Blockchain in Gaming: Benefits, Challenges, and Potential Risks of Building Blockchain-Powered Games

Author Name
  • By Surya Sharma
  • |
  • clock 11 minutes MIN READ
  • |
  • calendar Updated: December 12, 2022

We’ve all heard about this new technology called blockchain, but what does it actually do? It is a technology that has the potential to impact a number of different industries and take their businesses to the next level.

With blockchain development accelerating rapidly, it’s quite hard to find an industry where this technology isn’t impacting the business landscape. The gaming industry is one of the earliest adopters of blockchain technology. According to research, this highly expanding gaming sector is all set to reach $256.97 billion by 2025.

However, there is a wide range of potential benefits and challenges that come with building a blockchain-powered game. The high costs and technical issues related to creating blockchain-based games are some of the most prominent challenges faced by enterprises. This blog will take a closer look at what blockchain is and discuss some of the benefits, challenges and possibilities of using it for games. Let’s dig deep!

What is Blockchain In Gaming?- Brief Overview

Blockchain is the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and is being increasingly adopted by a wide range of businesses and organizations. Gaming platforms such as Steam and GameCredits have been extensively using blockchain to provide a more secure and efficient way to easily manage digital game assets.

Blockchain can also create a wide range of truly decentralized gaming platforms where players have full control over their in-game items and data. This could create a more transparent gaming ecosystem where players are not at the mercy of various centralized game publishers and platforms.

The main concept of blockchain gaming is still in its infancy, but there are a few key ways that it could be used to monetize video games. One option is to use blockchain technology to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

These tokens could be extensively used to represent in-game items, characters, or even achievements and could be traded or sold on secondary markets. Another option is to use cryptocurrency as a means of payment or in-game currency. This could be done through in-game microtransactions or by allowing players to exchange cryptocurrency for in-game items.

So far, blockchain in gaming has been chiefly used to create a wide range of in-game currencies and efficiently manage digital assets. This would add another layer of realism to the game and would give players another reason to keep coming back.

However, the potential applications of blockchain technology are much more comprehensive, and the gaming industry is just beginning to explore all the ways it can be used.

Benefits Of Blockchain-Powered Games

Blockchain is basically a distributed database that ensures secure, transparent and tamper-proof record-keeping. This makes it ideal for the gaming industry, where players need to trust that their game is fair.

Blockchain can also be used to create virtual worlds that are more immersive and realistic than anything that has been seen before. For example, blockchain can be used to create virtual worlds that are constantly evolving, with new content being added all the time.

This would allow for a truly immersive gaming experience that would be unlike anything that has been seen before. This makes blockchain an ideal technology for the gaming industry.

Apart from the ones mentioned above, there are many more potential benefits to using blockchain technology in video games. Not only this, but there are more. Let’s explore them below!

1. Enhanced Gaming Experience

Overall, blockchain has the potential to enhance the gaming experience for players in a number of ways. Some of its prominent benefits include increased security, transparency, and immutability.

The decentralized nature of blockchain technology can help create more reliable servers for gaming purposes. This is because blockchain-based servers cannot be easily affected by cheat codes or other malicious software.

As a result, gamers can enjoy a more fair and enjoyable gaming experience. In addition, the use of blockchain technology can help to reduce gaming server costs as well!

2. Authentic Ownership of Game Assets

Blockchain technology can help ensure the authenticity of game assets and prevent piracy. With the integration of blockchain technology, gamers can now be the actual owners of in-game assets.

This means they can purchase, sell, or trade these assets without a central authority. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for gamers, as they can now create their own in-game economies.

By creating a digital ledger of who owns what, blockchain can help to track the ownership of game assets and help make sure that they are not being copied or pirated.

Blockchain technology can also be used to create a wide range of decentralized game platforms, which would be resistant to censorship and offer a higher degree of autonomy to gamers. This results in a more secure and trustworthy gaming environment and highly protects the intellectual property of various game developers.

3. Minimized Fraudulent Activities

With blockchain technology in gaming, fraudulent activities are minimized. This is because blockchain provides a secure and transparent way to store game data and transactions.

This makes it difficult for criminals to commit fraud because they would need to hack into the ledger to change the data. Moreover, This could also help to reduce game prices by eliminating the need for intermediaries.

With blockchain, game developers can create tamper-proof game worlds where players can be sure that their data is safe and not in the wrong hands. This provides a more fair and secure gaming experience for all players.

Challenges Of Blockchain In Gaming

Since now you are clear with all the benefits offered by blockchain-powered games, it’s time to glance at the challenges. Let’s dive deep and explore the hurdles that might come your way when you’re playing a game that’s integrated with blockchain technology!

1. Degraded Blockchain Problem

The gaming industry has been plagued by a number of blockchain-related problems, chief among them being the degraded blockchain problem. This problem primarily occurs when the blockchain is used to store game data, resulting in many blocks being created and stored on the chain. Over time, this can lead to the blockchain becoming bloated and slow, making it difficult for players to access the data they need on time.

The degraded blockchain problem is a prominent gaming industry issue and needs to be addressed urgently. While there are several possible solutions, one of the most promising is sharding. This technique involves dividing the blockchain into smaller pieces or shards, which can be stored on different servers. This would allow for much more efficient use of resources and could potentially solve the degraded blockchain problem efficiently.

