# How Blockchain Changes the Game Industry By [Spike](https://paragraph.com/@spike-6) · 2023-06-11 --- From Jeff Yin Founder&CEO of Spike * **Successful games come from Forks or Mods** People often say, “The innovation of technology usually starts from games.” Whether it’s a computer or mobile, the first applications to emerge are often games. However, what I want to say is, “Innovation in games always starts from Mods.” Mod (Modification) is not unfamiliar to the public, but Mods have shaped all the games we see today. When Half-Life came out, the market was very hot, but a small Mod ‘Counter Strike’ only caught the attention of a few people, which is now CSGO. When Warcraft was fading, IceFrog created a new Warcraft map — Dota, the prototype of all MOBA games, still one of the most popular games today. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, one of the hottest shooting games, originated from H1Z1, again, a Mod. The creation of Mods is also accompanied by Forks. League of Legends is a famous fork, originating from Dota. PUBG is a fork from H1Z1, which later led to the finely crafted ‘fork’ Fortnite. As you can see, these games are the most popular in the world today, all originating from Mods and Forks. Note: A Mod is a new gameplay idea based on an existing product; a Fork innovates on artistic style and details without changing the original idea. * **Mod players are the lifeblood of the game** In 2004, when Warcraft was gradually losing its popularity, Dota supported the number of Warcraft players, and for a time, more than 95% of Warcraft players were playing Dota. The same is true for GTA 5, a game that has been hot for 10 years, with most of today’s players playing online Mods. In China, only 20% of Dota 2 players are playing the original game, with the rest playing RPG MODs based on Dota 2, such as Auto Chess. I would like to provide more accurate data on this if you’re interested. * **The dilemma of Games and Mods** When Icefrog made Dota in Warcraft, he didn’t make any profit, because Blizzard didn’t allow him to do so — even though Dota brought users to Warcraft. So Icefrog had to collaborate with Valve to create a new Dota 2. But what about Warcraft’s ending? Their users almost completely lost, all went to Dota 2. However, the dragon slayer also became a dragon in the end, Dota 2 has the same attitude towards its Mod AutoChess, which caused the developers to choose to start afresh with Tencent. GTA 5 has extended its lifespan because of Mods, but the official chose to sue some Mod developers because they tried to profit. History is repeating itself, games need developers’ Mods to retain users, extend life, but they are afraid of developers profiting without them; developers want to develop Mods out of love, but it’s hard to have economic return to support them. Steam’s Workshop tried to solve this problem, but it’s still not enough. * **Blockchain’s help for games** The innovative productivity of blockchain comes from its composability, which has been verified in Defi Lego. In comparison to the gaming industry, Spike’s solution is: 1. Breaking all applications into different Modules. 2. Other developers can use these Modules for secondary development or Forking. 3. The use of Modules is confirmed on the chain, allowing all developers to have economic returns. This will solve the aforementioned problems, 1. The game entities will become more prosperous due to the external ecosystem, allowing the Original Developer to enjoy the rewards. 2. In the process of Modding or Forking by secondary developers, they can freely invoke the game’s Mods for faster innovation, getting the rewards they deserve. 3. When your game or Module is used by others, you can set the rules for economic returns, and the more prosperous external innovation is, the higher your income will be. Such a blockchain + game solution will make the industry more prosperous and accelerate the innovation of the entire industry. --- *Originally published on [Spike](https://paragraph.com/@spike-6/how-blockchain-changes-the-game-industry)*