The collision and confusion around cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and video games is as 2021 as a conversation gets. But with more and more NFT-based games being developed, is it even clear who’s benefitting?
So you’ve heard Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and NFT thrown around a lot lately and like me, you’re a little puzzled. I know I’ve seen Valve’s decision to ban NFT games on Steam, and Epic Games’ decision to possibly accept them in future. There’s memes about Dogecoin and the story of how Grimes managed to snag $6 million by selling her music using NFTs. But what is an NFT? And what does any of this have to do with the gaming industry?
Although Happy’s already covered NFTs before and the genuinely good potential it holds for musicians and artists, the gaming angle’s a little different. After some intensive Googling and investigative reading, I can safely say I understand what the fuss is all about now.
Image: Ethereum
The NFT rundown
NFT stands for non-fungible token. What they do is assign a unique and non-interchangeable certificate to a digital asset and through blockchain technology, prove legitimate ownership. Blockchain technology lets us trace the origins of a file, all the way back to its original creator and thus, allows us to confirm ownership.
In other words, if you had an NFT of a Van Gogh painting, it’d be like owning the original. Since Gogh is long dead, you won’t make any royalties when people copy the painting, but unlike the copies, you’ve got the real deal.
In this case, it’s pretty much a flex.
Moving back to the digital world, yes that NFT image you bought cost $500 and pretty much anyone can download or copy it. But you own the original and thanks to NFTs and blockchain technology, you can prove it too. For fine art collectors, that sort of thing matters.
NFTs can be more than just images too. They can be pretty much anything that’s digital, be it art, music, and now, video games. They can also be bought or sold in whatever currency the seller prefers, but the majority of the market accepts the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
For artists and musicians, NFTs have a nifty feature where you can enable it to pay you a percentage every time that NFT is sold again. Meaning if your work starts gaining value, you still benefit.
? Giveaway ?
I’ve started my own project and I’m giving away those 3 golden NFT’s to my new followers?
RT, follow me & @SolAntsNFT, results in 48h pic.twitter.com/9bIv9gSkgP
— SolStoner (@solstoner_) November 1, 2021
So why does this matter for video games?
NFTs have gotten a lot of bad press when it comes to their usage in video games specifically. I’m here to tell you that it’s not all bad, but it’s not all good either. Games with an NFT focus are usually advertised as a way to make money while you’re gaming, which sounds like a dream. But reality is a little different, at least currently.
Usually, you purchase a copy of a game in order to play it, but NFT-based games are, generally speaking, free. That’s because they focus on making you purchase their NFT assets (which could be weapons, armour, …….