I have always had a doubt:
"Why does the 'Market Research' section in the white papers of so many blockchain games always cite the number of players of traditional games when citing the number of players?"
Blockchain games are still a relatively niche field. Since the fourth quarter of last year, the number of users has remained around 1 million, which is completely incomparable with the billions of players in traditional games. Because of this, if GameFi is considered as a whole sector, the "transition process of traditional gamers to blockchain gamers" must be one of the most important issues.
So the next question is, Why GameFi? It should be noted that I define GameFi here as a game built on the blockchain, and the core is not finance. Based on this context, my question becomes very important, because at least in the present and the foreseeable future, there is a clear dividing line between blockchain games and traditional games. The specific differences will be discussed below, not much here. introduce.
To answer this question, I hope to find the main advantages and disadvantages of blockchain games and traditional games. In the following, based on my own understanding and experience, through the analysis of specific cases, I will sort out, analyze and summarize the past and current situation of GameFi, and look forward to its future, so as to find the answer to the question in the dimension of time.
The blockchain games in the GameFi 1.0 era are mostly financial tools + construction sites in the skin of games.
Financial tools refer to many games in the GameFi era, whether they are u-based, coin-based or others, are essentially Ponzi schemes that dismantle the east wall and make up the west wall. Rewards are distributed to old users - The fragile balance under high rate of return is very vulnerable to collapse due to factors such as local currency sell-off, fading popularity, and reduction of new users. Only some top projects such as Axie Infinity can live longer.
Construction site refers to these games. Compared with non-blockchain games, most of them do not have enough operability, strategy and interest. In short, they are all non-living and boring games. The purpose is to move bricks.
In my opinion, the main advantage of blockchain games in the GameFi 1.0 era compared to traditional games with the same brick-moving nature is lower redemption costs.
Next, a comparison of the value circulation process of a notorious blockchain game BNB Hero and DNF Dungeon and Warriors (brick-moving perspective) is used as an example to illustrate this advantage.
a) Lower redemption costs
After the brick-moving players of DNF have exchanged all the proceeds from brick-moving into gold coins, they have two options for redemption: through the auction house (in-game exchange), the gold coins can be exchanged to other players in a C2C way for coupons at a low exchange rate, Then through unofficial channels, you can conduct point coupon-RMB transactions with other players; or directly through unofficial channels such as studios, third-party trading platforms, etc. to conduct gold coin-RMB transactions.
Compared with BNB Hero players, DNF players either need to endure extremely high asset depreciation during the cashing process (the price of gold coins in the auction house is generally more than 20% lower than the price of gold coins-RMB), or it takes time to communicate and find sellers. And conduct high-risk transactions (self-operated C2C or sell to studios), or face high transaction thresholds (third-party platforms).
But I have to say that this is the advantage of games in the GameFi 1.0 era. Other possible advantages are not reliable
"Players really own the game" and "will not be arbitrarily banned" brought about by decentralization: at least there is no landing at present, which will be explained in detail at the end;
Better value preservation of NFTs: In the 1.0 era, few have remained active for a long time, and it is impossible to preserve value;
Higher profitability: It is difficult for ordinary players to pick a good game that can really make money, and exit early on the eve of a decrease in profitability or even zero.
In addition, the profitability of most GameFi 1.0 models is very obvious early on, but starts to decline after the number of players increases. Taking BHB Hero as an example, the profitability is indeed very strong in the initial stage of launch, but it gradually becomes 10 days, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks to return to capital, and then directly lose all money. Taking Axie Infinity as an example, according to a report from bitcoin.com on November 15th, due to the drop in the price of $SLP, the income of ordinary players is already lower than the minimum income in the Philippines, and the current $SLP is 1 on November 15th. /6.
In addition, in the 1.0 era, there are still a lot of disadvantages: the risk of returning to zero and the risk of slaughtering the script that exists in the future and even AI moving bricks.
b) Zero risk
The risk of returning to zero is mainly divided into two categories: the project party runs away and the token/NFT price fluctuation.
Compared with the heavy release review that traditional games need to go through, the release of blockchain games is much simpler. At least DNF won't run away suddenly, but BNB Hero will, and Chinese players can't be held accountable through legal means.
In addition, the correlation between the token price of blockchain games and the macro economy is greater than the correlation between the price of game currency and the macro economy in traditional games. Fluctuations in token prices will not only lead to a longer investment return cycle, but may also bring about factors such as lower demand due to fewer newcomers entering the market, shrinking prize pools and other factors that have a great negative impact on token prices and returns.
c) The risk of rushing to death caused by scripts or even AI moving bricks
This is an interesting argument. I don’t know if you have heard of a project called AI Arena. Its core gameplay is to make your boxer become a full-fledged automated AI boxer through imitation, learning or algorithm programming.