2. The Problem With Play-To-Earn

The blockchain problem with play-to-earn in the gaming industry is that it is not very user-friendly. Moreover, the main problem with play-to-earn is that it can be pretty challenging to find games that actually allow you to earn money. While a few games out there will pay you for your time, they are often limited in terms of the amount of money you can make.

Users have to go through a lot of different websites to find a suitable game to play. Once they find a game, they have to figure out how to use the game’s tokens. Additionally, many of these games require a significant amount of time investment, which can be challenging to commit to if you’re trying to earn money.

Potential Risks With Blockchain In Gaming

There is no doubt that blockchain-powered games are becoming the talk of the town. However, there is a wide range of potential risks involved in all such games. Let’s have a look at them!

1. Price Volatility

Price volatility is one of the many potential risks associated with blockchain technology in the gaming industry. For example, if a game company decides to use blockchain to power in-game purchases, the value of the virtual currency could fluctuate wildly, depending on the demand from users.

This could lead to players being unable to afford to make certain purchases or even being unable to play the game at all. While there are ways to mitigate this risk (such as hedging against currency fluctuations), it is something that game companies need to be aware of before adopting blockchain technology.

2. Loss Of Funds

With the rise of blockchain game development, there is a potential risk of loss of funds for gamers. This is because, with the decentralization of gaming, there is no central authority to regulate or oversee the games. This means that if a game is hacked or if there is a dispute between gamers, there is no one to turn to for help.

Additionally, with blockchain games, gamers are often responsible for their own in-game currency, which means that if they lose their currency, they may be unable to recover it. While there are some benefits to blockchain games, such as the ability to create new and innovative games, the risk of loss of funds is a significant downside that should be considered before investing in this type of gaming.

3. Environmental Risk

Environmental risk is another potential risk involved with blockchain in gaming. The use of blockchain requires a great deal of energy to process and verify transactions. This energy consumption results in greenhouse gas emissions, which can contribute to climate change.

There are several ways to mitigate this risk, including using renewable energy sources to power the blockchain or using blockchain technology to help reduce emissions in other industries. However, it is essential to be aware of the potential environmental impact of blockchain before adopting it in the gaming industry.

Some Must-Know Blockchain-Powered Games

Here are some of the most popular blockchain-powered games. Let’s dig deep!

1. CryptoKitties

CryptoKitties is a blockchain-powered game that allows players to purchase, breed, and sell digital cats. The game was created in 2017 by Canadian company Axiom Zen and quickly became one of the most popular games on the Ethereum blockchain.

Being a trendy and play-to-earn game, CryptoKitties lets you curate an entirely new digital generation of cats with distinct traits which maximize their value. This game has been credited with helping to grow the Ethereum network by increasing transaction volume and awareness of blockchain technology.

2. Sandbox

Sandbox is a unique type of ethereum-based gaming platform that allows players to experiment with different game mechanics and earn rewards for their efforts.

The game is designed to be modifiable and easy to use so that players can easily create their own game experience. Being a true pay-to-play game, Sandbox features a wide range of community-created mods that adds new content and gameplay mechanics.

3. Mobox

MOBOX is a highly exciting gaming metaverse that mainly combines yield farming and farming NFTs. Users can easily earn rewards by playing games, interacting with other players, and farming virtual assets. This unique game offers a free-to-play and play-to-earn option to all its players. With MOBOX, players can earn yield from their gameplay and from growing and selling virtual crops and animals.

In addition, players can also find and collect rare NFTs, which can extensively be used to unlock various kinds of unique game content and items. The primary objective of MOBOX is to allow everyone to participate extensively in NFT games without facing any trouble and earn money by playing the same.

4. Gods Unchained

Gods Unchained is a particular type of NFT card game that permits gamers to exchange cards in order to engage in a battle with their opponents. The game is solely based on the Ethereum blockchain, which allows for cards to be traded in a secure and transparent manner.

Being a fantasy trading game that offers a wide range of play-to-earn opportunities and no monetary investment, to begin with, players find this game quite easy to start.

Gods Unchained has been designed to be highly competitive, with players efficiently using their skills and strategies to outwit their opponents. The game also offers a unique twist on the traditional card game format since players can easily customize their decks to better suit their playing style.

The token of the game is $GOD, and with its highly integrated technology, you cannot copy/modify the game’s digital assets, including Gods Unchained cards. However, you can easily trade them with other players without going to the game’s marketplace.

5. Cryptopop

Cryptopop is a new game that is becoming extensively popular among online gamers. It is a puzzle game that requires players to use their logic and problem-solving skills to decrypt codes and progress through the levels. The game is said to be addictive and challenging, and many gamers are finding it to be a fun and unique way to pass the time.

Basically, the players in this game match the different symbols of cryptocurrencies appearing on the screen and earn various points. The more matches you tend to make, the more points you earn.

Wrapping Up

If you are looking for a dedicated game development company to get you started with an effective blockchain-powered game, we at RV Technologies have got your back. With our highly experienced professionals, you can easily get the best blockchain-based games built with ease.

Get in touch with our expert teams today!

Entrepreneurship Offer:

Flat 50% off

Across App Development Services

Want to discuss your idea?

Hi I am Ryan, a Business Consultant at
RV Technologies. We are excited to hear
about your project.

...

Drop us a line and we will connect
you to our experts.

Let’s Get Started

We’re here to help you. Fill the form below and we will get you in touch with our experts soon.