Growth within the gaming industry is not uncommon, and blockchain technology looks highly likely to bring with it the next wave of disruption. An important part of the process is moving gaming from traditional hardware platforms on to the cloud, via a decentralised ecosystem – e.g. a blockchain platform.
There are millions of gaming enthusiasts all around the world who are missing out on playing some of the latest and most popular games, due simply to a lack of the hardware that is currently required to run the games. A shift to the cloud would negate the need to keep up with the costly hardware cycle. Instead all with a good internet connection would be able to log in and start playing.
The way in which blockchain could be adopted to achieve this is by encouraging those who do have powerful gaming PCs to ‘rent’ out their processing power to those without the latest gaming rigs in order for them to play the latest titles.
Whilst cloud gaming is not a new industry, many have encountered fundamental problems in the past – in particular with internet quality and service difficulties. Whilst the first problem is improving all the time, the second caused a pause in the development of the technology for a while.
Decentralisation is the answer. It enables a speedy scaling process and will place the power back into the hands of gamers, and out of the hands of the corporations currently governing. With no central controlling body, consumers can communicate directly, without the use of an intermediary. This will allow for a freedom and flexibility that doesn’t currently exist in this space.
In fact the shift of power into the hands of gamers is a theme throughout the use of blockchain tech in the gaming industry. An example of which is the way some innovators are applying blockchain tech to the sale of gamer-earned digital goods. This is where gamers earn an in-game reward in return for the time and effort they have put into the game, which they can then sell on for a monetary reward. However, all too often these types of transactions reveal themselves to be a scam.
Blockchain has the ability to transform this process. There are a number of projects now that are developing decentralised marketplaces for the sale of in-game items. These are safe places for transactions just like this, and they are safe as a result of blockchain technology.
A popular benefit of blockchain technology is the transparency it provides. Decentralised gaming is highly likely to depend on the exchange of a crypto token, for example PKT, the Playkey Token, and blockchain provides the ability to trade the token in a open and secure network. As a rule, cryptotransactions are easy-to-monitor even if they are not yours.
For example, one user is perfectly able to view the contents of a cryptowallet by only possessing the wallet address if the transaction was done under the smart contract of the decentralised cryptoexchange like EtherDelta, for example. Another smart contract that is required to manage the rules of interaction between a miner and a gamer in a future Playkey decentralised ecosystem is also a transparent mechanism to guarantee a miner will get its reward once certain conditions within renting out its PC are met.
It is also worth saying that there will be a much heavier impact than we are even able to comprehend or foresee at this point; we’ve yet to unleash the full capabilities of blockchain technology. It is not simply the addition of cryptocurrency and the removal of intermediaries. It is the introduction of an auditable, verified store of data including players moves within a game, collating every possible measurement of data it can, all in a protected but open ledger.
Whilst some solutions are closer to completion that others, blockchain is ready and waiting to completely transform the gaming industry, creating a more transparent and effective industry. Gamers are such a passionate group of people, who feel strongly about the industry – a decentralised setup incorporating the many benefits of blockchain will hand the power back into the hands of gamers themselves, creating a democratized platform for all.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.