This kind of gameplay is an interesting way of adding value to NFTs, but is it a so-called "plug-in" in the traditional game world? Or the so-called "automatic brick-moving script"?
I think all brick-and-mortar games that are mechanical, easy to capture, and rely on timing rather than manipulation or extremely complex strategy will eventually become a paradise for studios and scripts. What followed was a large amount of materials and currency, and the inflation rate that ordinary brick movers couldn't catch up with.
I believe that friends who follow GameFi must have a more or less impression of Bomb Crypto, commonly known as Bomberman. The number of users of this blockchain version of Bubble Hall has almost always been ranked in GameFi since its launch. top ten.
Bomberman is classified by me in GameFi 2.0 because it combines both playability and profitability. GameFi 1.0's playability is completely negligible compared to profitability, while GameFi 2.0 I understand should be playability and profitability - or preservation of value, a group of games that are equally important.
a) The playability gap has been narrowed
In addition, GameFi game production in the 2.0 era is not far behind the off-chain games, and there is already a comparability in [playability].
Here's a simple comparison between Titan Hunters, which is about to be tested, and a domestic mobile game "Knight of Soul".
It can be seen that in terms of combat graphics and style, the two are almost the same (although Titan Hunters is on the PC side). After my experience, the operability and fluency of the two in combat are similar.
But TH needs more krypton gold investment, otherwise the process of slowly playing the equipment is still very annoying; while the vitality knight is very easy to use, and the novice can also get a very pleasant experience of brushing the map.
The eras of GameFi 1.0 and X.0 that I define are eras with distinct blockchain game characteristics. The former is a purely decentralized financial tool, while the latter is a metaverse interaction scene with endless imagination. However, GameFi 2.0 should be the era of blockchain games with the most traditional game characteristics. It should be the era when a large number of off-chain games have been moved to games on the blockchain, and a large number of game players should be "fun" and "value-preserving". Games attracted and entered the era of GameFi field.
Thanks to NFT, the biggest advantage that GameFi games have over off-chain games in the 2.0 era is - value preservation.
b) Invest time and effort to reap pleasure and money
Preservation has two meanings. The first is that the time players spend in the game can be quantified. Due to the NFTization of everything in the game, the rewards for all the time spent can be quantified, such as higher-level colors, better props, etc. In the world of GameFi, spending time is not only the thrill of playing games, but also the economic benefits.
For example, an NFT-based game character means that a liver has finally reached full level after a few weeks, and all attributes are superb. Characters who can immediately invest in the highest-level copy can be sold separately, not only through three parties like off-chain games. The platform sells dozens of characters within the entire account.
As another example, NFT-based game characters mean that aesthetics is a valuable skill. Pinching out a good-looking face, choosing the perfect outfit for the character, or even applying one's own "unique aesthetic" to the character can all reflect the character's worth.
c) Krypton Gold is not only for becoming stronger, but also an investment behavior
The second meaning of value preservation is that players’ krypton gold faces less depreciation pressure. Since everything is NFT, as long as there is enough liquidity (this requires enough players and demand), players can easily sell their own kryptonite equipment to escort the early development of the trumpet.
As far as Titan Hunters is concerned, Krypton has configured high-efficiency map brushing equipment by opening blind boxes or in-game market transactions in the early stage of the game, which has improved the efficiency of map brushing and mint higher-level equipment. After that, you can mint the old equipment into higher-grade equipment or sell it directly in the secondary market, and enjoy gains/losses according to market price fluctuations.
d) One wallet to unlock all game accounts
The wallet of blockchain games makes players no longer need to register an account and write down a lot of account passwords, and no longer suffer from remote locations and account abnormalities. It means:
Unique identity. A wallet means an identity, and network residents who hold this identity can log in to all blockchain games using the wallet with authorization without registration.
Repository. Through authorization, the virtual currency in the wallet can be directly consumed in the game, and NFT can be used in the game.
e) Barriers to entry are the biggest disadvantage
However, compared to off-chain games, GameFi games in the 2.0 era still have a high entry barrier. These thresholds are not only the main reason why blockchain games cannot be tried and accepted by most gamers, but also the biggest disadvantage of blockchain games in the GameFi 2.0 era compared to off-chain games.
Learning threshold
The learning threshold is actually relatively easy to cross. It is nothing more than "how to convert legal currency and virtual currency", "how to install a wallet" and "how to". However, due to the firewall and the application scenarios and learning materials of the blockchain world, which are mostly in English, many domestic users have great obstacles in learning to use the basic applications and operations related to the blockchain.
Scientific Internet access, basic English ability and appropriate Internet common sense, such as Chrome's translation plug-in, have become hidden thresholds beyond the learning threshold.
