There is a long story behind the development of online games. The traditional video games based on the platforms like XBOX One and PS4 have already generated billions of dollars with a huge number of players from all around the world. The variety of online gaming environments allow players to do different activities like buying, crafting, fighting, selling, holding online properties, etc. This multi-billion-dollar industry is incredibly surging in this world and it is the most profitable industry. Nowadays, gaming entertainment has integrated into the modern culture as the old age people are also familiar with the modern game how to play.
A brief history:
The birth of digital gaming was started on the commercial scale when Ralph Baer and his team released Brown Box (vacuum tube-circuit for gaming). After that, the era of arcade gaming started when the companies Sega and Taito released the games named Periscope and Crown Special Soccer for the wider community at that time. Around the 1980s, the video gaming industry felt the crash due to some reasons like scarcity of computer resources as the gaming companies were failed to produce devices to fulfill the growing demands, lack of the trained manpower, worst games, etc. In 1985, the video game home industry started to recover the NES improved 8-bit graphics, colors, sound, and gameplay over previous consoles which were failed to meet the expectations of the players. In 1995, the company named Sega released the first 32-bit console that was used to play games on a CD rather than cartridges and it was a huge step for online 3D gaming.
The modern age of gaming started in 2005 and 2006 when Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s Playstation 3, and Nintendo’s Wii were there to introduce high-definition gaming & Xbox 360 has played a key role to maximize the online video game adoption rates in this world. After 2007, video games started to spread to the social media platforms like Facebook and mobile devices like iPhone, Nokia, etc. In addition, high-quality smartphones are started to available at the cheapest rate around 2015 and the smartphone-based gaming craze started to explode. In 2016, Sony released the powerful Playstation 4 Pro console that was capable of processing the 4K video output & it was another milestone for the gaming industry. Currently, so many companies are interested in virtual reality-based online gaming to give the best gaming experiences to the players. These are all about centralized gaming. So many improvements are being noticed in the gaming sector according to the pace of the modern advanced technology but the centralized gaming platforms still have the following notable downsides:
- All gaming activities of the players are being monitored by the gaming platforms operators.
- When you achieve something in the game, do you think you have really owned them? In reality, you still do not have full access to your achievements because the platform operators can suspend your gaming accounts.
- Centralized gaming platforms can be vulnerable to single-point failure due to hacking and another reason.
- Centralized storage systems and sometimes, scalability problems can be very costly especially when high traffic is observed in the network.
- Lack of employee loyalty can be another serious issue in the case of centralized gaming platforms because the frustrated employee can misuse the mass data to vent his frustrations.
An Era of the Decentralized Blockchain Gaming:
There were several shortcomings with the traditional gaming platforms so the concept of decentralized gaming was introduced along with the pace of blockchain technology development. Unlike the different traditional games, different in-game items that you earn on the blockchain games will be always with you as blockchain technology grants you indisputable ownership. In 2017, the first recognized Ethereum-blockchain-based game CryptoKitties was launched to start the new journey of the gaming industry.
After its creation, there are already so many blockchain-based gaming platforms like Upland, The SandBox, Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Decentraland, etc. So, what are the benefits of decentralized gaming? Well, they are also covered pointwise here:
- You have indisputable and permanent ownership of the different in-game items or assets.
- Blockchain ensures the security and transparency of your data which will give you more confidence while playing the games.
- A decentralized system is a key beauty to give freedom to players.
- Blockchain technology is based on the distributed ledger so the connected decentralized nodes to a blockchain network form permanent storage for the decentralized gaming environments so the players can re-play the past games as the records are available in the blockchain for a long time.
- Blockchain games are entertaining and hence they have Investment & economic value.
- Some blockchain-based gaming platforms have introduced their own native assets to be owned while playing the games so the players can also make real money.
So here are the benefits of blockchain gaming but everything has both pros and cons. Blockchain-based gaming cannot be the exception here so some shortcomings are as follows:
-
There is no reverse operation in the blockchain-based platforms so once you initiate the transaction or the in-game operation, they will be final no matter you did them accidentally or not.
-
Implementation of the features can be time-consuming and difficult as all the players of the blockchain-based gaming platforms have to upgrade their software to see the changes.
-
Most of the blockchain networks are still facing scalability challenges so it can also affect the speed of blockchain-based gaming experiences.
-
As the scalability and low throughput issue are becoming serious to the blockchain network, the cost for the different in-game operations is also increasing. If you locate the Ethereum blockchain network now, it is becoming more expensive every day.
-
UX can be quite complicated for a non-technical person.
So, these are the limitations what will be the next?
How I See the Future of the Gaming World
Humans by the nature, always seek freedom so decentralized gaming can be the best option in the future. In addition, high-quality chips are being built to produce high-quality smartphones and digital gadgets which are the plus points for the further developments of online gaming platforms. After a few years, virtual reality games, based on the advanced blockchain or superior technology than the blockchain can be the game-changer. The AI-enabled and photorealistic graphics can be seen in future gaming. As the players are growing every day, the gaming companies should also care to fulfill the growing demands. So according to the pace of the technology developers should try to figure out the direction of the development process. The games are not just the games, they play crucial roles to change the players’ lives if things are done correctly.