Learn everything you need to know about blockchain gaming with this ultimate guide by DappRadar
Blockchain technology has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for gaming. Now, instead of paying to play a game, you can play games and earn money.
Contents
- What is blockchain gaming?
- What types of blockchain gaming exist?
- Do blockchain games have their own coins?
- What types of blockchain gaming are there?
- Do blockchain games have their own coins?
- What is play-to-earn gaming?
- What are gaming guilds?
- Are there any drawbacks to blockchain gaming?
- Discover the best blockchain games
Web3 gaming enables true ownership of in-game assets and gives users a voice in the governance of the games they play.
With all this new technology and different parts of the industry innovating and changing so quickly, it’s only natural that people have lots of questions. Fortunately, DappRadar has you covered.
What is blockchain gaming?
Blockchain games are video games that utilize elements of cryptographic-based technology such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies.
Other names that people use for blockchain gaming include web3 gaming, play-to-earn gaming, and crypto gaming.
Because the industry is so new, the community has yet to decide which terminology to use. For the purposes of this article, we’ll be using the term blockchain gaming.
Blockchain gaming’s top innovations
Like other industries and sectors that use blockchain technology, ownership is at the core of blockchain gaming. Here are the top innovations this tech brings to the gaming industry:
- Players own in-game assets in the form of NFTs, which they can sell on secondary marketplaces like OpenSea and Magic Eden.
- Users can also hold game tokens and coins (that are cryptocurrencies) to spend on upgrades, skins, tools, weapons, and more, within the game – and sell it for real-world or fiat money. Hence play and earn.
- Decentralized governance systems give players more of a say in how games develop and what decisions gaming companies make. Governance tokens convey voting rights to their holders and when a proposal is put forward by the team behind the game, the community votes on what to do.
Which blockchains are the best for gaming?
Technically speaking, games can be developed on any blockchain. But as the gaming industry has exploded over the past few years, developers have created specialized networks built to handle the amount of information that passes through them.
Ronin
Blockchain games development studio Sky Mavis developed the Ronin blockchain specifically for its smash hit game Axie Infinity. While they did this to circumnavigate Ethereum’s high gas fees and to provide gamers with a cheaper and smoother gaming experience, they also created the most famous gaming blockchain.
In 2023, the Ronin blockchain will be the home of other new and promising games, like the Machine Arena, BattleBears Heroes, etc.
Immutable X
Immutable created the Immutable X blockchain as an Ethereum scaling solution that ‘enables near-instant, zero gas fee transactions’.
It supports 9,000 transactions per second and hosts some of the most popular games throughout Web3, such as Gods Unchained, Guild of Guardians, Illuvium, and Ember Sword.
WAX
WAX stands for Worldwide Asset eXchange and was created to trade virtual assets in games and virtual worlds. It is widely recognized across the blockchain gaming space as one of the main blockchains to host your games.
Three of the top games in DappRadar’s games rankings are on the WAX network: Alien Worlds, Splinterlands and Farmers World.
These games are part of the reason why WAX has been the blockchain with the most traffic on gaming dapps in 2023.
Polygon
The Polygon blockchain is home to many successful dapps, not only in the gaming category. However, since 2021 it has been focusing its attention on supporting game devs in their blockchain.
So much so that DappRadar’s Gaming Industry report of April 2023 addressed “Polygon’s Rise as a Gaming Chain: Second Only to Wax with 138k Daily Gaming Wallets”.
Other blockchains that gamers should check out are:
For more articles related specifically to news and updates about developments in blockchains or blockchain technology, we have stories tagged with Blockchain.
What types of blockchain games are there?
As in the physical world and the world of web2 gaming on Playstation and Xbox, there are multiple genres of blockchain games.
- Farming games: where you work the virtual land and sell your products for profit.
- Role-playing Games (RPGs): where you move through fantasy lands.
- Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games: are for people who want to engage in crazy combat with multiple enemies; Tower Defense games are for those who want to defend their base.
- Shooting games: games that take the innovative first-person shooter to the next generation.
- Trading card games: these take their cue from physical collectible games such as the original Pokémon cards.
