Blockchain and the games industry

Yesterday, I attended the Blockchain Gaming Connects conference hosted in London. While it was largely a gaming conference with blockchain attached, there were still plenty of attendees highlighting their use of blockchain in their particular games. The question remains, though, as to whether these projects are viable.

When I spoke to @Cryptoblood in December, one of his main predictions for the future was that gaming would be pivotal in expanding the blockchain market. From discussions I had yesterday, the main use case for blockchain in games appears to be as a way to form markets for peer-to-peer transactions of in-game items. There are, of course, other ways people are implementing blockchain technology, but this was the most prevalent.

Many of the companies at the conference ran ICOs that raised substantial amounts of money. The bear market has affected them severely, though. One company I spoke to had reduced its staff from 20 down to 5. I think it is fair to say that such statistics do not bode well.

Blockchain, like AI, is one of the biggest buzzwords in the FinTech space right now. It isn’t just gaming that people are trying to adapt it for, either. Energy, healthcare, finance… You name it, someone is probably trying to stick a blockchain on it.

However, I am still yet to be convinced by the necessity of all this. This could change, though. We are still in the early days of the space, and when compared to such ideas as mobile gaming, there is still plenty of time to grow and to prove me wrong.

Where you sit on the fence regarding this debate depends on your viewpoint. Speak to a Bitcoin maximalist such as Tone Vays and they will tell you there is little point in such adventures. Speaking to some technical people at the conference, they did explain that there are possibilities to advance blockchain in gaming, and that Bitcoin maximalism wasn’t necessarily productive for the ecosphere.

Gaming is without doubt a massive industry. Even if blockchain can dip its toes into this market, it would still be impressive.