Cryptocurrency may be a hot topic online right now, but it is also a topic with nuance and gray areas that come with more views and opinions than may first appear. Just a few short years ago, when crypto began to enter the conversation around online gaming, it did so chiefly as a means to prove digital ownership and to power play-to-earn models.
Fast forward to today, and hear plenty of talk of in-game purchases, borderless play, and more unconventional models. It’s also true to say that the majority of gamers do not directly encounter crypto—it is present largely in the background, if at all.
With the above in mind, we’re going to step away from hype and marketing and instead focus on real-world adoption and current use cases.
What Do Developers Mean When They Talk About Crypto In Games?
Crypto most often functions behind the scenes rather than front and center, with blockchain technology being used to track payments, create ownership records, and record the transactions in marketplaces. It’s important to separate this back-end type of functionality from the moment-to-moment gameplay that most gamers will be chiefly focused on.
The Emergence Of Player Friction Alongside Tokens & Wallets
Many players still report that wallet setup is a major barrier, and one that there doesn’t seem to be a ready-made solution for as of yet. The issue here is that many feel that security responsibility has shifted too much to the players, forcing new adopters to tackle a steep learning curve before they are able to onboard and play. The result is a strong sense of player friction around fundamental tools like tokens and wallets, significantly reducing both the reach and the appeal of crypto in games.
The Reality Of Payments And Microtransactions Using Crypto
In theory, crypto integration within games makes instant, borderless transactions the norm, but then there is the reality. Crypto can be seen as an alternative to cards and platforms in the sense that it removes geographic restrictions, allowing players from all walks of life to enjoy the same experiences online. While this has something of a democratizing impact on the landscape, it is also important to highlight the fact that some find the ease of onboarding is not quite there for them at the moment.
New prospective players also need to be aware of the fact that the way in which the value of crypto changes is different from that of traditional fiat. The issue of volatility is at the heart of the crypto discussion for many, with traders and speculators long having searched for solutions that allow them to profit from rapid price changes. New users need to be made aware of the fact that the true value of their deposits and bonuses will appreciate and depreciate on timescales much shorter than fiat currency.
The Continued Dominance Of Traditional Payment Systems
Refunds, chargebacks, and consumer protection all need to be taken into account when assessing the trust that consumers have in payment systems. Add in the sense of familiarity that fiat offers, and you see that a full switch to crypto is a matter that involves far more than simply promising something that is intended to be faster and more democratic.
Alongside this sense of familiarity are platform-level integration advantages that mean traditional payment systems require less work on the part of developers. This means that not every game developer will look to immediately divert human capital to an in-house crypto drive when there are so many other aspects of their games that they want to improve and work on.
Crypto As A Tool For Gambling Platforms
Gambling platforms prioritise payments over gameplay, meaning that some have become a home for crypto technology faster than other types of games. The ability to offer fast deposits and withdrawals, combined with a reduced need for long-term player engagement mechanics, means that crypto integration has fewer obstacles to navigate.
Typical Crypto Integration In Online Casinos
Deposits and withdrawals tend to be the focus, as opposed to the purchase of in-game assets. Live casino games, roulette, and blackjack are some common examples where instant settling of bets means that players can then open and close more positions, speeding up the gameplay as a result. The crash games guide on cryptospinners.com provides additional examples of how payment convenience tends to be at the center of crypto integration. By noting that payments typically come long before gameplay innovations, we start to see the reality of real-world crypto adoption in its present state.
Regulation, Risk, and Online Player Protection
There are different legal and ethical standards when it comes to gaming and gambling, and for good reason. Gambling requires stricter oversight because players can lose money and develop problem habits, meaning that the risks of damage to mental health and well-being are greater. Crypto integration complicates matters because it means that online player protection enters a new sphere. Crypto solutions often move faster than regulation due to their innovative nature, meaning that gray areas can emerge, which in turn reduces player recourse.
Security, Scams, And The Issue Of Consumer Risk
Issues like wallet theft and phishing risks can occur in the crypto realm, with some critics citing how it feels like the need to take security measures weighs too heavily on players, rather than on the platforms. The nature of irreversible transactions and the transient nature of the regulation in the crypto world mean that there are still some malicious actors and cyber criminals who seek to exploit players for their own material gain.
Why Many Mainstream Titles Remain Crypto-Free
There have been cases where crypto integration announcements have been met with resistance, mainly due to a perceived lack of transparency that would then damage trust. With studios looking to avoid unnecessary controversy, at present, it is largely niche titles and developers that are making the jump to crypto integration in terms of supporting payments and online asset ownership.
We also need to highlight the fact that crypto rarely improves core game loops—something which gaming purists will often put at the top of their list of objections. At a time when competition for eyeballs is fiercer than ever, the feeling amongst many developers is that their finite creative resources would be better spent elsewhere. This echoes the sentiment of large swathes of the gaming community who feel that fun, enjoyment, and playability should always trump technical innovation that sits in the background. After all, they will argue, gaming is supposed to be a way to have fun online before it attempts to evolve into anything else.
Crypto Is A Tool Looking For A Use Case
At the time of writing, crypto exists very much on the margins of gaming, and not on the center ground by any means. It is chiefly used to support payments and to provide the workhorse capability for gambling platforms, as opposed to player-focused game design. For it to become adopted in a wider sense, it needs to remain invisible and improve in terms of functionality, as only then will it prove to be a useful tool in the long term. Sceptics will continue to have their voices—some of which will be justified, some less so—while players will need to continue to separate marketing hype from real-world offerings.
