Web3 in gaming and how it revolutionizes the gaming industry

The world is evolving! Everything, including how we communicate, interact, earn money, and even play games, has transformed. The fact that science and technology play a pivotal role in this change is very much self-evident.

Web3 is also one such technological advancement that is fast gaining traction. The technology leverages the potential of Blockchain technology to generate value. Notably, this technology is introducing a new wave of revolution across industry verticals.

All major industries are keen to adopt this technology. And one such industry is gaming. Now that we are on the verge of welcoming the future with web3, web3 in gaming may be considered the beginning of this journey.

Thus, this insight will introduce you to every aspect of web3 in gaming and explain what makes it different from traditional games you are familiar with.

• What is web3?
• What is web3 in gaming?
• Challenges with traditional gaming
• Factors that have led to the web3 revolution in the gaming industry
• Key features of web3 in gaming
• Technologies required to realize web3 in gaming
• How web3 redefines monetization in gaming

What is web3?

The concept of web3 came into existence when the co-founder of Ethereum, Gavin Wood, coined the term web3 and first used it in 2014. The early versions of the internet increased dependency and restricted its potential. Wood believed the web3 technology was a powerful catalyst for enabling the global tech ecosystem to thrive.  

The core idea of web3 is the decentralization of the internet. The main goal behind introducing this technology is to shift the power of control from intermediaries to users.  

The basic infrastructure of web3 technology works on blockchain, cryptocurrencies and NFTs to facilitate unprecedented security, transparency, and immutability. 

Web3’s distinguishing features demonstrate its potential to revolutionize different sectors. This is why big industries are dipping their toes into this new wave. Let’s take a look at the wide range of uses the technology allows. 

Blockchain games

Blockchain games constitute the actual use case of the technology. It makes web3 in gaming a part of individualized economies where one can have genuine ownership over objects used within games. 

The metaverse 

The metaverse is acknowledged as one of the most important use cases for web3. As the metaverse is intended to be an immersive, shared and interactive virtual world, the value that the principles of web3 provide is worth employing. 

DAO 

A DAO or decentralized autonomous organization is governed by its members, independent of a central authority. It highlights the important aspects of web3 by featuring transparency and autonomy. In line with blockchain’s philosophy, a DAO empowers its community members with voting rights. These voting rights prioritize the interests of the community over powerful individuals and groups. It’s worth noting that DAOs form the key governance system of web3 in gaming.

Decentralized finance

Web3 technology also facilitates an innovative idea through decentralized finance, most commonly known as DeFi. The financial layer of the web3 ecosystem facilitates a democratic financial system without any central authority, thus, making tampering with the rules of any decentralized game impossible.

What is web3 in gaming?

Remember the first generation of games? Static with only one-directional interactions. Later, when the improved version or the second generation of games emerged, they seemed more participatory and interactive. 

But the proliferation of modern technology in gaming dramatically brought a paradigm shift in the industry. Not only that, gamers can now play digitally and have a highly immersive and interactive gaming experience at the same time. All thanks to web3 technology. The popularity of web3 in gaming has risen at an astonishing rate in recent years. 

Web3 games are technically digital games that utilize blockchain technology to store data and make transactions. The underlying component of the economy in web3 games are tangibly owned assets and a liquid market to trade and sell those assets. 

Incorporating blockchain mechanisms in web3 games has caused massive adoption of concepts like play-to-earn and NFT. The in-game assets in such games are mostly in the form of non-fungible tokens or NFTs. These tokens promise proof of ownership and seamless trading of digital assets. The play-to-earn gaming model brought an opportunity for players not only to play and relax but also to earn while doing so. 

Such major innovations resulted in the materialization of web3 in gaming and caused it to become the most heavily invested sector, with billions of dollars funded lately. 

Challenges with traditional gaming

Though it’s an open secret that traditional games provide more space for us to interact with the environment, there are some limitations too. Nonetheless, the traditional gaming sector has millions of users worldwide, and the industry is certainly the most promising one. But, anyhow, the need for web3 in gaming aroused due to the setbacks evident in conventional games. 

What are those challenges? Let’s discuss. 

Trading in-game assets

Traditional games allow one to purchase assets with fiat money. These assets might be useful in the game while playing but has no value beyond the concerned game’s marketplace. Thus, causing zero profit with lots of investments. 

True ownership of in-game assets 

When any asset is purchased in a traditional game, does ownership right truly get transferred to the owner? The answer is no! They only get a licensee to interact with them as the game operators already have copyrights to those in-game assets. Web3 in gaming allows players to have true ownership of their in-game assets.

Centralized in-game information 

Did you know the information you provide while playing traditional games is all stored on their own servers? What does that mean? It simply means that the game administrators have complete control over the usage of the data offered. Thus, risking data privacy and security at the same time. 

