An acclaimed internet show recently debated the potential of blockchain technology and video games.

In recent months the term “blockchain video game” has increasingly appeared in specialized and conventional media, while new companies have started to sell their own versions of video games based in blockchain technology. An example of this business strategy is the Ethereum-based platform Cryptokitties, undoubtedly the most popular “crypto-game” of 2018. However, for a big part of the gaming community these kinds of games are nothing more than “pseudo-cryptocurrencies”.

Extra-Credits (EC) is a show that focuses on video games.  The show was started in 2008 and is written by game designer James Portnow. The show can boast a community of more than 1 million subscribers in YouTube and is regarded as one of the most influential shows in the gaming community.

In its most recent episode, Extra Credits took a look at how blockchain technology can be exploited for game design and monetization purposes.

“Blockchain is a fascinating technology, most of us know about it from Cryptocurrencies; but basically is distributed data bases that are increasingly hard to temper with… I think it’s really cool for games, because there there’s a ton that blockchain allows us to do from a design prospective and even a monetization prospective.“

In the episode, they argued the potential that “digital scarcity” and “real player ownership” could provide unique, “in-game” mechanics to multiplayer games. Also blockchain technology could set the platform for real free-to-play games, just asking for a small portion of GPU’s power in order to mine Bitcoin, Ethereum and/or other cryptocurrencies.

 

by Samuel Larreal

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