Opinions expressed by Digital Journal contributors are their own.
By Matt Duea, Co-Founder of Roobet
The hype around crypto and web3 technology has taken off in recent years, particularly as it promises everyday people more control over the services they access, the games they play, and the way their businesses operate. These myriad benefits have led to innovations that incorporate this tech into our everyday lives.
NFTs are a hugely popular web3 concept that do not only have a strong creative attraction, but also demonstrate potential to reshape what it means to ‘own’ something in the digital space. Roobet is visual, dynamic, and forward looking, and NFTs present an exciting new frontier for us to make waves in the gaming space.
In the world of gaming, the topic of ownership and value is a fundamental dilemma faced by players. And as the world becomes increasingly digitized, the concept of ownership has been dramatically transformed.
Gone are the times when you would buy a gaming console and a physical disk that stores the game and your track record. Instead, consumers now make an account with the company that created the game, and all their achievements, assets and progress in this game would be tied to it.
Rather than buying and owning your copy of the game outright, your ‘purchase’ of the game is more like a rental, where the company gives you permission to use their product on a licensing basis.
Despite the extensive hours of gameplay, mental and monetary investment to secure valued assets within the game world, these assets can easily vanish if your account is blocked or shut down.
This struggle for autonomy and ownership has become increasingly highlighted as the gaming industry continues to grow and the technology that games are built on develops.
A recent report by Accenture estimates there were already 2.7 billion active gamers in 2021, making the industry worth at least $300 billion in that year alone. PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook predicts the industry will swell to a value of $321 billion by 2026.
Before now, there has been little focus on digital property ownership in games. The beauty of NFTs is that they are pretty much perfect for addressing this issue of losing your hard-earned progress and assets. While NFTs have mainly entered the mainstream consciousness through the art world and real estate, gaming presents an opportunity for one of the most exciting use cases for NFTs, potentially disrupting the status quo of in-game asset ownership.
But unlike the real world, typical video games are yet to allow us to truly own these items.
By incorporating NFTs into the already pre-existing digital goods and trading ecosystem, players can be the true owners of their in-game assets, instead of the game developer. With blockchain technology, anything can be tokenized.
Those within the gaming community have already seen the potential strengths of tokenization, providing a mechanism for digital property rights and empowering players to further commit to the game, therefore building a more positive, productive future for the gaming industry.
Blockchain and web3 have vastly opened up the options to reshape what we consider a game and transform the dynamics between developer and player. There is a real chance for mainstream games to be community owned and community governed, and this has been shown by the rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) in the market.
Players can invest in the game itself and vote on how the organization should be run, with no individual able to change the rules without permission. With a more egalitarian framework compared to traditional games, this can allow for a shift in equity sharing and democratize access to game and asset development and creation.
The potential of blockchain and web3, when applied to the gaming world, are incredible and provide major social, economic and creative benefits to the industry.
Roobet’s most recent collaboration with the legendary Snoop Dogg marks our first foray into the world of web3 gaming. Already powered by crypto and built on the innovation behind blockchain technologies, we’re excited to explore how incorporating digital asset ownership alongside other web3 functionalities could materialize in the future.
From entering the metaverse, revamping the cross section of entertainment and iGaming, improving security, to tokenization, the possibilities are vast. Web3 gaming is still in its very early stages and that puts everyone operating in the space the very exciting opportunity to shape what form the ecosystem takes.
At Roobet, we will always stay true to our roots, prioritizing the creator community that we grew up in, and has supported us and contributed their diverse expertise over the years. Together, we can continue to move gaming forward into the fun and fresh future of web3, leading the way to create a gaming ecosystem where gamers are granted the autonomy and authority we deserve.
