Despite gamers’ bullying of traditional gaming companies diving into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), executives in the NFT gaming industry expect more traditional gaming companies to get involved this year.
From top game companies, to the importance of NFT game models such as play to win (P2E) and move to win (M2E), many industry professionals have shared their thoughts on NFT gaming trends in 2023.
Alexander Larsen, co-founder of Sky Mavis, the team behind popular P2E game Axie Infinity, told Cointelegraph that it is only a matter of time before more big players enter the space. However, Larsen also believes that these companies will wait until they see a game that generates billions of dollars in revenue.
In addition to game-focused studios, Larsen pointed to the involvement of tech giants like Google, pointing out how Google Cloud also powers the Ronin network validator. “I am excited to see big tech giants like Google and Microsoft delving deeper into the blockchain gaming industry,” he added.
When asked about the significance of P2E in 2023, Sky executive Mavis admitted the model currently has flaws. He explained that:
“As the pioneers behind the first win game, I can say with confidence that it does not work in its current state. Games must first be fun with strong economic support, which can allow some players to win.”
Zoe Wei, Senior Business Director at BNB Chain, echoed Larsen’s thoughts. According to the executive, more experimentation and analysis is needed to make the token economics of most games sustainable.
“The focus was too strong on the earning mechanism and not enough on the fun of the games,” Wei said. Despite this, Wei still believes that the concepts of P2E and M2E will be relevant in 2023, although further improvements are needed.
In addition to NFT game models, Wei also commented on the topic of traditional game makers entering the space. Wei believes that blockchain technology and NFTs have “undeniable benefits” for game producers and players. “We’ve already seen countless game studios venture into Web 3 in the past year, and this is a trend that will continue into 2023,” Wei added.
Meanwhile, Carlos Pereira, a partner at Bitkraft Ventures, a gaming-focused venture capital firm, is also convinced that there will be more gaming deals coming this year. He explained that:
“In 2022, we saw several spin-off funding rounds from major US and European gaming companies and expect the trend to continue, with some high-profile public launches in 2023.”
Pereira also mentioned that while Asian gaming companies are more known for pushing cryptocurrency, Western companies are also getting in, but they are “more careful with their public relations.” However, the executive believes this trend will continue.
When asked about P2E, the CEO argued that the initial iteration of the concept should be phased out. “We hope this profitable first application of the game will be buried forever,” he said. According to Pereira, the concept didn’t make sense as a business model, as there was no way to attract players who would pay to play.
Regarding other NFT game trends in 2023, Alex Altgausen, co-founder of the game NFT Banksters, said that community members in 2023 will have higher standards. According to Altgausen, 2021 and 2022 were filters, showing NFT games that only serve to take advantage of users. He explained that:
“The era of anyone having a nice website and a game promise is over.”
This means that 2023 will have NFT gaming investors who don’t get overwhelmed easily and can check out assets, product developments, partnerships, and media footprints before investing money in NFT games.
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