NFT Gaming: Transforming the Future of Gaming

With the arrival of Web3, new ways to engage with blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs have flooded in the quest to revolutionize the gaming world. NFT gaming is the core transformation point for games introducing unique ownership models, enhancing gameplay experiences, and bringing in new economic opportunities for users. In 2022, Web3 games drew 1.22 million unique active wallets in the first half, accounting for 52% of total blockchain activity. This suggests a higher influence and acceptance of blockchain-based gaming. Presently, in 2024, NFT games are blooming in the market with a higher rate of acceptance and transformation in players. 
It is through the union of blockchains and NFTs that players can own assets and unlock new levels of interoperability, allowing unique possibilities to open up for participants in the metaverse. Gamers are among the sectors that form the largest part of Web 3.0, which is giving the Internet a new look toward the future.

This blog explains how NFT gaming is transforming the gaming industry, its benefits, and challenges, and why it is the future of gaming. 

Key Benefits of NFT Gaming

NFT games have numerous advantages over traditional ones that make them quite lucrative for players, developers, and investors.

Income Generation

NFT games enable users, particularly in developing nations, to make money while playing. Most players coming from developing countries in the play-to-earn (P2E) model are now realizing a sustainable income because most of them can barely find jobs in these countries. This has led to freelancing opportunities with people who are passionate about gaming and finding what they pass their time over in game development.

Ownership of In-Game Assets

Traditional games don't provide players complete control over their in-game assets. Once purchased, the items will stay in a player's account and even be locked in so they cannot transfer or sell. All this is different within NFT games. Players can be the owners, sellers, and traders in their NFTs across platforms. This provides players with complete control and ownership of digital assets.

Security

NFTs are built on blockchain hence, they are unique and secure. Every NFT is unique and cannot be reproduced or stolen. This ensures that all the effort players put into acquiring their NFTs is safe from fraud or duplication, unless in cases of scams or malicious smart contracts.

Proven Scarcity

The NFT's scarcity would contribute to its value. And blockchain technology plays a role in keeping clear records of ownership and scarcity, essentially certifying the legitimacy of these assets. This scarcity is actually what's to ensure that NFTs retain their value as time goes by.

Transaction Fee Commission

The creators also benefit from NFT games. With every sale of the NFT, the game's publisher might take a percentage of this transaction. This would set up continuous streams of revenue for the developers which enable them to make money off the in-game transactions even many years after a game's release.

Fundraising Opportunities

This opens up a new opportunity for game producers to raise funds from investors interested in blockchain-based gaming. In this investment, the developer can develop an expanded edition of the game hence providing more experience to the gamblers.

How Gaming Industry is Transformed with NFTs?

NFT gaming is not just changing how games are played; it's also revolutionizing the broader gaming ecosystem.

Decentralized Independent Games

NFT games are often built on independent blockchains, thus possibly operating in decentralized ecosystems. This implies that no one game may now bind purchases and in-game materials together. Players would be able to move their in-game items between games and even keep their digital goods even if a game shut down.

In this decentralized model, NFTs offer players an identity, that is unique and related to their account. That identity, combined with blockchain technology, ensures players' valuables are held safely. Moreover, these assets can be sold on NFT marketplaces, thus making them tradable across different platforms.

Cryptocurrency Rewards

Most of the P2E games offer in-game cryptocurrency rewards, so this provides a source of income for the players. Tokenized in most cases, these can be exchanged for real money. In summary, this offers some form of bridging from the digital world to the physical world through rewards.

Players can get rewarded based on various in-game achievements such as unlocking upgrades, crafting tools, and winning battles. The rewards can be sold in some marketplaces, giving people the ability to earn their way while playing.

Ownership of Virtual Gaming Assets

A long time ago, in-game assets belonged to the developers. NFT gaming reverses the script and gives control over ownership and custody of the asset back to the individual players for trading, selling, and modifying. Players can create value for themselves while inside the game economy as well as their peers.

In addition, owning gaming assets gives incentives to engage more because the time and effort that each one spends translate directly into valuable digital goods.

Buying & Selling NFTs In-game

This game-to-earn model is based on the creation, acquisition, and sale of in-game NFT assets. Players can buy or craft items such as weapons and power-ups and then auction them off online on gaming marketplaces for real money or cryptocurrency. This provides new opportunities for casual game players as well, who want to profit from their in-game activities.

An Open Economy

NFT gaming brings an open economy in which gamers are rewarded for their participation with real-world value. As NFT-based games gain ground, the value of in-game characters and assets will be highly valued, making the participation of players worthwhile.
The open economy brings out a dynamic market in which, when the games are played, one can buy, sell, and trade in-game assets across various platforms, making for a very vibrant and competitive ecosystem. 

NFT Gaming: Possible Challenges

While the potential for NFT gaming is huge, the industry faces several challenges that developers and players must navigate.

Misaligned Interests in NFTs & GameFi

While many of the core teams behind some NFT games have other priorities than the players or investors, but such misalignments can create friction. The case in point here is that the developers earn more from something unrelated to the game's success. The developers need to make sure that they balance their interests with those of the player base to create sustainable value in the long term.

Zero-Sum Game

In a decentralized NFT game, any participant is free to buy and sell assets freely. Every willing seller however needs a willing buyer, thus saturating the market leads to a zero-sum game. This might create imbalances if too many value extractors focus on extracting without contributing to the game's ecosystem

Value Extractors vs. Value Creators

There is often a delay in the game between the creators and the takers of value. This necessitates balanced efforts from developers to avoid compelling the economy of the game by making it even too heavy, thereby driving out valuable players.

Final Words

NFT gaming represents a whole new frontier for the gaming industry, offering players the chance to take ownership of their digital assets, earn real-world rewards, and participate in decentralized economies. This presents the possibilities of trading in-game assets across different platforms. As a result, NFT games will change all we thought we knew about gaming.

Such possibility in blockchain technology with even more developers starting to explore the possible worlds of NFTs in games brings a pretty hopeful future for this industry. However, challenges are evident, but the benefits of NFT gaming significantly outweigh the failures, making it promising for players, developers, and investors alike.

If you plan to create an NFT game, then contact Osiz,  a leading NFT Game Development Company,  We develop NFT games, coins, and other products on top blockchain platforms including Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and so on. With our expertise in blockchain development, Osiz can build any NFT solution based on the requirements of a client.