Indie game development is believed to drive the future of games. There are many development teams that are taking the industry beyond what we have known so far and creating truly innovative and exciting experiences.
Indie gaming has seen a rise in the last few years due to the emergence of new development and online distribution methods. Game retail has been significantly simplified allowing smaller teams to produce and sell games on a much larger scale than has been previously possible through the retail purchase model.
The interaction between various sectors in the time of digital revolution opened up some completely new opportunities and solutions for indie game developers. They are now called on to think across business models looking at what might lie ahead and behind the value chain in their sector.
The time has come for an infrastructural shift and it turns out when it comes to infrastructure, Blockchain technology can be exactly what the doctor ordered. Cointelegraph had a chat with the MetaGold dev team which suggested a new approach in addressing current challenges existing in the indie games industry.
Who owns the game content?
For instance, current indie games do not allow players to move their gaming content most probably created at some expense between different online games. Players buy certain game assets to enhance their gaming experience, including weapons, skins, extensions, etc. and these are stored on the game’s servers. When these items are purchased, a player actually pays for the temporary right to use it while not truly owning it.
Besides, if one stops playing he loses these digital goods. MetaGold suggests that Blockchain technology can allow creating unique assets that players truly own giving players full control over them. The MetaGold team strongly believes that Blockchain technology is indeed something that game developers have been waiting for a long time. Technology represents a means of liberation from the shackles of centralization in the field of storage and ownership of game objects.
MetaGold developers say:
“Now, in many games you can own a certain object but it is in fact only conditional since you do not have freedom to store and move these objects. Gamers are outraged by a blatant policy of gaming giants that limit their right to freely move game assets. Blockchain technology is a tool that can finally free players from the shackles of centralization and coercive policy that is designed to take the maximum benefit from gamers’ money.”
Ethereum allows tokenizing game values
MetaGold develops a new generation of games where digital items can be freely traded outside of the game using an Ethereum Blockchain. MetaGold team games integrate MetaGold (MEG) and ERC20 a token based on the Ethereum Blockchain, as a shared native in-game currency to create a game economy which is open, decentralized and borderless. The main mission is to allow players moving existing assets between the games. And that is where their business model differs from the existing ones.
The MetaGold developer team explain to Cointelegraph:
“A token, in general, represents an object of value, or representation of any other asset on a digital ledger. Tokens used in a variety of network enable stakeholders to work together and share responsibility in distributed organizational structures. The Bitcoin token became a perfect solution for sending a transferring value on a transparent public ledger. However, use cases are basically limitless. Using the Ethereum Virtual Machine and programming language we can add arbitrary computer code to tokenize many different kinds of value. Smart contracts govern rights around their ownership, transfer, expiration and even decay. Tokens can represent many different kinds of value, and using EVM helps immensely with its general flexibility. That's why we choose Ethereum Blockchain other Bitcoin’s.”
MEG tokens will be utilized to buy limited edition in-game items including custom skins, characters, booster packs, cards and more. Items can be shared, traded, sold, or kept locked away in a collection. The Ethereum Blockchain ensures the safety and efficiency of all transactions made within the games, meaning that game valuables can never be seized or deleted and no third-party operator can intervene into the market where they are exchanged.
Currently, MetaGold offers two games – War of the Magi and Project X.
War of the Magi is a turn-based multiplayer card game that lets players test themselves in the ancient art of magic and spells. As an aspiring young magician, you will learn and master the elements of Fire and Ice and understand the secret behind the hidden knowledge of magic. The game consists of 50 missions and includes a multiplayer mode with the League system, enchanting graphics and amazing visual effects.
Project X is a cross-platform multiplayer adventure game which creates a world where the planet is covered with poisonous fog, creatures living on the planet have weird abilities and airships are the only way to travel between the hills and mountains which are free from the poisoned air.
As a player, you are the master of your fate and perhaps the fate of other people living on the planet. The game features original battle system, beautiful graphic and available on PC and mobile devices.
A way to familiarize with Blockchain technology?
Besides solving the challenges of the gaming industry, games integrating Blockchain technology might be viewed as a gateway to broader digital currency use, as it could add a relatable context to a still obscure technology.
Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are being continuously researched and discussed but for many, it still remains something irrelevant. Unsurprisingly there are lots of gamers within the Blockchain and cryptocurrency world but overall gamers might not be fully knowledgeable about these innovations.
Integrating technology into the gaming industry can not only revolutionize the gaming industry itself but also help people to understand how the technology works and what kind of benefits it might bring to the table.
MetaGold is currently seeking to raise a minimum of $250,000 and a maximum of $1,5 mln during the crowd sale, which is planned for April 3rd.
For more information please visit MetaGold’s website.