Blockchain + Gaming: Dominating Game Developers Conference (GDC 2018)
Description
To find out what's happening with Blockchain the Gaming Space, I travelled to the cradle of video games - Game Developers Conference 2018 in San Francisco. I tried out the demo from Enjin (ENJ) and tr...
AI Analysis
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2018 was surprisingly buzzing with blockchain technology, far more than anticipated. This event, where game developers gather to innovate and collaborate, served as a perfect stage to showcase how blockchain is poised to revolutionize the gaming industry. The central theme emerging was genuine asset ownership, moving beyond mere virtual currency to true digital collectibles that players can own, trade, and even use across different games.
Here's a breakdown of the key insights and developments from GDC 2018 regarding blockchain in gaming:
* GDC 2018 as a Blockchain Hub: GDC, the epicenter for game creation, was unexpectedly huge and packed with blockchain-related projects this year. It's where new game ideas merge, teams form, and both indie and big-budget games come to life. The sheer number of blockchain games and platforms present was a significant surprise, indicating a strong, emerging trend.
Enjin (ENJ) Demo - True Asset Interoperability: Enjin demonstrated their Unity SDK with a Diablo-like dungeon crawler game. In this demo, a gold coin picked up in the game was actually a cryptocurrency item that instantly appeared in a player's digital wallet. The most impressive part was a live transfer: a sword was sent from one wallet to another, and then seamlessly appeared as a usable item within Minecraft. This whole process demonstrated items going from one game, to a blockchain-linked wallet, onto the blockchain, and then appearing in a completely different game. It felt like "the nerdiest sht ever," but it was a clear, tangible example of digital asset ownership and cross-game interoperability.
* CryptoKitties' Vision Beyond Simple Tokens: An interview with Benny Giang from CryptoKitties revealed their broader aspirations. The core CryptoKitties team isn't even allowed to own cats themselves to prevent "kitty inside trading," which is a fun and quirky rule highlighting the real value of these digital assets. CryptoKitties is expanding, with discussions ongoing for Korean and Japanese partnerships, and new updates are expected within a couple of months. Their vision extends beyond simply replacing virtual coins with tokens; they're exploring how in-game items can live on the blockchain for "thousands of years," enabling persistent, player-owned digital economies.
* Blockchain's Transformative Impact on Gaming: Blockchain technology genuinely opens up entirely new avenues for gaming. It introduces true, verifiable asset ownership for in-game items, a concept that hasn't been genuinely possible before. This also means the history and provenance of digital items can be immutably saved. Developers are keen on building games where assets can be shared and used across different titles, fostering a community rather than forcing players to start over in every new game.
* Gaming as the "Killer App" for Crypto Adoption: There's a strong belief that gaming could be the critical "killer app" needed to bring general awareness and adoption to cryptocurrencies. Integrating blockchain capabilities and cryptocurrency into games is seen as the next essential evolutionary step for the entire crypto space, making it accessible and tangible for a mainstream audience.
* Neon District / Pineapple Arcade - Puzzles, Prizes, and Fee-less Transactions: Neon District, in partnership with the Pineapple Fund, is building Pineapple Arcade, a retro 80s-style arcade experience. It aims to reinvent the classic arcade by incorporating blockchain puzzles where players can win real cryptocurrency prizes, ranging from small coin payouts to significant amounts like 10 Bitcoin. To achieve a seamless, fee-less experience for players, they are developing "Affinity." This technique merges many transactions, hashes them, and allows a single entity to commit them to the blockchain for fraud proving, without individual players needing to pay transaction fees. The goal is to make it incredibly easy for players to get started, even without a wallet initially, with items held in a "purgatory" state until they decide to claim them. This focuses on lowering barriers to adoption and making blockchain gaming as user-friendly as possible.
Transcript
Welcome to the Game Developer Conference. This is where all the games get made and I didn't know it was going to be like this epically huge this year. So these guys aren't just gamers but they're game developers. This is the perfect ground of all new games. It's where all the ideas kind of merge together, teams get formed, indie games get made and big games, big ideas get made too. And what I'm here to be excited to show you guys is what blockchain is doing in this space this year. What's in th...