Gaming: Leveling Up With Tezos

This article was originally published on Tezos Commons News

With the emergence of blockchain technology and the development in this field in the last few years, we have seen a new type of gaming surface and try to revolutionize the gaming industry. Of course I’m talking about none other than “Web3 gaming”.

While the early attempts that focused too much on the Web3 part of it (play to earn, tokens etc.) and have led the “Web3 gaming” phrase to become sort of a buzzword, it’s important to look deeper into what blockchain technology can bring to gaming- for the players and the game developers.

In this article, we will explore how blockchain adds value to gaming and why Tezos stands out as the perfect fit for developers looking to revolutionize the industry.

What does blockchain bring to the gaming scene? #

1. Ownership
By integrating blockchains like Tezos to games, players can finally have ownership of things like in game items and in game currencies that players have spent hours upon hours collecting. Right now, you could spend hundreds of hours playing a game and at the end, own nothing from that game. Think of a game like Diablo4. At the end of the day, all the items and things you’ve collected live on a Blizzard server and if they ever decide to retire that server, your achievements, items, and currencies are gone.

Even the games themselves, where in the past you could buy the physical game CDs and actually own them, trade them with friends, or hold them as collectibles, nowadays, what you get is just a digital copy that you can do none of the above with it.

With blockchain technology, we (the players) can get back all the benefits that have been taken away from us with the digitalization of the gaming industry.

2. Transparent and Trustworthy Economies
Blockchain enables the creation of decentralized economies within games. Smart contracts on the blockchain ensure fair and transparent transactions while eliminating the need for intermediaries. This trustless environment instills confidence in players, as they can rely on the immutability and transparency of blockchain for secure and verifiable in-game transactions.

3. Player-driven Economies and Monetization
Along with ownership comes another huge benefit; freedom. When you actually own the in game assets that you’ve put so much time to collect, you can trade them, sell them, and do whatever you want with them on any secondary marketplace you want to use.

Right now in most games, you can’t really do anything with your in game assets regardless if you collected them by grinding endless hours or if you spent hundreds or thousands of dollars for them. Once you are done with a game, there is no way to extract any of the value you have put in.

In some cases you could say that there are black/grey markets that you can sell and buy whole accounts, but this obviously exposes you to a number of risks like scams, legal troubles, and more. It shouldn’t be that way.

Blockchain-powered games enable the creation of player-driven economies, where players can monetize their in-game assets and skills, this opens up new avenues for revenue generation and creates opportunities for players to earn real-world value from their gaming achievements.

At this point I can hear you say: “Ok those are all great benefits for us (the players), but why would gaming companies implement this? What’s in it for them?”

4. Extra Revenue for the companies.
As I said above in the current models of most games, gaming companies control their in game economies and in many cases they have huge restrictions on what you are allowed to do even with the money you deposit in them.

This has led to the creation of a lot of alternative websites that host grey or even black markets where players turn to in order to sell their accounts or tradable assets (i.e. gold in world of warcraft). People are even using platforms like Ebay to sell accounts and in game assets.

Fun fact: Just the CSGO skin market is estimated to have a market cap of $3 Billion!

As you understand, these markets are pretty huge and gaming companies with the use of blockchain technology can introduce mechanisms that enable players to safely and legally monetize their in-game assets through safer channels, while at the same time they can earn extra revenue from all the p2p sales that are already happening.

Why is Tezos a good fit to build your game on? #

Blockchain integration in gaming brings a lot more benefits both for players and gaming companies/developers and while I could list a lot more, I think that point is already clear. So the next question someone would ask is, “which blockchain?”.

So in this part of the article we will see why Tezos, is the best choice when it comes to finding a blockchain to build your game on.

• Decentralized scalability
  Gamingneeds scalability, everything around gaming needs speed and fast interactions to keep the user experience as smooth as possible. In that sense, Tezos with its smart rollups is the perfect fit for game developers to create their games on as not only do they allow for high customization, but they are also implemented in a fully decentralized way and treated as first class citizens like Tezos layer1 users (if the blockchain you use is not decentralized then why use a blockchain in the first place, right?) .

Source: Twitter

• Low Transaction Fees:
  Tezos, while keeping its decentralization level high and through its constant evolution has managed to keep its transaction fees among the lowest in the industry. This allows for inclusivity and improved user experience as micro-transactions are very cost-effective.
• Supportive Community:
  One of the best characteristics of the Tezos community is how supportive and inclusive it is. Whether you are a developer planning to build on top of Tezos or just a user that needs to figure something out, the Tezos community will be there to help you test things and provide feedback or to guide you to the info you need.
• Developer Tooling:
  In Tezos you can find extremely helpful tools like the Tezos Unity SDK with great documentation that will allow you to seamlessly integrate your game with Tezos wallets, digitize the game assets you want, and in general experiment with this new technology in any easy and simple way even if you have no prior experience with blockchains.

Are you ready to join the revolution with the @Tezos SDK for @Unity, an official Unity Verified Solution?
Download it now on the Unity Asset Store, and see why Tezos is the best choice for blockchain games.#tezoshttps://t.co/Z29wD21P2hpic.twitter.com/c9vizEVEef

— Tezos (@tezos) March 7, 2023

• Upgradability and Adaptability:
  One of thestrongest points of the Tezos blockchain is its ability for quick and constant evolution. Through its on-chain governance, Tezos has already done 13 major upgrades (soon 14) to its protocol which have enabled it not only to keep up with all the technological developments in the industry, but as we saw with rollups- to actually lead the way!

  With Tezos you can be sure that the blockchain you are building on, will not get left behind or stop advancing and that it can adapt to the needs and challenges that the future will bring by easily incorporating new features and cutting edge technology.

In conclusion, Tezos is ready to revolutionize the gaming industry by offering a secure, scalable, and decentralized platform for developers and players alike. As the gaming industry continues to evolve, Tezos stands at the forefront, ready to reshape the way we play, compete, and connect.

If you’re as excited about the future of gaming as I am, I invite you to join the Tezos Discord community where you can connect with fellow enthusiasts and game developers, ask any questions you may have about Tezos and its potential in the gaming realm, or to just say hello.

Let’s come together, share our experiences, and embark on this thrilling journey into the next level of gaming. Join us on the Tezos Discord and be a part of shaping the future of gaming today!