Introducing Digital Asset Ownership to Next Million Gamers
It may feel like ages ago, but it was only a little over a year ago that Axie Infinity hit a peak MAU of 2.78 million players. Driven by the play-to-earn narrative, the last web3 gaming bull market captured an audience that were more interested in the financial aspects of the game rather than the gameplay itself. Once the financial incentives for playing were no longer appealing, the player base gradually faded away: according to DappRadar, there were only 752,735 daily unique active wallets (dUAW) across all blockchain games in the month of February, continuing a trend of month-to-month decline since the beginning of last year.
Despite all this, the value proposition of true digital ownership remains. Just days ago, a skin for CS:GO - a game that has been around for over 10 years and remain one of the most popular games on Steam with over 800k daily active users - was sold for $160,000. What will be the next catalyst for growth to allow blockchain games to reach their next million players?
The Reach of Mobile Gaming
We have come a long ways with mobile gaming: from the early days of Angry Birds and Plants vs Zombies to cross-platform games like Genshin Impact and Fortnite that run as smoothly on mobile as they do on PC or console. While the growth of the mobile gaming market has finally reached a point in stagnation in recent years, it continues to represent the biggest audience of gamer worldwide.
Up until now, blockchain games have yet to make a meaningful impact on mobile as getting past the gatekeepers of the industry (iOS App Store and Google Play) remains a challenge. However, with new entrants injecting significant resources and influence into this space, app stores are slowly becoming more receptive to the idea of enabling web3 games onto their platforms. Epic Games will soon have over 20 blockchain games on their PC marketplace, and numerous blockchain games (including Axie Infinity: Origins) have now successfully listed on the Google Play Store - albeit with some compromises in order to meet the app store’s guidelines.
With the introduction of more tools and services to enable digital asset ownership for mobile games (we can expect some major announcements this upcoming week at the Game Developers Conference in SF!), blockchain games have a great opportunity to grow exponentially through mobile.
Adoption and Onboarding
Having identified a huge potential market in mobile gaming, the next question is how do we reach them? One of the key challenges in attracting a wider audience to blockchain gaming is the complexity of onboarding new users into the ecosystem. To overcome this barrier and make digital asset ownership more appealing to the mass gaming audience, it is crucial to provide a seamless, easy-to-understand, and familiar onboarding experience.
Gradual adoption and onboarding can be achieved by easing new users into the blockchain gaming ecosystem without forcing them to explore the deep end of decentralized wallet transactions, bridging, smart contract signing, etc. Instead, players can be introduced to the benefits of participating in a blockchain-based ecosystem through a familiar and enjoyable gaming experience.
As players become more comfortable with the game and start to appreciate the value of digital asset ownership, they can be gradually introduced to more advanced blockchain concepts and features. This approach not only lowers the barrier to entry but also fosters a more organic and sustainable growth trajectory for the blockchain gaming industry.
For example, the early success of NBA Top Shots and digital art in the NFT space can be attributed to their easy-to-digest concepts, simple onboarding process, and the ability to purchase NFTs using fiat currencies. These factors played a significant role in attracting millions of people into the crypto ecosystem, paving the way for further exploration of blockchain technology.
Similarly, gaming can serve as a powerful gateway for onboarding millions of new users into the crypto ecosystem. By providing a well-designed, fun game that players would want to take part in, regardless of whether it is a blockchain game or not, developers can tap into the massive potential of the gaming market to drive mainstream adoption of digital asset ownership.
The terminology and categorization of web3 games have contributed to the perception that these games are a separate and distinct category from traditional gaming. This perception can create a barrier to adoption, as potential players may feel intimidated or alienated by the unfamiliar concepts and technology associated with web3 games. To make digital asset ownership more accessible and appealing to the mass gaming audience, it is essential to reframe web3 games and emphasize digital asset ownership as an added-value feature within the game.
Just as online games require an internet connection to play, web3 games utilize blockchain for game features. Games that enable digital asset ownership should communicate this as an added-value feature for players rather than a label that completely defines the product. This approach can help break down barriers to entry and create a more inclusive gaming environment that appeals to a broader audience.
Play-to-Keep (P2K) Gaming
As a company dedicated to revolutionizing the gaming landscape, we understand the importance of striking a balance between fun, engaging gameplay experiences and the introduction of digital asset ownership. Our approach focuses on delivering enjoyable centralized gameplay experiences within the "Play-to-Keep" gaming model, where players can permanently keep the assets they earn from the game.
By creating games that prioritize fun, accessibility, and replayability, we aim to attract a diverse audience of gamers who may not initially be interested in blockchain technology or digital asset ownership. As players become more engaged with our games, we will gradually introduce the concept of digital asset ownership and the benefits of participating in a decentralized ecosystem.
This approach allows players to explore and embrace digital asset ownership at their own pace while feeling rewarded with assets they can truly own. Providing a more organic and sustainable growth trajectory for the blockchain gaming industry, our commitment to creating accessible, inclusive gaming experiences will help bridge the gap between traditional gaming and blockchain gaming, fostering a more diverse and vibrant gaming ecosystem.
As we continue to develop our games and projects, we will be guided by the principles of Play-to-Keep gaming and our commitment to making digital asset ownership accessible and appealing to the mass gaming audience. We believe that this approach will not only benefit our company but also contribute to the long-term success and sustainability of the blockchain gaming industry as a whole.
MapleStory Universe - A Recent Example of Play-to-Keep Approach
MapleStory Universe, recently unveiled by Nexon at their developers conference, is a great example of a game adopting the Play-to-Keep approach and embracing digital asset ownership. For over 20 years, MapleStory has maintained its popularity by adapting to the changing gaming landscape, and this new initiative reflects the company's commitment to continue evolving.
MapleStory Universe is described as a "virtual world ecosystem that creates various tangible and intangible values with MapleStory NFT as the core." There will be at least four blockchain gaming projects tied to the MapleStory Universe, with the first being MapleStory N. As described by Nexon, players will be able to “acquire items and tokens through gameplay”, and “all acquired items can be converted to NFTs”, giving players full ownership over the the items.
One of the key aspects of this approach is striking the right balance between digital asset ownership and core gameplay. Nexon believes that by focusing on both elements, they can offer a richer, more engaging experience for players, leading to long-term relationships and sustained player retention. This balanced approach will not only keep players invested in the game for years to come but also pave the way for a more organic introduction to blockchain technology and the benefits of decentralized ecosystems.
The Future of Play-to-Keep and Chibi Clash
The free-to-play gaming model took many years to evolve to its current form, leading to the creation of gaming giants such as Supercell, King, Scopely, and many others. The play-to-earn model inspired many with its goal to reward players for their time spent in game, but the focus on speculative value and tokenomics over gameplay ultimately proved to be unsustainable. The Play-to-Keep model draws lessons from the above, while further utilizing the advantages of blockchain technology, NFT permanence and interopability, and well designed gameplay that will seamlessly onboard users to digital asset ownership without sacrificing the game experience itself.
Our first Play-to-Keep title in the Chibi Clash universe will be Clash/Hero: a unique inventory management autobattler where players equip their Hero with weapons, armor and items with unique abilities and synergies to battle against waves of enemies and earn items and rewards. Our P2K design allows players to progress without any interaction with the blockchain ecosystem, but will incentivize them to take part in the ecosystem by giving NFT items permanence over non-NFT items, and utility across future gaming projects.
Stay tuned for more exciting announcements from us regarding Chibi Clash and Clash/Hero - the next wave for blockchain-enabled games is about to kick off!