- Sports and racing in the blockchain are similar to sports and racing games in the real world.
- Move-to-Earn games: allows people to earn money by being active. DappRadar’s guide on Move-to-Earn outlines the basics, and our introductory articles to StepN and Fitfi give a bit more detail about some of the biggest names in the scene.
What is play-to-earn gaming?
You’ve probably heard the term play-to-earn gaming before. It’s as simple as it sounds: gamers earn real money by playing games.
It’s one of the key features of blockchain gaming and one of the main ways in which blockchain technology gives users ownership and power over their activity. There are various ways that gamers can play and earn, some of them listed below:
- Win battles against opponents and earn in-game rewards.
- Collect daily rewards for being a loyal gamer.
- Stake land NFTs and cryptocurrency within a game.
- Create, craft, or find in-game assets (NFTs) to trade for profit in secondary marketplaces such as OpenSea and Magic Eden.
- Create gaming experiences in Metaverse worlds where people can play in.
- Rent your in-game assets, like heroes, skins, and land plots, to other players who don’t want to or cannot afford to purchase the NFTs themselves.
DappRadar’s list of the Top 10 Blockchain Games to Play and Earn Crypto Tokens is a good place to start for anyone looking to get started in blockchain gaming. We update our lists regularly, so keep checking in for the best information.
Do blockchain games have their own coins?
Cryptocurrency coins and tokens are a huge part of the blockchain ecosystem. The world of blockchain gaming is no different. You can earn tokens in-game for a variety of reasons. And you can buy and sell assets with them as well.
Some of the best gaming tokens are:
- The Sandbox (SAND) on Polygon and Ethereum.
- Axie Infinity (AXS) on Ethereum.
- Enjin Coin (ENJ) on Ethereum.
- StepN (GMT) on Solana and BNB Chain.
- Gala Games (GALA) on Ethereum.
The list is based on how many users each game currently has and is liable to change. But knowing which gaming platforms have the biggest communities gives a good insight into which ones have high earning potential.
Best of all, when the time comes and the prices are right, you can swap your in-game currency for real-world cash.
What are gaming guilds?
Gaming guilds are an innovative way to make blockchain gaming as open, fair and equitable as possible – and actually originate from traditional games. They work as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) with a pool of resources which players can rent in-game assets from and use them to play games with.
In other words, great for players who are just starting out in the world of blockchain gaming and perhaps don’t have the funds to buy all of the necessary NFTs to begin. Or maybe someone just wants to dip their toe in and doesn’t want to spend lots of money only to find out they don’t like the game.
Some of the best play-and-earn gaming guilds include:
- Merit Circle: on Axie Infinity, VulcanVerse, Genopets, Illuvium, etc.
- Yield Guild Games: on Guild of Guardians, Splinterlands, Star Atlas, etc.
- BlackPool: on Sorare, Gods Unchained, MetaSoccer, etc.
And our list of the 5 Best Games with Play-to-Earn Scholarship Programs shows which specific games are the most accessible for anyone who wants to give them a try before they buy.
Are there any drawbacks to blockchain gaming?
As with all things in life, nothing is perfect. Blockchain gaming has its own drawbacks, even though people are constantly working to minimize their impact.
The main problem with blockchain gaming is that many games’ economic model is usually based on growth instead of quality gameplay. When growth stalls, so can profits. And when profits stall, existing users go elsewhere.
Some commentators have pointed out their similarity to pyramid or Ponzi schemes, where early adopters are paid with money from new users. Others have noticed that blockchain gaming is great when NFT and cryptocurrency prices go up, but can lose momentum when they drop.
Games developers are working on ways to flatten out the spikes and dips of in-game economies. Gala Games updated the rewards distribution system for Town Star as they attempt to find more sustainability in the future.
Discover the best blockchain games
DappRadar is the World’s Dapp Store and the leading authority on blockchain analytics. Our Top Games Rankings show which ones are performing the best over different time periods. And our dedicated blockchain Games portal gives an overview of the entire sector to show how it’s performing as a whole.
Want some more? Industry experts use our authoritative Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) Reports which major media outlets regularly reference.
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