations and is being implemented in a variety of areas and gaming industry is one domain in where the blockchain is gaining momentum. Both casual and hard-core gamers spend a lot of their time and money in earning the rare collectable items, but all this is lost once the games wane down. Also, frauds and chargebacks on credit card transactions lead to a great loss for gamers both in aspects of time and money. This, in turn, is also a loss for the developers as they lose customers. Blockchain can manage the management and transfer of these virtual items as it has excellent potential to provide the right solution for this problem by unlocking an entirely new market for gamers to buy, sell, deliver, store, or trade these items. It provides a decentralized platform that is gaining mass appeal due to the transparency, increased security, low cost, speed, and immutability of the transactions it offers.

Advantages of blockchain in the gaming industry

Blockchain developers are being sought for developing games because of the advantages that blockchain confers to the gaming industry.

  • Game development projects of indie developers can access crowdfunding as they can offer rare, discounted, or exclusive virtual items for immediate delivery to the online funding agencies.
  • Security conferred by blockchain allows players to receive their items instantly and store them in their secure wallet and use them later or immediately when the game is released.
  • The value of virtual items purchased can increase both in time and space as they may be used in multiple games, rather than in a single game only. The virtual items can be used in a protected manner in an unlimited array of platforms, games, apps, websites, devices, forums, etc.
  • Frauds and chargebacks can be considerably minimized in the virtual item’s market with the security, transparency, and immutability provided by blockchain.
  • As blockchain may allow the use of a single purchase item multiple times in multiple games, more players are likely to purchase and pay for them.
  • The cross-platform market potential of the apps can be increased considerably as blockchain will enable both online and retail purchase of game-related virtual items securely in innovative ways.

Tips to choose blockchain development company
While choosing the best blockchain development company for your game development project, you need to take care of certain aspects. Here are the tips that can be helpful in your decision-making process.

  1. Value for money, rather than cost should be a priority consideration
    Cost is always a consideration, and your budget should match the pricing quoted by the blockchain developers. You need to evaluate carefully if the quote is cheap or reasonably priced and affordable for you. This means that you should be getting the value for the money you spend.
  2. Choose the blockchain developers who are updated with the latest trends
    Blockchain technology is still in its very initial and experimental stages, so in order to reap maximum benefits, you need to verify that the blockchain developers you hire follow the latest tools and trends that prevail in the industry. This ensures that you will receive dependable and professional business solutions from them.
  3. Check the terms mentioned in the smart contracts thoroughly
    The terms of the business contract should complement your business model. You should make your business objectives and budget allocation for the project clearly to your preferred development firm so that they can provide customized solutions. In case, you cannot pay for the complete project, and the development company can also make a contract to charge a fixed profit percentage from you.
  4. Ensure that the company has a team of skilled and dedicated developers
    It is very important that the development company you choose must have a team of experienced, skilled, dedicated, and updated developers so that your project can be completed in a timely and efficient manner. This greatly saves time and iterations while providing the final product of high value and quality.
  5. Check if a company provides client support and security details
    You need to check the portfolio of previous projects and the feedbacks of earlier clients to make sure that the company will be adequately supportive during and after the project. The encryption system of the blockchain is unbreakable; still, you need to ask for the guarantee of seamless security from the firm you hire. Inquire about the type of security filters they are using and ensure the use of all possible options ranging from multi-signature feature to integrating the two-feature attribute.

Concluding
Though the hidden possibilities of blockchain technology still need to be explored, blockchain-based projects in the gaming industry have gradually started appearing and provide advantages like complete transparency, security, immutability, and speed of in-game transactions. The scope of in-game purchase of items is further widened, and players can earn when playing while maintaining the privacy and safety of their accounts and communicating effectively with gamers.

Author Bio:

Juned Ghanchi is a CMO at IndianAppDevelopers company, leading mobile and blockchain development company in India & USA. He takes care of the Technical & Business Development Operations at IndianAppDevelopers company. He regularly researches & writes at his company blogs on mobile technology.

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Juned Ahmed

About the Author

Juned Ahmed
Joined: July 26th, 2017
Articles Posted: 9

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