Gaming came to formation in 1958 with the first being a tennis game. In 1972, the first video console was unveiled, the Magnavox Odyssey. Mario Kart then followed suit in 1985 later followed by Pokemon in 1996 which has produced over US$110bn in revenue since inception. Mobile gaming came to market and in 2009, it started becoming a popular option for active gamers to play Angry Birds, Farmville and the likes.
Fast forward to now, revenues are surging with more than three billion players globally which are providing the industry $200b in annual revenue which is anticipated to rise 15-25% YoY. The next types of gaming platforms coming to market are slightly different to what we have experienced in the past – they are games that allow you to play and generate an income at the same time, so called play-to-earn.
Throughout the pandemic, people craved entertainment to escape the real world and wanted to find new ways to interact with their friends in a virtual gaming environment such as the 227 million U.S citizens (two-thirds of the population) who experienced a form of online gaming throughout the pandemic according to recent reports.
On the other hand, when we look about how these games go viral, gamers are actually the biggest asset to game developers and companies. GenZ’s today no longer want to spend as much time viewing films or listening to music, instead, they prefer to game with their internet pals who spend roughly eight hours gaming a week, on average. History has shown us that as soon as a friend is gushing about the latest game they are playing, their friends follow suit creating tremendous network effects at absolutely no expense.
Statistics have also shown us that gaming is a tremendously entertaining and engaging experience although it can be a costly hobby and as soon as you leave or complete the game – you no longer have access to those assets or avatars you acquired throughout the experience. The next generation of gaming platforms removes those barriers where you can play, earn and own all of your in-game assets which today are being experienced by over three million players on some of the most popular and newest platforms who have raised billions of dollars in venture capital money in just a few short years.
Types of games
When we talk about gaming, there are a few distinct types of games that may be beneficial to explain:
- Free to play
Free to play games as indicated in the title are games that are free to play. Publishers and gaming studios will often derive their cash through premium features. The F2P business generated US$75.6bn in 2021, up from US$73.8bn in 2022 according to latest numbers attributable to rising games such as FIFA 2022, Gran Turismo 7 and Mario Kart 8, all of which are the most sought after games as of March 2022.
- Play to earn money by playing video games
The main distinction is that you own your in-game assets while you play and may trade, exchange, or keep them on the blockchain. Normally, you have to pay to start playing the game. Your assets can still be used in other games if the game producer, the person who created your favourite games, were to pass away. You can simply move your assets and use them in the upcoming hit titles.
- Online gaming
Netflix for gaming, to put it simply. You must pay a monthly fee to access the game’s hardware and content, and its 22 million customers brought in just US$1.5 billion in income in 2021. In comparison to the three billion gamers worldwide, this is still a very modest quantity, but in 2024, revenue is projected to treble and there are predicted to be more than 50 million users.
Suffescom Solutions Inc. successfully transforms your vision into reality because we provide business-oriented services, regardless of whether you want to launch a move-to-earn game, a play-to-earn game, Web3 Game Development services, or any other NFT game.
Frameworks for producing video games (the experience and getting started)
When considering whether to invest in a business, we consider these fundamental qualities:
Free-to-play: Is the game’s F2P component present? This will have an effect on the game’s opportunity both now and in the future.
Partnerships: high-profile collaborations to boost brand appeal
Advertising: You may still see those pop-up advertising in the middle of games. Will the user be frustrated and distracted as a result?
Influence: Are your favourite game developers or famous people playing and talking about the game?
A new economy driven by creators How will your game allow gamers to potentially earn money?
Desktop versus mobile: In the past, mobile games have been more engaging due to their accessibility. How will you differ from others?
How do you intend to draw in a huge user base? Do you want to offer an NFT drop, for instance, to the first 50,000 players so that they can use the NFT or a digital character to begin playing the game rather than needing to purchase a digital character later on?
The new economy are being created by gamers
As opposed to traditional games where you can no longer carry your acquired assets with you after you leave the game—all of them will be lost. The following class of gaming platforms is one that enables users to fully own their digital assets without having to quit the game so they can transfer them to the following gaming platform.
Growth of community
The community experience will play a significant role in how gaming platforms interact with players and make the immersive experience enjoyable for them. Group members start to become guarded about who is in the community and whether they are a useful member, just like in Web3 communities. The success of the game as well as the experience for other players who are there to game and earn money will be seriously impacted as soon as a wave of users start milking these gaming platforms for cash. However, platforms can rely on them for network effects if the community is really engaging. For instance, 80% of Axie Infinity’s users came from recommendations, enabling you to enter new markets rather fast.
The fastest-growing games are those that are free to play
The fastest-growing genre of games today is free to play, and many of these games are designed with mobile devices in mind. Web3 games may surpass free-to-play games in popularity in the future. The new gamers entering the market today may be interested in Web3 gaming since the gaming business continues to develop by 15–25% annually. Play to earn is here to stay and will probably only grow in popularity if this trend keeps up. The target demographic will be more interested in crypto-related games if it does, but there will need to be parental controls for children.
World-wide effects
Due to the high cost of gas, blockchain technology has a high carbon footprint and is harming the environment. We need a significant amount of electricity to power each deal we conduct on the blockchain, and these blockchain technologies are here to stay. Platforms may eventually be required to disclose in their public reports how their platforms are affecting the carbon footprint in order to increase transparency.
Conclusion
According to our predictions, community-driven gaming systems will predominately be used in the future, allowing gamers to buy, own, and exchange digital items found within games. Future play-to-earn games may offer people an alternative source of income to help them get out of tough financial situations in economies that are experiencing economic difficulties.
