Part 1 of 2
by Thomas Kønig - CEO
Disclaimer: Many of the companies addressed in this article, either by name directly or through commentary on their product offerings, are fellow members of the Blockchain Game Alliance.
The intention of this article is not to act as a hit-piece against our competition, for whom we have great admiration for pioneering alongside us in this uncharted territory. It only tries to serve as a thought-provoking analysis of our industry, and where we might lead it from here.
I mentioned in an earlier post on the Pixie Interactive blog, that any technology as young and disruptive as play-to-earn blockchain gaming is bound to come with a host of hiccups and early hurdles to overcome. Last time, I brought this up in relation to play-to-earn scholarships and how manager/scholar-relationships are fundamentally skewed and ripe for abuse and exploitation (a post which received incredible response across the industry, leading to suggest that a number of the practices I brought up might even meet the International Labour Organization's standards of forced labor.
Today I want to shine a light on a different, more game-centric challenge that developers face when building games for the play-to-earn blockchain space: Fun.
Fundamentally speaking, not much is fun about the blockchain. It is nothing but a ledger with a bunch of transactions logged to it and ridiculous gas fees. Decidedly not fun.
At the same time, the base-level expectation is that games are supposed to be fun and engaging. Even in the play-to-earn industry, we have to accept that profitability is secondary to a fun and stimulating game, because without players there is no market, and with no market, there is no money.
Right now, play-to-earn games have the benefit of being first movers, being in a market that is sparsely populated, and therefore have the advantage of lower standards and expectations from consumers.
That is changing rapidly. More and more studios are waking up to the value of fun-first game design. Within a few years from now, I am willing to bet, that there are enough good blockchain games to choose from, and when that time comes, consumers will go where the fun is - as they always have.