As a part of blockchain technology, Non-fungible Tokens currently steal all the spotlight in the technology industry. Artworks, music, real estate, etc are tokenized and sold in different NFT marketplaces. Therein, the NFT game is one of the areas that attract huge attention, leading to the high demand for NFT Game Development. With NFT, playing games is not all about entertainment but also brings income for players. Now, let's find out why NFT and game is the perfect match.
Related: WHAT IS NFT GAME DEVELOPMENT? WHY IS THIS TREND EXPLODING IN 2021?
1. What are NFT Games?
a. Definition
The term “NFT Game”, also known as a play-to-earn game, describes a newly emerged trend in the gaming sector, in which players can collect rewards in the form of Non-fungible tokens that can be converted to real fiat. Although NFT was popular before, it has reached a new level of fame due to the COVID-19 pandemic since 2019. This pandemic has left negative impacts on the global economy, causing a rapid rise in the unemployed rate. In that case, many people see NFT games as a new way to earn money. For example, a Vietnamese NFT Game - Axie Infinity, made a big hit in the Philippines where the economy is influenced heavily by pandemics and the number of unemployed workers is increased. They considered NFT games as an investment opportunity.
b. The concept of NFT Games
The idea of play-to-earn games has existed before with online games that have multiplayer. In the virtual world of games, players can trade and sell rare items or limited characters. However, traditional games don’t have regulations to protect users when trading game items. But, by integrating blockchain technology in play-to-earn games with NFT Game Developments, players can find NFT games more beneficial and convenient than the normal ones. Players of NFT games are encouraged to upgrade & unlock levels and achieve rare items. Then, the game itself will provide tools to support players in trading NFTs in exchange platforms.
NFT Game Development is a wind of change in the play-to-earn gaming industry.
To clarify the concept of an NFT Game, we will take Axie Infinity as an example. In this game, characters called “Axies” are collected, traded, and battled with each other. Each Axie is an NFT. To level up the power of Axies, players can use in-game tokens such as Smooth Love Potions’ and ‘Axie Infinity Shards’). In contrast, players also can use these cryptos to buy other Axies or sell them for cash or other tokens such as Bitcoin, ETH, etc.
2. Non-fungible tokens in the gaming sector
a. What are Non-fungible Tokens
NFTs stand for Non-fungible Tokens, representing unique and irreplaceable assets. For example, a digital painting is an NFT as it is one-of-a-kind and there is no value standard to exchange it with other assets. In contrast, Fungible Tokens such as cryptocurrencies are exchangeable. For instance, the exchange values of Bitcoin and ETH are determined by the market when 1 Bitcoin can be traded with 13,69 ETH. In NFT Development, the Smart Contract plays an indispensable role in providing proof of works and royalty payments. With NFT Smart Contract Development, the authority of NFT once is verified in the blockchain system, including metadata and codes that make the uniqueness of each NFT, can not be altered or deleted without all parties involved knowing. Therefore, with blockchain technology, NFT is secured and protected carefully. That is why NFTs are the perfect format for game items as it provides uniqueness and authority of items.
b. NFTs in games
The most important attribute of NFT in games is scarcity. The more rare the NFTs, the more desirable they will be. Levels of NFT’s scarcity are depended on the concept and story of each game. For instance, in the CrytoKitties NFT game, the scarcity of items is determined by “cattributes”, including genetic trades of each kitty such as eye color, fur, etc and some characteristics are rarer than others. Consequently, it will be more expensive than normal kitties. Additionally, the early version or a limited version of kitties tend to be more valuable than the new ones. Meanwhile, in Sorare games, NFTs are collectible cards of famous soccer players. Sorare provides several competitions, such as the U23 competition, etc, where players can use their cards to organize a soccer team. At the end of the week, the game scores are calculated based on the performance of football players in real life. Then, the rewards for winners - limited cards or tokens, can be traded or converted to cash. So far, the most valuable card recorded is the 2020-21 card of Cristiano Ronaldo, at 290.000 $ in March 2021.
3. Advantages of NFTs in the gaming industry. How does NFT Game Development benefit the gaming sector?
a. Ownership and control over digital assets
Players have full control over Non-fungible tokens that they own in games such as game characters or rare items. They can trade or sell it with the support of game companies when they provide tools to help players in trading NFTs. Additionally, in the NFT game, transferring NFT is easy and legal. Meanwhile, in traditional games, players get characters by playing, so to transfer characters, players have to sell accounts. Then, advanced NFT Game Development brings great benefits for players by providing digital assets’ ownership and control.
b. Security and Uniqueness
Smart Contract ensures that each NFT is on-of-a-kind with metadata and codes so that NFTs can not be duplicated. NFT Game Development not only provides uniqueness but also security for players. In NFT games, once you own an NFT or reward tokens, they will be transferred in your wallets and can not be lost even if the games are shut down. In contrast, if you achieve a character in traditional games, it will be stored in the game’s systems instead of your wallets.
c. Opportunity for earning money virtually
Many players consider NFT Games as a potential channel of investment.
Nowadays, many people realize the potential of NFT games as they can invest a small amount of money to buy game items, then level up and earn rewards such as tokens or rare items in the form of NFTs. Currently, there is a new way of monetizing money, which is “Away from keyboard”, when a person invests money in buying game items and rents other players to play the game, then achieves rewards and converts it into cash. Consequently, investors can save time while still gaining money from NFT games. If players are lucky, they can even receive valuable NFTs worth thousands of dollars. Thus, NFT games are considered a new kind of investment in the virtual world.
4. The future of the NFT game. How to choose a suitable NFT Game Development company?
Although Non-fungible Tokens are well-known in the art world, the usage of NFTs in the gaming sector is rising gradually. As forecasted by Newzoo, the game industry will be worth $200 billion by the end of 2023. The game market becomes larger and with the benefits that NFT Game Development brings to players, NFT Game is predicted to be viral and massive in the near future.
If you are seeking a way to integrate blockchain technology into the gaming sector, please feel free to contact us for NFT Game Development Services. SotaTek is one of the leading blockchain development companies in VietNam that provides blockchain consulting services such as NFT Development, DEX Development, etc. With a skillful blockchain developer team, we are confident to build the best-suited roadmap for blockchain adoption of your businesses.
