What’s The Future Of NFTs In Gaming?

Image source

NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are popular in the cryptocurrency industry, where these digital collectibles are traded by investors. They can include everything from digital art to songs and other digital files. Although they arguably had their heyday in early 2021, NFTs do remain a popular part of the cryptocurrency industry. They are also finding some use in intellectual property industries, enabling creators to monetize their creative efforts, and allowing fans to purchase unique digital art and other works.

NFTs In Gaming

Cryptocurrency and blockchain are gaining prominence across the gaming industry. They are popular in eSports, and blockchain games have already been developed. They can also be found on iGaming websites, including those on this list covering crypto casino sites. At online casinos, cryptocurrency offers expedited deposits and withdrawals while blockchain can be used to ensure transparent, fair gaming. Another element of cryptocurrency that is seeing some traction in iGaming, and certainly across the rest of the gaming industry, is NFTs.

NFT Games

NFTs have seen some use in gaming, where they can be used to represent in-game items or developed and traded as collectible items in their own rights. For now, they are used primarily in dedicated crypto games and blockchain games, but they have the potential to spread into mainstream titles. Ubisoft launched its own NFT game, Champions Tactics. The launch was a quiet affair with little fanfare but, along with the launch of Ubisoft Quartz, it shows that mainstream game makers are considering NFTs.

Quartz is a blockchain-powered system offering limited edition NFTs that can be taken into a game. The system was compatible with Ghost Recon on launch, and will likely expand in the future.

CryptoKitties

The market already has some experience with NFT games. CryptoKitties was one of the first major uses of NFTs, launching in 2017. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Crypto Kitties has players buy, breed, and sell their CryptoKitties, each of which is a unique NFT. In 2018, one CryptoKitty called Dragon sold for the equivalent of $172,000.

In Game Assets

NFT trading games are becoming more popular, although they remain a fairly niche area. But NFTs are finding alternative uses beyond these games. Specifically, they are being implemented in some mainstream games. Rather than being the main focus of the game, in these cases, they are supplemental to the game itself. They are the in-game assets that players use.

In traditional gaming, assets like weapons, skins, and even accounts belong to the game maker. Players are effectively given a license to use the items as long as they remain active within the game. This license typically prohibits the use of assets outside the game and normally forbids their sale or acquisition without express consent from the game maker, which is rarely, if ever, given.

NFTs As In-Game Assets

NFTs are different. They are created on the blockchain, and when a person creates an NFT, they get the private keys to that NFT. The token belongs to them, rather than the game studio. This means that, technology and coding permitting, assets can be transferred from one game to another.

Interoperability

That does require game makers to coordinate their efforts or it will limit the transfer to games from the same studio. For now. In the future, companies will likely coordinate with one another to create metaverses where assets can be moved so you could be using the Blades of Azzinoth from World of Warcraft in your next God of War playthrough. If you wanted, you could potentially even take your Ultimate Team Ronaldo into the octagon while playing EA Sports UFC 5.

Player Ownership

Furthermore, because players own their NFTs outright, it also means it will be possible to sell these assets on open marketplaces. If you’ve spent hundreds of hours grinding to level up your player, you could potentially sell it when you’ve had enough. The new owner will receive the private key to the NFT and you can receive hard currency in return.

Other Uses For NFTs

NFTs will likely also start to feature as in-game rewards and are already being used in this way in some games, including as part of some online casino loyalty programs. When you reach level 100, for example, you might receive a unique NFT to display in your account, or sell it. This type of gamification benefits the game maker because it encourages players to keep coming back. It benefits the player as it enables them to monetize their hard work.

Conclusion

NFTs are still an emerging technology, although they have been around for more than ten years now. Their creation and use have evolved, and developers and innovators are finding new ways to use them. The video game industry is typically at the forefront of technology, which means it is likely to integrate NFTs and other blockchain features soon.