Factors that have led to the web3 revolution in the gaming industry

A certain set of technologies linked to web3 in gaming is helping the industry to evolve at an incredible pace. These include the following:

Blockchain 

Adopting blockchain technology gives gamers and owners a fair chance to explore the gaming world entirely. The gaming ecosystem combined with blockchain technology considerably enhances players’ gaming experience with qualities like decentralization, immutability and more.

NFTs

Most games have started to utilize NFTs as in-game assets. NFTs or non-fungible tokens are cryptographic tokens that provide true ownership of the underlying assets. The reason why NFTs are being used extensively is their ability to get transferred between wallets. NFTs are increasing the value of digital assets by making them tradable with exclusive ownership rights.

Artificial intelligence 

The traditional gaming world being static, requires some extra elements, energy and interactions for improved engagement. Artificial intelligence is helping the gaming industry achieve the desired level of player engagement without extra effort. It is helping computers understand information just like humans do. As a result, properties like speed and interaction ability are progressively improving, yielding better gaming experiences.

Tokens 

Tokens are most widely used as an incentive for players to participate in games. The value of these tokens keeps on increasing. Web3 in gaming also encourages these tokens to help the gaming community become stronger. The tokens can also be further utilized to make a profit by selling them on the market.

AR and VR 

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are revolutionizing the way we play games. Both open up new dimensions in the sphere of gaming. VR technology is allowing players to connect, socialize and build relationships through games. On the other hand, AR technology allows players to do things differently by letting them play in a multi-dimensional space with more flexible character movements.

Key features of web3 in gaming

With the new web3 gaming model, a new era for gaming is dawning. Players can now have privileges to own, sell, and trade in-game assets and earn rewards as they play. The interest and pleasure of gaming in the web3 realm are mostly based on decentralization. There are also numerous benefits of web3 in gaming, such as improved security.

Proof-of-ownership and interoperability 

Proof-of-ownership is the new face of web3 in gaming. With the exponential popularity of NFTs, true ownership and interoperability in gaming is increasing. Players can exercise complete ownership over their in-game assets through NFTs.

Interoperability is also helping web3 games to allow the moving of assets outside the gaming marketplace. Thus, players can earn profit without losing money on these items.

Transparency in the democratic gaming world 

The autonomous operations of the web3 gaming ecosystem with minimal central authority interventions are the key to its success. These games use voting consensus for changes in the gaming process.

As a result, it gave rise to decentralized governance organizations called DAOs. Nowadays, most blockchain games are based on this governance system, facilitating better transparency. Besides, such games transfer the control to the player and no third party is involved.

Player focused gaming 

The main focus of web3 in gaming is to bring back true decentralization and power to the players. On top of that, it promises an environment tailored according to their needs.

Technologies required to realize web3 in gaming

It is important to understand the technologies underpinning the building blocks for web3 in gaming; they are:

Blockchain technology 

Web3 games are built on top of blockchain architectures for trustless and permissionless access. Blockchain provides the path for more openness and transparency, ultimately leading to decentralized apps. These dApps, when integrated with web 3, offer tools for supporting in-game assets and transactions.

Smart contracts 

Smart contracts form the backbone of the web3 games you see today. They help execute lines of code automatically and define the rules of the agreement. Smart contracts lower the risk of data manipulation by restricting intermediary control, making the entire process highly secure, accurate and transparent.

Digital wallets 

Blockchain-based digital wallets are an important aspect of the ongoing evolution of web3. Unlike physical wallets, these wallets store private and public keys in order to process and receive transactions on the network. Apart from this, they also display transaction records and the balances of the addresses corresponding to the keys.

How web3 redefines monetization in gaming

As for players, traditional games only mean mere enjoyment, with heaps of money spent. The in-game assets earned lose all their value soon after the game finishes or the player quits. Additionally, the conventional monetization model for gaming has many flaws.

Web3 in gaming, with technologies like blockchain and NFTs serving as its foundation, has brought a new monetization model into existence. Players have an opportunity to earn passive income through staking and other methods. They also receive financial rewards for the time and effort they put into games.

For game owners, on the other hand, web3 games have opened up an endless stream of revenue. They are able to offer in-game purchases, run in-game marketplaces and provide unprecedented freedom to players in terms of trading. In short, web3 in gaming has brought about a complete overhaul of monetization.

Final thoughts 

Though web3 in gaming is still a developing concept, the potential it bears is huge and is expected to only grow with time. Experts believe more players in the gaming industry will embrace web3 technologies and the modern economic model. Web3 in gaming will also bring considerable progress for the entire industry as both players and owners will see more equitable rewards.

The powerful support of blockchain, as well as the availability of NFTs as in-game assets and the formation of massive communities called DAOs, are the prominent highlights of new web3-based games. Anyone aware of the web3 hype can easily guess the future of decentralized gaming – more immersive, social and connected than ever before.

If you want to get an immersive web3 game built, contact LeewayHertz. We have an expert team of developers skilled at developing advanced web3 games such as play-to-earn games.