Cognitive threshold
The cognitive threshold of GameFi is not only that people actually "don't know GameFi", "don't know what GameFi is fun and can get economic benefits", but also that some people have a one-sided understanding of encryption, an unknown thing, or even never heard of it.
With the adoption of NFT avatars by highly influential social platforms such as Twitter, Chinese people who have a deep understanding of foreign media and investment frontiers have gradually "knowing" GameFi (of course, most of them are young people or international students).
But the problem is that GameFi can never break the circle of blockchain and integrate into the circle of gamers. Although Ubisoft and other major overseas companies have begun to test the waters of NFT games, the majority of domestic game circles are still exposed to overseas games. In addition, the public opinion environment we are in is also very unfriendly to cryptocurrencies and GameFi, which constitutes a high cognitive threshold.
Threshold for investment
Although there have been many free blockchain games in the GameFi 2.0 era, such as the Titan Hunters mentioned above, they are still very unfriendly to zero-krypton and light gamers.
If new players do not invest dozens or hundreds of dollars in start-up capital, they will need a lot of time and energy to make up the gap with krypton gold players, resulting in double disadvantages of game experience and economic benefits.
f) Summary
The blockchain games in the GameFi 2.0 era, which will emerge in large numbers in 2022, will be the first year for overseas off-chain game players to enter the GameFi world. With the improved playability and value preservation and economic benefits far exceeding those of off-chain games, overseas players and some domestic players who can cross the entry threshold have enough motivation to contact GameFi.
GameFi X.0 - Work, Onlooker Economy and Decentralization In the future GameFi, in the short and medium term (within 1-3 years), it is expected to combine with IOJ's outbreak of UGC economy-led play and earning opportunities, blockchain game onlooker economy and the outbreak of IP derivatives; and the long-term problem that needs to be solved is that the technology infrastructure has been established. Explore true decentralization issues when mature.
Why did I not mention the so-called 3A masterpieces here? Because it is not friendly to ordinary players, it does not constitute a reason for "Why GameFi". GameFi's 3A masterpieces are like the battlefield of giant whales, with extremely high entry barriers (for example, the entry threshold for Sidus NFT Heros is at least one hero, the current floor price is 0.25 ETH , and it requires at least $1,500 including handling fees) and high in-game The price of NFT (Star Atlas) is enough to dissuade most players.
In addition, the Metaverse is not discussed here because the expected landing time is too far away and the landing method is highly uncertain.
a) Onlooker economy of IOJ, UGC and blockchain games
UGC's image, audio, video, map, gameplay and other elements, around the game, supplemented by IOJ and WorkFi platforms to provide C-end users and players with means of monetization, publicity and quiz (gambling) gameplay blessings through decentralized streaming media platforms, It will attract a large number of B-side IP and C-side investors, players and netizens, becoming a new trend of GameFi in the next few years.
The whole process can be roughly summed up as "taking games as the core interactive scene, combining traditional IP, and creating a spectator economy with UGC as the main content form". It is done by users who are motivated to make UGC via IOJ platform/tools, GameFi games, NFT production platforms/tools, decentralized streaming media platforms/publishing tools.
The game is the core part of the process. Whether it is a game, NFT or streaming media, an avatar is required as the main body of activities in the online world, especially the IP part. Compared with novels, comics, videos and other Internet content forms, games emphasize interaction, emphasizing "participation" rather than "watching". It is the best choice for NFT/IP value-added, and it is also the most suitable entertainment method for non-deep enthusiasts.
Why must it be GameFi that can better participate in this process, rather than off-chain games? Because of the blockchain's ability to confirm power, traceability and peer-to-peer capabilities.
In the off-chain ecosystem, station B is already a mature example, please see the animation below.
The big-headed yeti demons in DNF are sharks in the biochemical map of CS GO, and then they are made into self-made videos and put on the B station to obtain income through coins.
The whole process is very mature, but there are still two problems:
If the video is stolen by the author of a certain sound and a certain point of view, the cost of rights protection is very high, and there will even be an outrageous phenomenon of "who is the original";
There is no separate income distribution/confirmation platform, and the economic income distributed according to a single video on the streaming media platform is very small, and it is still the monetization logic of accumulating fans, bringing goods and receiving advertisements.
What about on the blockchain?
