What Is Blockchain Game Development And How Do You Get Started?

By Author: Patricia Smith
Total Articles: 2
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Blockchain technology is commonly associated with cryptocurrencies, and this is a significant application; however, this technology is now used as a foundational element in many industries, including gaming. In this article, we will examine how blockchain game development works, as well as recent gaming industry trends.

How does Blockchain Technology work?

Blockchain technology comprises three essential components:

A Decentralized Ledger

Every blockchain network incorporates a distributed ledger in which all transactions are recorded. The ledger is accessible to all network participants worldwide.

Immutable Documents

Once a transaction has been recorded, it is irreversible. A transaction record containing an error must be included, followed by a new transaction that rectifies the error.

Smart Contracts

Smart contracts Blockchain networks include conditions for executing automated "smart contracts" when predetermined needs are met. They can consist of several triggered actions to complete a series of tasks and execute a contract to finalize a transaction involving exchanging ...
... goods or services.

Every transaction is recorded as its own "block," creating a data chain that can demonstrate changes in ownership or the state of an asset.

Blockchain networks are now utilized in many industries, including financial services, supply chain management, and game development, because they offer a highly secure method for sharing and gaining access to accurate data, which can only be restricted to network participants.

Blockchain Technology in the Gaming Industry

In online gaming, blockchain technology is experiencing a meteoric rise. Since Q1 2021, blockchain-based game play has increased by over 2,000%, according to a recent report by DappRadar and BGA Games, and the gaming industry accounts for 52% of all blockchain activity.

As players purchase and sell digital assets in games, they can convert gaming tokens into and out of various cryptocurrencies. More than 1.22 million cryptocurrency wallets participated in blockchain games as of March 2022.

Frequently, players participate in "GameFi" (a portmanteau of "gaming" and "finance") games, which allow them to compete for various types of digital assets by completing tasks, winning battles, and advancing through multiple levels. The digital assets can be issued in the blockchain as NFTs (non-fungible tokens), so the ownership of each player's token is recorded on the blockchain. NFTs can be used in-game, traded on NFT marketplaces, or exchanged for cryptocurrency.

This model creates a "player-owned economy," a crucial advantage. Rather than storing rewards and tokens within the gaming platform, players maintain full ownership of their NFTs directly within their cryptocurrency wallet and access the assets using their keys. This gives game players more control and ensures the value of their digital assets; these NFTs are not worthless outside of a standalone game platform; they can be sold across NFT marketplaces, allowing players and NFT owners to determine the market value of their assets.

Creating Videogames Utilizing Blockchain Technology

How does blockchain game development differ from traditional video and mobile game development from the perspective of a game developer?

In addition to traditional game development for a gaming platform, a blockchain game will include code that enables it to run on a decentralized, peer-to-peer blockchain network.

Your development team must either use a blockchain-compliant software development kit (SDK) from a third-party vendor or code a decentralized application (DApp) from scratch to ensure that your gaming application can integrate with the blockchain network.

DApps are fully decentralized, ensuring that players can instantly conduct "smart contract" transactions.

The gaming solution should be cryptographically coded to ensure user safety and prevent hacking. It should be capable of verifying and securing digital assets and providing access to an open marketplace where players can buy, sell, and trade their assets.

Because decentralized applications (DApps) do not rely on a central authority, all changes to the DApp must be submitted to a vote and require majority consensus, so even minor bug fixes may take longer to resolve. For many users, the increased privacy, ownership of data, and speed of transactions can compensate for these disadvantages.

Your blockchain game development services provider must also be capable of integrating your DApp into your gaming platform to ensure seamless integrations with existing systems.

Popular Cryptocurrency Games

Curious about which games utilizing blockchain technology are currently popular among online gamers? Here are a few of the most well-known ones:

Alien Worlds

This game, based on the Trilium (TLM) game token, allows players to simulate the economy of Earth. Players can rent spaceships and send them on missions across the multiverse in search of new NFTs. In the last 30 days, nearly 900,000 people have played the game.

Splinterlands

Built on the Steem blockchain, Splinterlands is a collectible card game. The game allows players to engage in quick battles, trade cards, and earn rewards. Players can convert their cards to cryptocurrency, trade with anyone, sell their cards on multiple platforms, and even rent their cards to other players. In the last 30 days, close to 500,000 people have played the game.

Farmer's Universe

Farmer's world is the first farming game built on the blockchain, allowing players to mine NFTs in-game. Within the game, they can breed virtual livestock, construct cow sheds and chicken coops, cultivate food, and fight off wild animals. Almost 275,000 players have played Farmer's World in the past month.

Upland

Upland is based on the EOS blockchain and offers an experience in which real-world landmarks and addresses are gamified into a vast metaverse where players can buy and sell real estate and launch businesses. By completing treasure hunts and other challenges, players can earn NFTs and digital currency, which they can then trade on open platforms outside of the game. In the last 30 days, there have been close to 250,000 players on Upland.

Axie Infinity

In this game, players can collect "Axies," which are adorable animal characters, and use them to complete various challenges and earn rewards. Each Axie possesses unique strengths and weaknesses, and players can amass an army of Axies by purchasing, selling, trading, or breeding their own. Axie Infinity has been played by over 776 thousand users in the last month.

Why Develop Games for Blockchain?

While blockchain gaming is unlikely to replace traditional gaming completely, it is an ideal technology for specific games, especially those involving collecting and trading digital assets, such as collectible cards or characters.

For games where players earn tokens or NFTs through gameplay, the blockchain network offers players significantly greater security and control than traditional gaming platforms. While cyberattacks frequently target large gaming companies like Nintendo, only players have access to their NFTs and cryptocurrencies in a secure digital wallet. And because smart contracts automate transactions, they can occur instantly with clear documentation demonstrating the transfer of assets between each party, thereby eliminating the risk of fraud.

Modern gamers are becoming more accustomed to using cryptocurrencies and NFTs. They are interested in gamified methods of acquiring more digital assets, with the ability to trade and sell them quickly. By creating a DApp, you can leverage the advantages of blockchain technology to create a gaming environment in which players have complete control over their assets.

Blockchain games offer limitless revenue generation opportunities with minimal transaction fees. As players can earn digital assets by completing and winning challenges, they can also purchase digital assets directly from your company, with the ability to adjust prices to reflect the market value of digital assets on open marketplaces.

How To Begin Developing For The Blockchain

If you are considering blockchain game development, you must select a blockchain platform to base your game on and an associated cryptocurrency to use when converting non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into and out of cryptocurrency. In addition, you will need to program your game in a game engine and focus on the game design of your characters, landscapes, and assets.

From pre-production to post-launch, game development requires a large number of specialists, including project managers, programmers, game art designers, sound engineers, and others, to see the project through its various phases. And because you're developing for the blockchain, it will be crucial that your development team has the skills to create a DApp with all the correct rules to ensure that all transactions are conducted in a decentralized environment based on smart contract conditions.

However, you do not have to start from scratch if you lack the in-house expertise to manage a blockchain game development project. You can efficiently recruit a blockchain game development partner agency, which can collaborate with you however comfortable, whether working on the entire project from start to finish or merely providing blockchain technology support.