With Team 17 also announcing their arrival into the NFT space, it seems like only a matter of time before everyone else follows suit. I feel that these NFTs are going to come whether we like it or not, so I thought I would get my thoughts on this out there ASAP. As it stands, I have no interest in gaming NFTs, but I can see how they could end up being fun for gamers. Afterall, no one knew they wanted trophies and achievements until we got them.
I believe current proposals and implementations of NFTs in games do not benefit a gamer’s experience in any way. But I think they could. And I intend to try and highlight how.
What is an NFT and what does it want with my games?
Firstly, for those that don’t know, NFT stands for Non-fungible token. An NFT turns a piece of digital art into a one-of-a-kind, verifiable asset by minting it onto the block chain and making it tradable on open markets. This is not limited to just JPEGs. That just seems to be the first type of NFT to take off. NFTs can have lots of different utilities attached to the token and could be quite important in our increasingly digital futures.
Due to the fast growth of the video game industry, coupled with the insatiable Capitalist need for constant, unsustainable growth, developers and publishers are constantly looking for ways to further monetize their games. NFTs are the new hip kid on the technology block, so why not?
Despite our love for technological advance, gamers can be very resistant to technological advance. I cite the Microsoft and Xbox One of 2013, where they tried to change too much, too quickly; it ended a complete mess for them. Ironically, many of the plans they had ended up happening over time anyway. (Or were done by someone else). And were a success!
Based on this logic and these events, I think it is going to be a while before we see NFTs come into games in any successful way. There is too much notoriety around NFTs amongst the gaming community at the moment. It is going to take gamers realising they are going to happen anyway because Capitalism, coupled with all parties being ready to jump in, before we can get towards progress and acceptance.
What’re the technical problems for NFT implementation in games?
Without getting too deep into the technicalities, to work well it would require a huge level of interoperability and cooperation between stake holders, across multiple development environments, and would create extra work for developers. To truly work it would probably require an independent 3rd party to provide middleware to connect it all. As it stands, assets would be locked to small ecosystems, massively limiting use and in turn keeping collection value down because of limited lifespans.
My vision for how I can see this working though, addresses these things. In theory, it would benefit the end users/collectors by giving their purchases longevity, interoperability and stable value. All of this needs to happen without having an effect on game design. Then if the owner wants to sell, they can list it on the market place and set the price. The second games are designed around alternative monetization methods, they get very poor receptions. I will give an example of what I mean.
A unique piece of cosmetic in game gear is sold via a 3rd party platform, where developers and publishers can sell their varios art assets you can take with you, across your gaming worlds. Just because it has been ages, let’s say it’s Sam Fisher’s gear. Now I own this digital asset, I can use it as a cosmetic skin in most of my online multiplayer experiences, I can collect different ‘Sam Fisher’s gear’ assets as NFTs. People can see that I collect these because I can display them on my Xbox Live avatars, as well as PlayStation and Nintendo equivalents. They can also be present across my metaverse in general. So if I played say Call of Duty Warzone, my operative could be wearing Sam Fisher gear. Another example could be a badge or medal which could be displayed across multiple video game avatars or characters.
- I think this would benefit the end user (me) because, If I wanted to, I would get to own a piece of art relating to my favourite game/game franchise, that looks cool and can be taken with me, used and shown off to my friends across my games, digital platforms, or metaverse in general. And could be displayed with Trophies and/or Achievements.
- It would benefit the artist because they would truly get a way to gain more exposure, plus allows artists more ways to monetize their work.
- For the publishers and shareholders, it gives them more ways to continue to make money, meaning the industry continues to grow, meaning we continue to get investment in games.
I do not think this is the only way NFTs could work, personally I am also not hugely bothered if they make it in games permanently or not. But forever on my mind is, if not this, (that I’m not that bothered about) what else would end up with (which I might hate)? Growth requires more monetization methods if the industry is to continue to grow. And it is that fear that drives my attitude. What I understand though, is the fear that gaming will become about making money, and not about play. This scares me too, but i do not think it will come to that.
I don’t expect to change any minds on NFTs here, I’m not trying to either. But I will leave you all with this. They are currently optional extras that bare no weight on gameplay and are the types of thing that subsidise the costs of games and services…
I am sure I won’t have made any friends with this piece and I hope I didn’t make any enemies either. I wonder, does anyone else have any ideas about how NFT systems in games could work and be fun? How would it work for you? Also, please don’t hate me XD.