First, the player
Mint the big-headed snowman into 10 NFTs on Opensea and sell them to 9 players;
Post a job posting on Chrone.tech and hire an engineer to make a DNF West Coast map in the first-person shooter game MetaStrike;
Import the big-headed snowman NFT into MetaStrike to play the shooting game with the big-headed snowman image, and bystander players bet on the winning or losing of the game;
Record this game video and mint it into NFT on the blockchain streaming platform;
According to the above process, players can
Earn the difference between NFT sale and Mint handling fee;
The difference between earning the listed map/other players using the map and the commission paid by chrone.tech;
If you win, you will earn funds in the prize pool;
Earning revenue from streaming NFT sales and other streaming platforms;
In addition, the UGC ecology generated by the blockchain version of the IP value circulation process, which is stronger than the off-chain process, is expected to attract traditional big IPs to enter the market, so that the IP side and the UGC side form a two-way promotion of positive growth cycle.
As for what is the IOJ mentioned in the title, it is simply a new form of work brought by Web3 - a true two-way choice between employers and employees.
For details, please refer to these two articles by Su Yuan Yuxin:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ovswqQ40Wu-PpGldhcT8Ng
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/RljBE57SSniHHBomMyARtQ
b) The Right and Difficult Long-Term Path - Decentralized Games and DAOs
Decentralized games mean that the project party only appears as a "game developer" and a "bug fixer", selling tokens and NFTs and taking a certain share of it to make a profit. And more power is delegated to the player, and the decision-making power of the game update rhythm, update direction, future props and roles and the way of benefit distribution is returned to the player, and governance is carried out in the form of DAO.
(https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/aaGBfSaIJNHLIR0BRxdWYw, here is what DAO is)
A while ago, there was a news about the FPS game CF, which has long been gone, and it was on the top of the hot search list. It is probably the case that a CF official responsible for the title of the staff "A Ka" hung up in the high-scoring rankings and shot the body with a rifle. The gun has 80 blood, and after being reported by the player, he also responded, "Cai B sees everyone is hung up".
In all current games, including the decentralized games promoted by GameFi on the chain, the game publisher has absolute right to speak in the face of all matters in the game. Bad events such as changing the explosion rate and "one-size-fits-all" anti-plug-in bans emerge one after another. "Because I accidentally discovered a bug and I was cool once, I was banned and there is no way to appeal", "The new equipment made after 3 months of liver is cool for a week, and it became a warehouse-holding item because of the version update" and so on, I Believe that no one wants to let them happen to them.
The decentralization of the true "cultivator owns the land" is the ultimate way for blockchain games to be differentiated from traditional games and even surpass traditional off-chain games, which can be realized in the form of DAO.
The exact form is still in very early stages, but allow me to take a wild guess:
One circulation of governance tokens is issued only in the form of bounties. 10% of the governance tokens belong to the project party, and 90% of the governance tokens are obtained by users/players by completing various tasks;
Set up a special management team, and set up another branch (Sub-DAO) for operations, development, marketing, and compliance. Users who complete various bounty tasks and obtain governance tokens can choose to enter a branch or management team. Each branch designs its own governance model, but must use governance tokens as the core right credentials;
All rewards are settled in a project-based system, and governance tokens are paid. The technical layer is designed and maintained by the project party and the code is open source, which can attract external users to jointly maintain, operate and publicize through token incentives to vote players, and game strategy and update direction through token incentives to recruit consultants through voting;
Why aren't blockchain games that advertise "players really own the game" as decentralized as I think? Because the right to speak is still owned by the project side, players can make comments and threaten to sell tokens (but not everyone is a giant whale), but the project side can completely ignore it.
In addition, NFT does not mean absolute insurance. Having NFT does not mean that the player has the function it represents in the game, because this function is given to the player by the project party. By the way popular science is a fun thing - NFT without Opensea and Infru API interface is actually just a JPEG, the same NFT can be represented in different forms in different places.
Based on a one-sided understanding of this article, I guess that as long as the project team of the game doesn't want to admit that your NFT can be used in the game, they have 10,000 ways to make this a reality - I can't confirm what it is, so I'm not talking nonsense .
GameFi 1.0: It generally refers to blockchain games that are less playable than 4399, but it is possible to earn huge economic profits by playing the game and selling the reward tokens obtained. It also refers to the time period when most blockchain games on the market are such games.
GameFi 2.0: It generally refers to blockchain games whose playability can be compared with general off-chain web games/online games, and which can obtain economic benefits (not necessarily selling tokens) by playing games. It also refers to the time period when most blockchain games on the market are such games.
NFT: Non-Fungible Token, a unique token that can be bound one-to-one with a physical asset, which is a proof of ownership.
Gas fee: The fee you need to pay to perform operations on the blockchain
Mint: Minting, which refers to the act of paying gas fees to design and obtain NFTs.
Whale: A user who owns a large amount of a certain token.
Launchpad: translated as launch pad, mainly refers to the IDO launch pad. It is a platform where gamefi.org, redkite, seedify, etc. pledge platform tokens to have the opportunity to purchase game/project tokens at extremely low prices, but purchase tokens will be issued in batches.