Strauss Zelnick, CEO of game publisher Take-Two Interactive, has flagged his support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their future in the gaming industry, though he remains concerned about their volatility and the prospect of NFTs dividing gamers globally.
NFTs – ‘A Good Fit’
Zelnick recently stated that he feels NFTs are a “good fit” for the company’s future offerings. Yet the publisher of legendary gaming franchise Grand Theft Auto went on to say that his company is wary of “speculation” considering the current state of the industry.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. Source: game-news24.com
We want to make sure that consumers always have a good experience every time they engage with our properties and losing money on a speculation is not a good experience, so we’re going to stay away from speculation. However, we’re highly convinced there’s an opportunity for NFTs to fit with Take-Two’s offerings in the future.
Strauss Zelnick, CEO, Take-Two Interactive
Zelnick’s caveat may put GTA fans at ease for the moment, particularly as anticipation for the release date of the sixth franchise instalment starts to mount. And while Zelnick has said the company believes in rare goods and collectibles, this may change in future. Caveats aside, a lot of fans still aren’t buying it:
A greedy publisher that thinks NFTs are a "Good Fit" let me fake shock and awe. Adding to the list of other publishers that don't care about morality and ethical practices towards there consumer base. The video game industry becomes a bigger dumpster fire with every passing day.
NFTs within the gaming industry seem to be increasingly polarising. Ubisoft recently caused its fan base and the greater community to revolt over its decision to bring NFTs to the Ghost Recon series. The release of an NFT trailer at the end of 2021 sent Twitter and YouTube into meltdown, and there seems to be no sign of the conversation slowing.
Even popular YouTube gaming channel, the AngryJoeShow, spent some time berating the use of NFTs in a recent video:
This outrage has seen several game publishers and developers pull back on their plans to implement NFTs. The Ethereum video game Worms cancelled its own NFT plans after the decision caused longtime supporters to walk away. Japanese multinational giant Sega has also reconsidered its future due to negative opinions.
Blockchain is set to influence gaming in a big way throughout 2022 and beyond, and one of those lesser known players is the WAX blockchain. Home to some of the most interesting blockchain based card strategy games, WAX appears to be a silent growing in stature.
DAOs, decentralised autonomous organisations that provide self-enforcing open-source protocols, are helping WAX games do this. DAOs bring native tokens and smart contracts that allow the network to remain transparent.
WAX is a purpose-built blockchain and protocol token designed to make e-commerce transactions faster, easier, and safer for all participants. Offering a lot of potential for those who enjoy P2E and also the wider industry of traditional gamers.
To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of what we think are the Best 10 WAX blockchain games using DAOs.
StarShip – a Binance Smart Chain project and a game.
Seeking to bridge the gap between blockchain and business, StarShip may be the NFT-orientated outer-space Pokémon game for you. StarShip is both a Binance Smart Chain project and a crypto game. The main token for this project is $STARSHIP; however, within the game you can mine $KYANITE, which is where the P2E aspect takes place.
Within this NFT game, it’s all about locating and customising the best starship you can get your hands on. If you wish, you can put your tokens toward a pack of NFT cards. These cards allow you to optimise your starships via NFT stacking in local space stations.
If you are more of a mobile gamer, fancying apps such as Candy Crush or Clash of Clans, Clash Dome could be more your style. The phone-app-style games within WAX’s Clash Dome can be gambled on to earn. With the game’s main token being $WAX, most of the mini-games available are pay-to-enter, allowing the tokens to pool for a winner-takes-all outcome.
While these games are typically played by a large group of players, you can play quick 1v1 games instead. $WAX isn’t the only available token; players may also obtain $LUDIO, which can be traded on the exchange or used for in-game powerups.
Alien Worlds – the game dominating the WAX blockchain.
If you’re looking to opt for one of the big-name games running on the WAX blockchain, Alien Worlds is your giant. The NFT metaverse strategy game has seen staggering growth since its original release in mid-2021. Offering NFTs with utility, a Binance-listed token ($TRILIUM), and planet DAOs, Alien Worlds is another space-situated game with some unique features such as earning NFTs by playing the ‘play to earn’ game.
One such feature is the opportunity to ‘teleport’ your $TRILIUM (TLM). Once you connect to MetaMask you can teleport from the Binance Smart Chain to WAX or Ethereum, allowing you more room to move with your earnings. Connection to the metaverse permits you to find a group of explorers – from there, the prospects available are vast.
Currently, Taco is another project that is split in half, with a utility side and a gaming side. While the utility aspect of the project is up and running, much of the game is still in development. The Taco app allows users to earn and trade $TACO tokens at the best market price. It also permits you to transfer $WAX and your tokens to other accounts without fees. Interestingly, you can also find a music player on Taco for your enjoyment.
Taco Universe – the game side – is still in development and aiming to arrive soon on the Apple and Google Play stores. With phase one being the launch and two the landing, you can look forward to creating worlds that feature little taco ingredients.
Farmers World – your typical farming game combined with NFTs.
Another P2E, Farmers World is one of the first farming games to land on the WAX blockchain. Some of the elements featured within the game include mining, construction, cultivation, reproduction, and wild animals.
