Three Ways Cryptocurrency is Used in Gaming

Gaming is now the largest entertainment industry in the world. The global gaming market is expected to be worth over $250 billion by 2025. The demographic of the market intersects strongly with the demographic of cryptocurrency users. 

It’s surprising then, that cryptocurrency hasn’t yet been popularised in mainstream gaming titles. Yet, look a little closer, and you’ll see that cryptocurrency is already used in gaming in several different ways.

Casino gaming is an innovative sector that is always looking for the next technology to improve games and services. Yet many online casinos do not yet accept cryptocurrency. You’ll have to shop around and read up on payment methods to find ones that do. 

Having said that, you can now find a whole host of reputable bitcoin casinos that allow you to use cryptocurrency. 

Some bitcoin casinos allow you to play the games directly with a crypto token. In this case, you’ll be sat at the tables betting with cryptocurrency. More commonly, reputable casinos will allow players to deposit using cryptocurrency, along with traditional banking methods.

Players can deposit using tokens such as Bitcoin, Ether, and others, and then play the same online casino games as other players. Popular online casino games include slots, blackjack, and roulette. 

You may also find live dealer games at bitcoin casinos. These table games have a human dealer shuffling the cards or spinning the ball around the roulette wheel. They are one of the newest ways that players can enjoy bitcoin casinos. 

Another way that cryptocurrency is used in gaming, is in play-to-earn (PTE) games. This is a model of gaming that is exclusive to crypto. The games are built on the blockchain and players earn in-game tokens by spending time on the game or completing in-game challenges. 

These challenges are often simple tasks such as collecting an item, trading with other players, or slaying a certain number of monsters. They are set to be completed daily or weekly, encouraging regular engagement with the game that helps to build the ecosystem. 

This is different from earning in-game currency in a traditional game. For example, if you’re playing a simulation game like Farm City, you might earn for selling your crops. But you cannot use or sell this outside of the game. In crypt gaming, you can sell and trade tokens outside of the game.

Often play-to-earn games will require an initial investment. The player may be required to purchase the crypto tokens to buy characters to get started. They can then earn crypto tokens for playing. 

Developers are looking to benefit from their cryptocurrency marketplace growing and increasing in value as more players get involved and trade the game tokens. Players, meanwhile, are looking for their initial investment to increase over time and, of course, to enjoy the game.

The third way that cryptocurrency is used in gaming is more of an extension of the second way. The play-to-earn model rewards players with tokens that they can buy or sell. Some of these games also reward players with NFTs that they can also trade or sell on the in-game marketplace.

NFTs – non fungible tokens – can be thought of as unique digital receipts that are recorded on the blockchain. They prove ownership of digital assets, which in the case of gaming could be weapons, items, characters, skins, or even digital land. 

This creates even more of an ecosystem around the game. Players, for example, can level up characters that they own and opt to keep or sell the NFT. They can do the same with all in-game assets, and many of these NFT crypto games offer in-game marketplaces to do just that.

In Decentraland, for example, players own pieces of land in a virtual world. The game runs on the currency MANA, which is used to trade real estate, as well as in-game goods and services. 

Case Study – Axie Infinity 

One of the most popular NFT games in the world is Axie Infinity. Nearly every aspect of the game is tokenized, from the characters to the quests. 

To start out, players are required to buy Axie NFT characters. At one point, when the marketplace for the game was at its peak, it would cost several hundred dollars per Axie. Now, it’s possible to pick them up for a few dollars, although rare ones still sell for tens of thousands. 

These cute little Axie characters go to battle against other AI or human opponents to earn XP in the form of Smooth Love Positions (SLP), the in-game token that can be used or traded. 

It’s also possible to breed Axies to find new, rare combinations. To do so, players will need the cryptocurrency AXS, which is used for breeding fees. After breeding, the players own the characters as NFTs, which can be kept or traded. 

Yet owning these Axies increases the player’s play-to-earn potential because they are used to earn tokens. This has even led to players loaning their characters to people so they can earn. 

You can see that Axie Infinity has used cryptocurrency, tokens, and the blockchain in every aspect of the game. Could this be the future of gaming?