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While blockchain is relatively in its infancy stage, it is set to disrupt many industries, and the gaming scene makes no exception. This novelty and revolutionary technology has experienced an explosion of projects in the past few years that go beyond cryptocurrency and the Bitcoin price. You can embark on virtual journeys in fantasy worlds that combine fun with functionality and put your time spent playing to better use by indulging in play-to-earn games, being rewarded financially for your engagement.
There’s increasingly more emphasis on the “play” and the user experience. In some instances, for example, gamers are given more power than the developer behind the gaming project, and financial incentives give them more reasons to contribute to the virtual environment’s development.
Blockchain is providing a whole range of new opportunities for virtual economies. As a sector brimming with innovation, new games are constantly added to the list, so let’s discover the ones worth keeping on your radar this year!
Star Atlas
Star Atlas has enthusiasts biting their lips anxiously awaiting the product’s release. So far, there’s a playable portion available to test, so don’t raise your hopes too high! This blockchain game is so epic and ground-breaking owing to its complex cinematic-like graphics and its own economic system and society that it will likely take a decade to see the light of day. Star Atlas is being launched in stages, but mini-game releases are already available, which are enough to get a glimpse of its potential and what it has to offer passionate gamers. You can explore the spaceship, set up your profile, trade equipment, and ship NFTs on the marketplace.
This game is taking the metaverse projects to the next level. It’s developed on Solana, and some pundits link it with the gaming industry’s most ambitious and mind-blowing move. It’s a novelty system with P2E mechanics and a completely functional economy, allowing you to immerse yourself in the novelty of unique worlds, something you’ve never experienced so far in a game.
The Sandbox
The Sandbox is inspired by games such as Roblox and Minecraft, but unlike other games where the power is placed in the developers’ hands, this product aims to empower the gamer. It employs NFTs to offer participants the freedom to own their creations and incentivise them to perform the work needed to maintain and enhance the game’s ecosystem.
This game has been around for over a decade as a regular Windows, Android, and iOS game, but it shifted to the blockchain when Animoca Brands bought it in 2018. Here, you can unleash your imagination! You own the content you create, and you get to add to the efforts of maintaining an ever-expanding Sandbox world. The VoxEdit function of the game allows you to develop in-game items, which you can sell on the platform’s marketplace.
Sorare Fantasy Football
Collecting football cards was a burning passion for many sports enthusiasts, with some growing to remain genuine hobbyists later in life. If you’re fond of playing fantasy football, you’ve found your match! Sorare Fantasy Football brings together the ground-breaking blockchain technology and the art of digital cards so users can combine the pleasure of playing with earning money by trading assets.
Playing this game, you’ll assemble a team of footballers by purchasing cards at auction on the game’s marketplace or exchanging them for other players’ assets. The cards are unique, and their prices differ, which makes them the most valuable type you own. To give you an idea of the level of engagement in this fantasy football game: a trading card with Kylian Mbappé was auctioned off for $65.000.
MegaCryptoPolis3D
Remember SimCity, where you’d play God and simulate and manage constructions and buildings, and how complex the game’s offerings were? The same concept, more or less, applies to MegaCryptoPolis3D. It’s an MMO dApp developed on the Ethereum network where you build cities and can purchase, create, and capitalise on parts of land within the decentralised gaming map.
You’ll need a Web3 wallet to start playing, allowing you to buy land and start your journey. Like in other games, great gains come with significant investments, and to earn them, you’ll have to do basic life-like tasks like offering your services and collecting taxes.
Age of Rust
Listing a title that is ahead of its release might seem like a precipitate undertaking, but hear us out! This project is too promising to pass under the radar, and it’s coming in 2023. It’s a single-player, Sci-Fi game combining adventure, mystery, and action, with space stations as the place where you’ll perform your activity.
If you’re seeking the thrill, this game has a bit of everything! You will explore a dark universe and wrecked space stations while discovering the remnants of civilisations on faraway planets. The items you own and trade in the game are what you’d expect from this type of project, with equipment and tools that you can use to put up with robots.
Decentraland
Decentraland took the word “virtual world” and gave it a new meaning. It is the only game entirely owned by its users, providing the necessary tools to create your own mini-games, start your journey, and earn and sell NFTs to generate revenue. Its whole universe consists of thousands of individual parcels of 100 square meters of LAND that you can experiment with as you wish.
This game was created to mimic real life and put more power in users’ hands, meaning you can take advantage of the in-game items and space owned to use it to your liking, whether you rent them out or sell them as you’d do outside the Metaverse world.
The blockchain gaming industry is growing by leaps and bounds, projected to achieve $65.7 billion in market capitalisation by 2027. These are some of the most promising games revealed so far, but expect to see more mindboggling projects coming up the stage that prioritise the user experience and reward systems like never before.
