By Laura Cayuela - CMO of The Unfettered, an AA-quality story-based game with play2earn, NFT, and Metaverse concepts.
In recent months, we've seen eyes roll in disbelief over the internet’s latest obsession with NFTs (non-fungible tokens). With NFT sales rising from their 2020 mark of under $100 million to a 21,000% spike that saw sales hit $17 billion last year, NFTs have entered mainstream consciousness in a big way and are here to stay.
Simply put, NFTs are paving the way for a new virtual economy as expert Martha Reyes, who is head of research at Bequnat, opines that "research estimates that the compound growth rate of the global NFT market palace will be 10.7% over the next few years."
In the gaming industry, NFTs make a perfect fit, and onlookers speculate that NFTs will bring about a closer connection between games and the blockchain as most games will implement some kind of "play to earn" element.
Already, the play-to-earn bandwagon is gaining traction with the advent of NFTs in games such as Axie Infinity (CRYPTO: AXS) and The Unfettered, where players can earn from the time spent playing rather than spend money and throw their time away.
With NFTs, gaming ceases to be a pastime activity and becomes a means to earn a living as the in-game items collected by winning tournaments in the game have real-world value.
Here is a look at some ways NFTs can transform the user experience of existing gaming platforms, paving a path to the gaming metaverse and even greater NFT adoption.
Customizable In-game Avatars
One of the ways game developers can increase the connection between gamers and the gaming platforms is through the use of customizable characters and avatars.
The customizability of NFTs through smart contracts enables players to truly own their in-game avatars and characters. A player can build up an avatar in the game with exported designs from other games or ecosystems. Instead of playing the game with an avatar that is widely available throughout the gaming ecosystem, a player can play as whoever they want, thus giving them more freedom on the gaming platform.
Also, by owning a limited in-game item, players get a sense of pride and belonging, which can go a long way towards building a social connection with other players in the game.
Gamers Leveraging Creativity With NFTs
Some gaming platforms can use NFTs to allow gamers to create custom gaming worlds and maps within their platform. By providing endless composable tools that allow players to contribute to the development of the game, players can build unique worlds according to how they want without being limited to the game developer’s vision.
NFTs Give Players Access to the Metaverse
The term "Metaverse" is thrown around often, especially in the circles of people in the gaming industry. The term refers to a spider-web of interoperable Web3 ready platforms and pieces of content that all together form a virtual world and more. With NFTs, gamers can gain access to the metaverse if their skins and accessories are transferable between different games. For instance, a gamer on one game can use the NFT in-game items earned and use them to gain access to a tournament on another game. NFTs earned from games can even be used as tickets into a virtual consent on a different part of the metaverse, thereby greatly enhancing a game’s user experience.
Afterword
NFTs might seem like a passing fad given the current hype, but as gaming platforms continue to highlight the utility of NFTs, not only will adoption increase, but more people will also be able to earn a living through gaming with NFTs. Games are capable of bringing together people from different backgrounds, thus enabling a frenzy of economic activity for the benefit of the gaming industry as well as NFTs on the blockchain.
