Three years ago today, the augmented reality smartphone game Pokemon Go – where players catch animated characters in the real world – “took over” Hong Kong, leading to masses of phone-wielding teenagers and adults alike, who took over streets, parks and other public spaces.
Trainers (in-game Pokemon players) varied in age, race, sex and religion, but they shared a common goal: to catch as many weird-looking virtual creatures as possible.
Three years later, the game is still a raving hit among millions of users all over the world. Pokemon Go was one of the most widely downloaded and used games and/or apps of 2016. The game was downloaded over 500 million times in September of that year.
The craze hasn’t ended since then. If anything, it is still as relevant as it was several years ago. Pokemon Go has made USD$2.7 billion since its launch and still boasts a number of loyal, dedicated followers, many of whom play now for the community aspect. This is the impact of this innovation that is now known as immersive gaming
Taking immersive gaming to the next level with VR/AR and blockchain technology
The global games market generated over USD$137.9 billion in 2018 and this statistic is set to rise along with the growing popularity of immersive gaming.
What do blockchain and virtual reality have in common? Both technologies are relatively new. Blockchain only started gaining significant traction, within the mainstream arena, in 2016 – and the same can be said for virtual reality (VR).
Blockchain’s use cases have expanded into many areas beyond tech, such as business, science, medicine, and even gaming.
It was at this point when it was realized that the gaming industry could greatly benefit from blockchain technology, that the convergence of blockchain and virtual reality became a possibility.
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VR headsets were once considered niche technology — specifically for certain parts of the gaming industry — but VR is much more than that. It has also become far more accessible than what it once was.
With the release of Oculus VR’s Quest earlier this year, VR has gotten one step closer to becoming a mainstream technology. It is such a favourite because it requires no cables which allow freedom of movement.
It doesn’t require a constant internet connection, and it is easy to use. These features have allowed users with little to no experience with VR to venture into this next-level world.
In a world filled with people who are constantly trying to escape into alternate realities, it’s no wonder that this technology is gradually entering the mainstream. Virtual reality offers more than just exciting gaming experiences – it has a whole universe to offer: the Metaverse.
VR’s cousin, Augmented Reality (AR), is also more accessible than ever now thanks to the mass adoption and incorporation by major brands. Companies such as Amazon, Google, Coca-Cola, and Lego, are among the big players in the mainstream space who have given this technology more traction.
AR is also widely accessible because it uses mobile phones and native support by Apple and Google, making it available on almost every mobile phone presently.
“Immersive experiences, such as AR platforms, create a digital layer on top of the real world,” says Beni Hakak, CEO & Co-Founder, LiquidApps, a company that promotes mass scale adoption of decentralized applications (dApps) by introducing a set of technical solutions that make developing on blockchains substantially easier and affordable.
“Combining this with blockchain-enabled digital value means that soon we will be owning digital real estate, much like we own our condos and apartments, and trading these AR assets on global markets. Once you own a piece of digital real-estate, you have the sole right to overlay the area with anything you choose.”
The reality of a blockchain-based gaming ecosystem
“Blockchain is the most important tech enabling safe digital value transfer and exchange that can be utilized in all digital products, and games are one of the most popular formats for exchange of digital goods,” explains Vitomir Jevremovic, CEO of VR-All-Art, a platform and a marketplace for galleries, artists, collectors and museums to exhibit, explore and acquire art in virtual and augmented reality.
“New economies are developing around the trade of digital goods in games that will only become more utilized when blockchain integrates with all game providers,” he added.
Blockchain is said to be the next step in the evolution of immersive gaming since players have long been familiar with virtual currency and how fungible items can be in the gaming world.
“Blockchain showed to the world that we can create real and uncensorable ownership with no trusted third parties involved,” says Diego Di Tommaso, Co-founder of Over the Reality (OVR), a global-scale, decentralized AR platform.
“Trustless ownership paradigm will spark new economic systems on which it will be possible to build business models that were impossible before blockchain,” he added.
Blockchain can allow gamers to experience unique, beneficial ownership of virtual items they acquire throughout their various gaming environments.
Also Read: AR and VR are divergent realities, and this infographic helps us tell them apart
In-app purchases are a major part of the gaming ecosystem, with players often being required to purchase items that will advance their missions in the respective games they play. Presently, all users gain from these games are “fictional” benefits. But with the incorporation of blockchain and digital currency, this could change.
From virtual assets to real-life benefits
“Valuable virtual gaming assets that, before the blockchain, belonged to users only through the game’s company databases can now have an independent existence not depending on the will of a single gaming company,” Di Tommaso explained. “Virtual assets [can now] belong to users through the blockchain and can be freely exchanged between users.”
The decentralized nature of blockchain and the use of digital currencies have the potential to power true virtual economies. For example, in online gaming, blockchain-based transactions can eliminate the need for a central hub or in-game store.
Players can establish an online economy on their own terms. Thus a regular massively multiplayer game transforms from a managed gaming service to a complex virtual world.
Hakak says uniqueness can establish scarcity, especially when supply and demand can now dictate the value of digitalized goods.
“Without blockchain-enforced digital scarcity, we cannot ascertain how many items exist, and whether or not the game will produce more of them. Without blockchain, you cannot truly ‘own’ a digital item or space, making it difficult to translate the effort and skill you spend in cultivating your in-game experience into real-world value.”
Blockchain can also help the gaming industry expand to real-world profits. Distributed ledger technology supports the digitalization of any asset within the gaming environment.
This allows gamers to have a visual representation of their assets, and blockchain technology could also allow gamers to trade these digital assets. Additionally, if players win any rewards in the course of gameplay, there is the opportunity to convert these wins to real-world fiat money.
“Without a doubt, immersive technologies will soon become a regular part of life,” Jevremovic adds. “These technologies can absolutely go beyond gaming.
This is exactly what we are doing — we are changing the way people interact with art and culture. The bigger picture and our vision is to create alternate realities that we will all live in as soon as within the next decade.”
As more developers and companies move to seamlessly integrate various innovations taking the world by storm, it is understandable to see why the gaming industry can look forward to major transformations in the coming years.
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