The game’s NFT marketplace allows players to purchase farm animals, tools, associations, and farm buildings. These are all unique features that contribute to a successful agribusiness lifestyle. Farmers World is rapidly increasing in popularity as this is a game genre that seems to be tried and tested. Adding NFTs and elements of crypto only further intrigues players.
Another collectible card game, Splinterlands is the next game to rival the success of Alien Worlds in terms of sheer popularity among gamers. The game has been in circulation since 2018, but it is only now growing into its boots. If you are a fan of Magic the Gathering or simply enjoy the format of collecting cards and battling with them, Splinterlands might appeal to you.
Splinterlands is a colourful game combining ‘mayhem and magic’. Not only this, but the developers have found a way to combine digital and traditional gameplay, with three available game methods: physical games, digital games, and Splinterlands. There truly are multiple opportunities within this project.
Sony’s Funimation has teamed up with WAX to present NFTs for the anime franchise of Robotech. Originating as a science-fiction series, Robotech has enough of a fanbase to garner interest in the concept of purchasing NFTs based on the show.
In collectible card format, these NFTs are ranked by rarity. With categories such as build, base, bronze, silver and gold, you’ll know exactly whether your purchase is worth its money. Combining cards increases their power level. The WAX blockchain works to ensure that your cards are 100 percent authentic, meaning they cannot be duplicated or changed.
WAX Arena – battle your collection against other players.
Described as enabling users to “collect NFTs, raise power points, and earn WAX”, WAX Arena offers three distinct game modes for you to explore. When beginning the game, you have the option to choose one of four distinct races and create a character that can be linked to your WAX cloud wallet. Much like many of the other game formats in this list, the main objective of WAX Arena is battling against other players with your collection of cards.
The game modes available include player vs player, challenge mode, and player vs environment. The WAX Arena cards feature aesthetic illustrations; the higher your card’s rarity, the more power your character will receive.
Green Rabbit seeks to offer an exciting new experience to the industry of NFT gaming. The Green Rabbit developers claim that the game has been developed with “integrity and ethics” and caters to the industry’s collectors. The Green Rabbit story begins in Nanotopia, and if game lore is of interest, you can find a lengthy dissection on the website.
Within the game, you can get access to chests classed from common to mythic. Inside these chests, players can find the game token $SHELLINIUM, which can be put towards your rabbit. The game also offers concepts such as ANIMA-armour, which you can craft with your tokens.
Train of the Century – trains combine with time travel.
If you’re a train enthusiast, then out of all the WAX blockchain games available this one could be your go-to. Train of the Century presents the opportunity for you to become a railroader – a time-travelling entrepreneur. This means that you can play in any period, providing it has trains.
The cards available are NFT trains of the century. Using the games token, $TOCIEN, you can collect, build, and rule the rails. The game also allows you to purchase commodity cards – the freight that your train can haul – providing the commodity is compatible. For more information about how the game operates, there’s a beta gameplay guide on the website.
Conclusion
We’ve seen NFT avatar meme projects surge in popularity through 2021 and we could see this surge transition into the gaming industry. WAX is providing the next steps towards building this new enterprise of blockchain-based games with low transaction fees and high throughput.
An added layer of ownership and governance will be provided by games adopting DAOs which allow the token holders to have a big part in the organisations, providing an ecosystem that is designed for the players.
Currently, the WAX blockchain is processing more than 80 percent of in-game transactions across all blockchains. With many of the games on this blockchain being play-to-earn (P2E), WAX is ideal for the gamer looking to monetise their time while having fun.
Yet WAX isn’t the only blockchain bringing cryptocurrency and NFTs to gaming. Alongside the metaverse projects and the THETA projects, the future of gaming is looking bright and experimental.
THETA Blockchain Projects present decentralised ecosystems that serve to improve the streaming quality and delivery of video content. As open source crypto technologies evolve through THETA labs, developers can offer more features to video platforms, viewers, and streamers.
When a person streams a video, they are accessing this content without needing to download it, whether this is watching a movie, listening to audio, or – popularly – watching gamers stream their gameplay. Currently, due to the way streaming operates, there are several issues with the streaming quality and latency of video and audio.
THETA projects seek to set up a peer-to-peer network that permits users to connect their unused bandwidth and resources to the system. Not only does this improve the quality of the content, but it can also reduce costs. A handful of these projects are worth investigating if you have any interest in streaming.
Here is our list of the top 10 exciting THETA blockchain projects we suggest you investigate:
StreamVerse believes that the current streaming platforms lack realism and interactivity. Therefore, this project seeks to “capture the attention of Gen Z while also maintaining the ease of usage”. StreamVerse is working to allow its users to access realistic spaces and emotions through the incorporation of NFTs.
Any moment of the stream can be converted to an NFT that lives on forever. Moreover, StreamVerse helps streamers maintain eye contact, have more than one group within a single room, talk with fans, and host charity events. StreamVerse is currently looking for ways to make its project more scalable for future relevance.
