How NFTs Are Going to Change Gaming and Esports Industry

As part of the huge digital evolution, non-fungible tokens have entered our daily life. Or at least, they are in the process of doing so - the idea itself is pretty brave, although both companies and customers need time to adapt their products/behaviour patterns to this technology and then successfully adopt NFT.

Therefore, the gaming industry is the perfect arena for this. Actually, we already have such items included - albeit in a low-scale format. The technology has a much greater potential, both in general gaming and in the eSports dimension. It seems like the question should be - who will integrate it into their ecosystem first?

Let’s take a look at the prospects of NFT in the industry of video games.

Achievements in Story-Driven Games

Do you hunt for trophies during your gaming adventures? What about if those trophies have value beyond your emotional experience?

Most gamers know how attractive the idea of unlocking achievements in story-driven games is. You take long paths and complete lots of quests just to see that small notification on the screen and then enjoy 100% of achievements on Steam or the Platinum Trophy on PlayStation. But then… Each trophy and each achievement is kind of the same as everyone else’s. The feeling of getting something special slowly fades away - at least for the player. And for the developers, the feature that should motivate gamers to invest more time and energy into the game (with purchasing DLC and merchandise) starts to become not that interesting.

If the achievement is connected to an NFT, then it includes the record of everything connected to it: such as how or when. Each trophy would be much more precious than the standard Platinum - with more excitement for players and with better connection to the customers for developers.

Achievements in Games as a Service

NFTs are even more crucial for ongoing games. Companies need a regular income to support such projects. DLCs and Battle Passes would have even better selling numbers if they bring something that’s actually unique to the customers. The value of cosmetic items, such as CS:GO skins and Dota 2 items will be much more significant - imagine having an AWP Dragon Lore from a Major that actually contains info on the tournament and has proof of its uniqueness.

One of the other great aspects of NFT technology is the possibility to add literally any digital object to the blockchain and make it a non-fungible token. Hero costumes, characters, player icons, videos, or soundtracks - let the creativity of the development team bloom and increase player retention.

NFTs give a new layer of value to game inventories, motivate players to return to the game, and make the whole playing process much more meaningful.

Esports Trophies

Getting big cups at eSports tournaments is definitely good, limiting the eSports industry to physical trophies alone is the relic of history. It is a matter of time until the whole ecosystem of eSports rewards and achievements, etc., will be totally digitised. Small and medium-size tourneys would be able to provide participants with excellent prizes if they were NFT trophies. And the huge events winners would appreciate NFT cups as well - to supplement the tangible ones and the full/proven record of their victory.

The role of an NFT might be especially significant in eSports education. Beginners to competitive gaming often need a tool to prove their progress and skills, and non-fungible tokens can offer that.

Esports NFTs for Viewers

Another great use of the technology is the ability to provide NFTs to viewers of eSports events. This scenario has been successfully implemented throughout the project Navination. The idea is very interesting - DMarket users watch streams and get random drops of digital items. These prizes are NFTs, so they have a real-world value and can be sold/purchased on the marketplace. The drops themselves are made in the gaming style - and the aim is to collect parts and craft objects with them.

The results are impressive - 256 streams were in Season 1, 500k+ items were dropped, and 15815 crafts were made. The most expensive eSports NFT sold on DMarket so far cost $100k.

The same scheme can be beneficial far beyond one eSports team. Drops of NFTs offer an effective way to bring viewers to streams and build a strong fanbase for organizations, tournaments, or games.

General Changes with NFT

The whole trend of digital evolution is to take human beings (or at least our attention) to virtual worlds. This process is quite successful - probably even too successful. Virtuality becomes very distant from reality, and NFTs build a bridge back.

Gaming traditionally is digital. With this boost in its popularity, the industry still lacks a reasonable basis for the real-world value of digital items. NFTs give that basis, protecting the uniqueness of digital objects. Of course, this is just a technology - but such a technology gives new tools for building user experience in gaming products and long-term customer relationships. In fact, it’s better to feel the general changes that come to gaming and esports with NFT as a continuation of digital evolution - nothing too drastic but a logical sequence of the previously taken positive steps.

NFT Platform

One of the problems with NFTs that should be mentioned is the necessity to have a reliable platform for creating such items and supporting their circulation in the community. Such a task is huge - even for big corporations and it’s almost unbearable for most of the companies that have gaming and esports business.

DMarket is here to provide the industry with the best solution possible. The platform already has a blockchain-based infrastructure for creation and distribution of non-fungible tokens - and your product/idea/ecosystem can use the infrastructure with benefits for your business and your customers. Please, check out our eSports and gaming NFT metaverse with drops, crafts and NFT items. Feel free to contact us to discuss any interesting opportunities.

Trade on the go - install the mobile app of DMarket from Google Play or App Store. Never miss great prices and unique skins. The best CS:GO, Dota 2, Rust and TF2 marketplace is always at hand!