Has the Videogame Industry Embraced Crypto?

Videogaming has come a long way since the introduction of the first simple games in the 1950s and 60s. In fact, even over the past decade alone we have witnessed enormous changes to videogames and the videogame industry in general. The current generation of consoles means you no longer need to buy physical copies of games and online multiplayer games are big business. However, on this page we are looking at the link between the videogame industry and cryptocurrency. Has the videogame industry embraced crypto?

Digital Currency

Both virtual and cryptocurrencies are digital currencies as they exist online and online in the digital space. Videogames have long used virtual currency in games, even before online games were created. If you played a videogame where you took control of a city or built villages, you would have virtual currency you could spend. In the modern, online multiplayer games, you have virtual currency to spend, with the Madden football game a good example. You can use the virtual currency in the game to buy players and kit but this currency is worthless outside the game and that is what differentiates it from cryptocurrency. So, while both virtual currency in videogames and cryptocurrency are both forms of digital currency, they are quite different.

Popular Games

The leading videogame titles, such as Madden, FIFA, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Final Fantasy all have some form of currency in the game but they are yet to use cryptocurrency. The overriding reason for the current absence of crypto in the games is because it has a real world value. Adding a currency to the game that has a real world value changes the whole nature of the playing experience. In some ways, playing a game of Madden knowing the winning coins have a real money value would be similar to playing games at a real money online casino. It is hard to imagine just how much this would change the dynamic of the game and how the game would be regulated. Interestingly, a company has been created to pay Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players in Bitcoin. The amount of winnings a player will get from the game depends on the number of kills and the total funds go into one pot which is shared at the end of the game. Crypto is an added element to CS:GO but some videogames have been created with the use of crypto in mind, so there has been some crossover between the two.

Play to Earn Games

Play to earn games (P2E), also known as blockchain games, are one of the latest trends in the industry and new games are released regularly. Many crypto based videogame titles have been earmarked for release in 2023, with Wizardia, The Walking Dead Empires, Chumbi Valley, DinoX, and Splinterlands, among the leading titles expected to hit the P2E market this year. Some of the videogames, such as Wizardia and Chumbi Valley include non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and in terms of the former, each wizard within the game is a unique NFT. This provides ways to play, invest, and make money in the crypto game.

Image by Olya Adamovich from Pixabay