This is why so many blockchain games fail
by Takuya Tsuji, founder of Techross and Coin Musme
There are currently 2.2 billion gamers in the world, but the figure continues to grow and shows no sign of stopping.
The global gaming market moves at lightning speed, and we’ve seen it evolve with the times just as quickly with every new technology development of the past few years—mobile games, streaming, eSports, AR, VR, and the like, are all as part and parcel of the gaming industry now as Game Boys were in the 90s.
Here’s where the industry is encountering the most hiccups and roadblocks: blockchain games fail one after another, and will continue to, unless a drastic mindset change can turn their destiny around.
I believe there are two types of blockchain games, as I think there’s a big difference between those based on a financial experience and those based on a gaming experience. The former is essentially a decentralised finance context for all intents and purposes, which just happens to have a game-like experience attached to it.
The main objective in a financially-minded game is to increase revenue in some way or another, with the gaming experience as a bonus. On the other hand, the gaming-based games feature elements like NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and tokens, and they’re the ones revolutionizing the way people see online gaming and the potential of in-game asset purchases.
This is the crux of the matter: many blockchain games fail because they don’t clearly convey what they offer to users. Is it a financial experience, in which case the game is just a bonus? Or a gaming experience, in which case then the financial experience represents the bonus?
Due to limitations on products offering a financial experience, those providing a gaming experience were extremely in-demand from the start. However, defining what kind of gaming experience a developer would like to offer shouldn’t be dictated by what everyone else seems to be doing, but should instead be the core of ideation and project development.
That’s also because the more free games offering interesting experiences become available, the more discerning users become. Many blockchain games have tried to entice users with some version of it’s not fun, but you can make money, only to see those same users leave as soon as they’ve made enough money.
Simple, just make a fun game that users would be happy to pay for, then! Well, not so simple.
I have worked on more than 50 titles to date, and there aren’t many producers in the world who can successfully create “fun games” — it is a significant challenge, and as Web3 gaming is a relatively new space, it’s not nearly as profitable as web2 (yet), which is a disincentive for developers trying to do the best work they can with what they have.
Where they fail is that sometimes they might lose sight of the bigger picture, and become obsessed with providing game assets to early adopters. This creates a situation where bounty hunters are the only ones to join the ecosystem, which in turn means that their support of the project is based primarily —and sometimes only— on the basis of speculation.
Many Web3 games developers – particularly those based in Western markets – are also obsessed with taking on the likes of EA and Square Enix with their new projects. However, we do know that this could require between $100-200 million in terms of capital and 2.5 years when it comes to development time, which is just not feasible as blockchain gaming trends keep evolving so rapidly.
There is no doubt that developers can build successful game franchises utilising web3 technologies, but good content cannot and should never be an afterthought. Quality matters in web3 gaming just like everywhere else in life.
So, what is the industry to do?
The biggest takeaway I would advise Web3 games developers to take from all of the above is to start by “picking a lane”, so to speak, and decide what kind of game they wish to put out into the world. Then, they need to refrain from speculative, hype-based projects in favour of focusing on building a strong fan community, while allowing all users to purchase quality in-game assets.
The gaming landscape will see an increase in games where players organically engage with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Conversely, the community will play a central role in fungible-token-based games, instead of an administrator handling all aspects. It is crucial that the revenue produced by the ecosystem is funnelled back into the system, rather than directed to the administrator.
Only by delivering fun and enjoyable blockchain games that are successful in creating value for gamers will Web3 developers realise the true potential of the technology that enables them in the first place. The rest, as they say, is child’s play.