TKETS presents a unique use for NFTs and blockchain technology that combats the issues with e-tickets. The age of paper tickets is coming to an end, as e-tickets become harder to misplace and easier to deliver. However, most of these e-tickets use a typical barcode or QR code, which is static and easy to replicate. It is also impossible to ensure these tickets haven’t been duplicated.
TKETS aims to bring more functionality to NFTs. All you’ll need is a MetaMask wallet and your ticket can be minted directly to you. Your ticket will be uniquely yours and its information gets listed on the blockchain. The TKETS platform allows for direct payment but is not centralised, meaning the ticket itself can only be accessed by the holder.
Scrubr is an application for the sharing of short video content, designed for creators and viewers to contribute and watch. If your video is well-received there is potential for creators to earn $SET (Scrubr Engagement Token). Views and likes on owned videos generate tokens that can be used to purchase merch or other videos from the site (NFTs). $SET has governance and utility power.
Essentially Scrubr is combining NFTs with YouTube. Using blockchain technology, the minting, buying and selling of these videos are tracked to ensure proper ownership. Soon, Scrubr is looking to introduce a mobile app, along with VR integration and direct messaging features.
Seeking to make it possible for anyone to mint, launch and trade NFTs, OpenTheta presents an easy-to-use marketplace. Running as a smart contract on the THETA blockchain, OpenTheta allows users to easily search for, upload, and filter through the site’s NFTs.
The marketplace is very creator-friendly, working to help with all technical aspects of a launch. OpenTheta is still in its early days; as the site expands the creators are looking to implement auction-style trades, along with methods to continuously update the prices of the available NFTs.
If you are seeking THETA blockchain projects that are heavily situated around working with not-for-profits, HarkTV could be a good place to start. HarkTV recognised the potential for a political streaming service, broadcasting rallies and smaller political gatherings to viewers. Non-profits play a big role in HarkTV’s adherence to individual regulations across the 50 US states.
The $HARK token is required to get involved with this project. Actions on the website can generate these tokens, which can be used to vote in elections that decide the not-for-profit that will receive a lump sum. HarkTV is for streaming of all sorts, not just of the political kind.
Originating from a love of trading cards, Minty NFT provides an app where users can mint their own trading-card NFTs. Built on the blockchain, Minty NFT allows for the opportunity to create customisable 3D cards, something not often seen in the NFT landscape.
Built for Android, Minty NFT is easily accessible via a downloadable app. The future brings the potential for more canvas sizes to mint onto. However, the app is intended for 3D trading cards and does not look to move past this.
Blockchain eSports is looking to bring Roku games into the digital era. Roku itself is a box that allows you to stream to your TV. Blockchain eSports for Roku is bringing Theta.TV to viewers, Theta.TV being the first streaming service to be published to the THETA blockchain.
The app is now available for download; however, the future of Blockchain eSports involves improving the app to provide user login, so that users can eventually personalise features and engage with TFuel (the token for the THETA network).
As previously mentioned, THETA TV was the first blockchain project to go online within the THETA network. Branding itself as the “next-generation esports platform”, THETA TV brings 24/7 live streaming. With a lot of the big streamer names from platforms such as Discord, viewers can earn $TFUEL through watching and interacting with these streams, and streamers can earn theta coins through guardian nodes.
Users of the platform also get access to fun perks such as the ability to open themed crates and to win a variety of gaming gear. THETA TV is very much made for and designed by gamers.
THETA Drop classes itself as a next-generation NFT marketplace. Launching with the World Poker Tour, THETA Drop incorporates streaming into NFT auctions to increase creator-fan engagement.
Powered by the THETA network, this project is utilising blockchain technology specifically for media and entertainment. Using TFuel, like many other THETA projects, allows transactions to be environmentally friendly. THETA Drop transactions are also supposedly cheaper and faster than Ethereum transactions.
Dedpool – enhance your betting with AI technology.
If you are a League of Legends fan, this is a project worth investigating. Combine LoL with gambling and you have the project Dedpool. With esports betting being a complex matter, Dedpool is making its betting easier and more specific. This allows for new ways to interact with the streaming ecosystem.
Like many other projects, watching streams allows viewers to generate TFuel – which you can then use to bet. Dedpool is currently utilising AI technology to read the game in real-time, meaning the onus is not on the streamer to manage the viewer’s experience.
Conclusion
Much like the various metaverse projects in circulation, THETA blockchain projects are adding new dimensions to the utilisation of cryptocurrency and gaming industry engagement. All THETA projects are situated around the idea of the THETA token, with the blockchain merely providing the right environment for this technology to grow.
As the aim of these projects is to prevent viewers from paying for low-quality streaming services, the projects within this list are finding ways to fix this and apply their own unique spin. This often features the inclusion of NFTs. THETA itself is looking at future partnerships with existing streaming companies, such as Twitch. However, if you are sick of the mainstream and are looking to support other aspects of this growing industry, these listed innovative projects could be worth your time.
Don’t stop with this list, either. If you are looking for other projects in the same vein, it’s worth investigating the THETA Hackathon. With the most recent Hackathon having over 700 participants, a plethora of opportunities await the future of THETA technology.
