The GuildOS Insider Chapter 6: High-Profile Gaming Companies Taking Steps Into Blockchain Gaming
The GuildOS Insider Chapter 6: High-Profile Gaming Companies Taking Steps Into Blockchain Gaming
As crypto gaming continues to advance, traditional gaming companies have begun taking notice. Earning money while playing games turns out…
As crypto gaming continues to advance, traditional gaming companies have begun taking notice. Earning money while playing games turns out to be very appealing, considering how traditional gaming uses the “Pay-to-Play” concept.
The recent success of Axie Infinity proves that “Play-2-Earn” can succeed, allowing players to own their own assets in the game, thanks to the underlying blockchain technology. Asset ownership is significant in granting players full control over their assets in games and monetising them, equating to a good value proposition.
With increasing interest in blockchain gaming potentially disrupting the traditional gaming market, it serves as a huge opportunity for high-profile gaming companies to enter the Web 3.0 space and be an early mover. Here’s how several high-profile traditional gaming companies are getting involved:
Square Enix Reveals Their First Ethereum NFT Game
Credit: Square Enix
Having developed and published some of the most successful game franchises of all time in Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider, Square Enix turned its attention to Web 3.0, unveiling their first game named Symbiogenesis.
Described as a web-based, narrative-driven platform that features interactive elements, players will be able to control their NFT-based characters as they “untangle” a mystery by completing missions that revolve around questions about the monopolization and distribution of resources.
This interest was first signaled in early 2019 when Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda pointed to blockchain technology as a potential key component of future games, followed by the company leading a $2 million investment round in the metaverse game, The Sandbox in March 2020. In 2021, Square Enix first entered the Web 3.0 space with the Japan-only launch of NFT “digital stickers” for anime and video game franchise Million Arthur via the LINE blockchain platform.
Ubisoft, Take-Two Backing Ethereum NFT Game Maker Horizon
Credit: Horizon — Skyweaver
Ubisoft and Take-Two Interactive are two of the largest video game publishers in the world. Ubisoft is the firm behind massive franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance and Far Cry, while Take-Two’s popular brands include Rockstar Games and 2K Games that produced smash hits such as Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption and NBA 2K.
They are digging deeper into the Web 3.0 gaming space with their announcement of a $40 million Series A round raised by Horizon, the developer behind NFT-driven competitive card game, Skyweaver.
Skyweaver is a digital trading card game, similar to Blizzard’s popular Hearthstone, with cards represented as Ethereum NFT assets that can be sold or traded. Skyweaver is triple-A quality, albeit never mentioning it, with the GUI, animations, responsiveness and smoothness as good as it gets.
GameStop Adds Web 3.0 Gaming NFTs to Marketplace
Credit: GameStop NFT
Video game retailer GameStop has recently announced that it has added support for NFTs minted via Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Immutable X to its marketplace. Essentially, it points that assets from Web 3.0 games can be bought and sold through the platform.
This also indicates that it’s not just publishers, but retailers as well who are getting onboard with opening the doors to integration with Web 3.0. GameStop has been working to build out its suite of Web 3.0 integrations over the past year. In May 2022, the retailer released a self-custodial crypto and NFT wallet. Subsequently, in July 2022, it linked up with layer 2 scaling product Loopring to process transactions for its beta marketplace launch, bringing in $7.2 million in its opening week of sales.
Tag us on Twitter @guildosio to let us know your thoughts, comments and what you think is happening to the current landscape of traditional gaming and Web 3.0 gaming!
Till next time, onwards!
Team GuildOS.
References:
[1] Square Enix. A New Year’s Letter from the President. https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/2022/html/a_new_years_letter_from_the_president_2.html
[2]: Medium. Horizon raises $40M to make web3 easy, fun, and powerful for users and builders.
[3]: CoinDesk. GameStop Unveils Crypto and NFT Wallet, Shares Jump 3%. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/05/23/gamestop-unveils-crypto-and-nft-wallet-shares-up-3/