“Blockchain,” according to Alex Amsel, head of blockchain strategy for Fig, “is really, really early stage.”
And that isn’t a surprising statement, seeing as how the entire area is only a few years old, which stands in contrast with the mainstream gaming market.
While it’s only been a short span of time, blockchain has managed to introduce a significant number of possibilities within platforms and games.
For example, items, Amsel states, are given value through their inherent scarcity. Blockchain is able to grant authenticity to digital assets without the need for a third party validator.
“[Blockchain] software can show that this is the magic sword used by Bill Gates on World of Warcraft, or whatever it happens to be. Or that this is the item created and given away by a YouTube celebrity or esports star… No expert required.”
Another intriguing prospect that blockchain brings up is item interoperability and user ownership.
“In order to complete an objective in game B, you might need a key from game A,” he said. “Both games could sell the same items, which could be created by different game developers, by creators.”
Throughout the course of the Blockchain Game Summit recently, and Blockchain Gamer Connects Helsinki, there have been examples shown by developers of this interoperability.
Enjin, for example, with its ongoing multiverse project, along with Beyond The Void, both giving players the power to move items between games.
But while blockchain has continually proven innovative, Amsel urges patience and an understanding that the best is yet to come.
“Don’t judge anything about it from what’s there now. Don’t judge the games, don’t judge the technology. We know what’s possible, but we don’t know the best way to use it… We need the projects to prove themselves.”
For the moment, blockchain games have few real use cases, but have all of the components with which to make revolutionary games. The only thing separating them from mass adoption, in Amsel’s mind, is time:
“Longer term, it might be five to ten years before we see it go mainstream, but then something will do it in the same way that Minecraft did.”
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