Game NFTs – Why is real ownership in games important?

What is NFT Game?

NFT games are a term used to describe video games built on the blockchain, using NFTs as the core of their gameplay and economics. NFT games are considered a branch of blockchain games.

NFT games mainly exploit the aspect of digital asset ownership through NFTs. In these games, the focus is on collecting, buying, selling, and trading NFTs.

In this, NFTs act as tokens representing in-game assets, which can be items, characters, or even virtual land. However, these games often do not deeply integrate other financial elements such as DeFi or DAO.

CryptoKitties is one of the first NFT games where players can collect, breed, and sell virtual cats encoded as NFTs. However, the game does not have complex Play-to-Earn mechanics or tokenomics.

The Role of NFTs in Gaming

NFTs used in games offer a number of distinct benefits. They represent player ownership of digital assets, the ability to interact with games, and monetization apps.

  • Ownership: Players have direct ownership and use rights to the assets they hold. These assets are converted from special in-game items and stored on the blockchain .
  • Uniqueness: Each NFT has its own characteristics, no two NFTs are the same on the blockchain.
  • Interoperability: NFTs will be more interactive across multiple games and platforms. This helps improve the functionality and value of the NFTs that users own. In other words, making the liquidity of NFTs more “abundant”.
nft items in game
Game items can interact with multiple platforms. Photo: Chainlink

In addition, the economic model of NFT-based games is often tied to the design of helping players earn valuable income. Therefore, play-to-earn game models are increasingly attracting many players, especially in areas where the traditional game market is saturated.

Why is ownership emphasized in NFT games?

Real ownership in NFT gaming is really important, not only because of the financial value but also because of the freedom and security it brings to players. In traditional games, players can spend hours building characters, accumulating rare items, but ultimately it is all under the control of the publisher. If the game is shut down or the account is disabled, all the player’s efforts can be lost.

In contrast, with NFT games, asset ownership is recorded directly on the blockchain, giving players absolute control. Each item or character in the game is a unique NFT asset, which players can keep, transfer, or sell without worrying about the publisher’s power.

This has created a kind of free market where each player can set their own price and decide the fate of their assets. This is an unprecedented opportunity in the traditional gaming industry.

Financially, owning NFTs in games also opens up attractive earning potential. Take Axie Infinity or The Sandbox for example, where players can trade virtual items or land on NFT exchanges like OpenSea for profit.

Players can even generate passive income from renting out their virtual assets, turning gaming into a sustainable economic activity. In fact, platforms like Decentraland allow players to freely create content and build communities, creating real value not only financially but also in community and long-term engagement.

Real ownership gives players more motivation and purpose to engage in gaming with a longer-term investment mindset, rather than just a short-term entertainment activity. Thanks to the scarcity and uniqueness of NFT assets, players can build digital assets, making gaming part of a larger digital financial ecosystem.

Popular NFT Game Models

NFTs play a special role in games. They are used with their own rules and regulations, and players also have their own interactions with each item.

Suppose, for each type of game, NFTs will have different characteristics or designs. In-game items are represented by NFTs. This allows players to trade and exchange NFTs with other players similar to exchanging items in a traditional game model.

Some NFT game designs also help players earn profits from playing the game. Their operating model design is not fixed and can be combined in the same game to create different experiences and depending on the tokenomic implementation direction of the project.

Play-to-earn NFT games

Play-to-earn games   allow players to earn money by playing games. The more time they spend playing, the more money they have the chance to earn. This form of game emerged around 2021 with Axie Infinity.

The play-to-earn game genre is often associated with a token-based reward design. Players earn rewards by completing tasks and achieving milestones related to level/rank.

What is nft game?
Axie game by genre play to earn

In-game NFT games

This type of game allows players to earn NFTs and trade them directly in-game or on exchanges. This is the most typical design for generating profit in the in-game NFT game model. Some types of NFT items include:

  • Avatar
  • Weapon
  • Gloves
  • Trading card
  • Pet
nft game
NFT gaming market forecast by 2028. Photo: Mordor Intelligence

Forecasting the development and potential of NFT Games

The NFT gaming market is expected to continue to expand at an impressive pace. According to a report from Mordor Intelligence, the value of the NFT gaming market is expected to reach $820 billion by 2028, with growth mainly coming from the Asia-Pacific region due to the growing interest in blockchain technology and NFTs.

Countries like China, Japan, and South Korea are emerging as major hubs for the NFT gaming industry, thanks to their technological infrastructure and huge player base.

Companies like Ubisoft, Square Enix, and Electronic Arts are investing and collaborating in the NFT gaming space to catch up with the blockchain trend and capture this new market. This not only brings in money but also builds credibility for projects, attracting more players from traditional platforms to blockchain.

blockchain game
Blockchain games have strong growth compared to the traditional game market. Photo: Xangle

In addition, the economic model of NFT-based games is often tied to the design of helping players earn valuable income. Therefore, play-to-earn game models are increasingly attracting many players, especially in areas where the traditional game market is saturated.

In 2023, many game models and products were launched, representing the shift of the crypto gaming industry. NFT games, although not new, are a potential piece for investors, developers and players to exploit.