GameFi in 2024: Is the Wild West Coming Back to Web3?
In Brief
The new shift towards immersive storytelling and high-fidelity graphics is representative of a transformation in the Web3 gaming space, where developers realized they wouldn’t garner large or sustainable user bases without delivering the kind of gameplay experiences that would keep someone playing their game regardless of financial incentives
The world of Web3 promised a revolution in the gaming industry; one which would decentralize creativity and control, deliver real ownership of in-game items and experiences, and bring a layer of transparency to what can now safely be called the world’s favorite pastime.
Indeed, the global value of the gaming industry now exceeds that of the film and music industries combined. The integration of gaming with Web3 concepts like the metaverse looks to produce synergy between two rapidly growing industries – the metaverse space is projected to be worth $800 billion by 2028.
But the first generation of Web3 games proved to be little more than one-click affairs which saw the ‘player’ carry out perfunctory tasks in order to generate passive income. These were essentially staking mechanisms with the facade of gameplay overlaid on top.
Typified by games like Axie Infinity, this breed of game died out as fast as it appeared, and only continued to be used by profit hunters cynically trying to extract as much value out of naive newcomers as possible.
These were early attempts at achieving the vision enabled by Web3 principles such as ownership and integrated finance, but lacked technical sophistication, storytelling quality, and gameplay depth.
GameFi Has a Rethink – Enter the Metaverse
The first breed of Web3 games focused too much on the ‘gaming’ part of gaming finance (GameFi). Developers quickly realized they had to focus on the other part of the equation – the gameplay.
What’s more, several technical leaps have been made since NFTs and blockchain-based gaming first burst onto the scene back in 2021.
Now developers have the technical capabilities to create truly immersive, complex gameworlds where players can interact and trade with each other, play games, purchase virtual plots of land to generate rent income, host virtual billboards, go shopping at virtual storefronts owned by their favorite brands, and much more.
Known as the metaverse, this new concept has been eagerly jumped on by numerous corporate giants, not least Facebook, which changed the name of its company to reflect its new dedication to pursuit of the metaverse.
The idea of the metaverse has also been applied to areas outside gaming and finance, as evidenced by the recent partnership between Siemens and Nvidia that will see the creation of an ‘industrial metaverse’ which will “revolutionize how products and experiences are designed and manufactured.”
But What About Gaming?
While ideas like metaverse shopping malls may seem attractive, the only thing true gamers care about is the gameplay. And recent developments in the Web3 gaming space promise not to leave them unserved.
Gameplay complexity and graphical fidelity has advanced to such a degree in the past few years that now Web3 gaming projects are delivering fully-fledged gaming experiences that would rival even modern-day AAA gaming titles.
One upstart Web3 gaming studio, Vendetta Games, has taken inspiration from the juggernaut success of Red Dead Redemption 2 – which grossed $725M in its opening weekend, and has gone on to sell over 61 million units worldwide.
Vendetta Games offers up the western-themed setting of the Chalk River metaverse – an arid wasteland plagued by scorpions, rattlesnakes and outlaws, as well as a promising landscape rich in natural resources.
This beloved narrative setting sets the scene for a showdown between players as they compete to accrue resources and stay alive, and features an array of integrated gameplay experiences, such as shooting and horse-riding minigames, zombie-horde shootouts, horse-breeding, land ownership, and more.
Vendetta Games’ metaverse achieves graphics on a par with many mainstream PC and console gaming titles, and also makes use of the latest advancements in artificial intelligence to fuel its development, allowing the team to keep pace with the newest innovations.
Gaming Going Forward
The new shift towards immersive storytelling and high-fidelity graphics is representative of a transformation in the Web3 gaming space, where developers realized they wouldn’t garner large or sustainable user bases without delivering the kind of gameplay experiences that would keep someone playing their game regardless of financial incentives.
Future games to emerge from the GameFi space will follow this philosophy or will simply be unseen and unheard. The future of Web3 gaming is looking good for one group of people in particular – gamers.
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About The Author
Gregory, a digital nomad hailing from Poland, is not only a financial analyst but also a valuable contributor to various online magazines. With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, his insights and expertise have earned him recognition in numerous publications. Utilising his spare time effectively, Gregory is currently dedicated to writing a book about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
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Gregory, a digital nomad hailing from Poland, is not only a financial analyst but also a valuable contributor to various online magazines. With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, his insights and expertise have earned him recognition in numerous publications. Utilising his spare time effectively, Gregory is currently dedicated to writing a book about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
