In-Game Purchases & NFT's

By Alan G

Dec 29, 2021

Are NFT's the Future of In-Game Purchases?

Remember the days when gaming was just starting? When competitive games meant beating your friend’s high score on Tetris or clearing the last castle in Super Mario a lot quicker than anyone else. Who could forget the intoxicating smell of cheap candy and sticky floors at the arcades where you would get behind the wheel of a Daytona rally car and pretend you were Colin McRae? Gaming has come a very long way since then. The evolution of consoles and gaming PC’s have revolutionized the way we interact with games. One of the biggest gaming jumps has been the ability to play online. Naturally, the biggest companies found a way to increase their games’ potential to monetize it even further. Back in the old days, you would purchase the CD, install the game, and play. Nowadays, most studios incorporate in-game purchases and microtransactions. Those “you’ve run out lives! Purchase more for $2.99?” notifications your mom would get on her Candy Crush? That’s what I’m talking about. However, even those microtransactions are starting to evolve into a more advanced form of in-game purchases. NFT’s are shaping up to be the new face of in-game purchases, with companies identifying their potential for both gaming studios and users alike. I’m Alan, and we’re going to be talking about why, and more importantly how, NFT’s are taking over the future of in-game purchases.

NFT’s have moved away from just being digital art. They can now be anything that gets categorized as a digital asset. Let’s take a look at what kinds of in-game purchases are most popular in the gaming sphere. Fortnite has been one of the most played video games for well over 5 years now. It is an online battle royale themed shooter that is played on most consoles as well as PC’s. Fortnite offers in-game purchases in the form of skins, emotes, and loot boxes. Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, have had tremendous success with in-game purchases. It has been reported that over 70% of their user base have bought one of these in-game purchases at least once. The stats don’t lie, there is money to be made with microtransactions. Whether or not these microtransactions give users a competitive advantage is questionable, however it is clear that a certain number of these purchases are purely for cosmetic reasons. What 12-year-old child wouldn’t want to look cool rocking an Iron Man skin as they blast their opponents away? Another example of a microtransaction would be the purchasing of additional maps. You can argue that skins don’t really give much of a competitive advantage, but buying a new map adds clear value to the video game. Call of Duty is an example of a video game that offers the purchase of additional maps. You’re not spending real money to look “cooler”, but you’re being given a whole other environment to play in. We’re observing a collective willingness to spend real money within the current gaming generation. This is very welcome news to gaming studios who look to expand their profit margins with a consistent revenue stream of in-game purchases.

All good so far? Great. Now that we’ve established the current climate of in-game transactions, let’s examine where NFT’s would come into play. A new skin, emote, or map is a pretty cool addition for the gamer, but there is one downfall. When purchasing these bonus features, they still technically belong to the gaming studio. If the company’s corporate decision makers decide to pack up shop and shut the game down, you can kiss your in-game purchases goodbye. You see, an in-game purchase is only valuable for as long as the game actually exists. I know it sounds obvious to state, but it’s not something you would expect when buying a product with real money. If I were to spend my hard-earned money (or my parents’ money in the case of many young gamers) on a physical product, then I would like it to be mine for as long as I desire. Traditional in-game purchases have an expiration date that is not in the user’s hands. This lingering question mark is a downside that NFT’s are about to shove aside.

Previously, we talked about what NFT’s were and how they worked using blockchain technology. We established that the blockchain ledger keeps track of digital assets such as NFT’s permanently. This means that an NFT’s lifespan is virtually endless. Once you own an NFT, it stays with you for life, unless you choose to resell it. The biggest problem of in-game purchases that we talked about above is that they’re only good for as long as the game is operational. Yes, they’re yours to use as you please, but they’re not really “yours” in the technical sense of legitimate ownership. You are merely borrowing it from the gaming studio who’s kind enough to lend it to you. What about my money, Epic Games? I don’t see a return date on that.

Blockchain technology has allowed NFT’s to infiltrate the gaming market through in-game purchases. There are no more doubts about who the true “owner” of your purchase is. Not only that, but you also have the ability to sell your NFT’s across multiple gaming platforms, regardless of the game. There are multiple ways to store your NFT’s. You can store them on a software wallet with a 12-24 word seed password, but it is the least secure option. The second is an IPFS. It checks the hash data on your computer and sees whether it matches your NFT’s content. You can still be hacked on your physical computer though. My personal favorite is a hardware wallet. It’s the most secure option. It’s a completely offline method, so no hacking can occur. They also have the bonus advantage of being able to secure any lost device content. So, who are pioneering the NFT surge in the world of gaming? Let’s take a look at some examples.

“The Club” is an international gaming guild comprised of pro eSports pilots, tech leaders, developers, investors, avid gamers, and futurists. They all share one thing in common, their belief in the growth of NFT’s in gaming. They focus on one game in particular, “Star Atlas”. Star Atlas is branded as a video game that revolves around space exploration, territory control, and political dominance. Pretty cool, right? It’s like a blend of Mass Effect and StarCraft, except it’s got one thing that separates it from the classic AAA games. Star Atlas uses NFT’s to monetize their project. In the pre-development phase, Star Atlas were creating digital art to use as promotional material before launch. This serves two purposes. First, they generate hype in the gaming communities as more and more people become aware of their art and their upcoming video game. The second purpose is to guarantee some monetization before the launch of the game. If fans are already spending their money on a game that is still in production, or at the very least, in its beta phase, you’re set up at a very advantageous position as a gaming studio.

Let’s circle back to The Club. They’ve recognized that an NFT game like Star Atlas could be profitable through certain in-game actions. They offer digital currency through actions such as combat, farming, hauling, and mining. These rewards are available to anybody willing to play and dedicate their time to reaping NFT rewards. The Club managed to gather like-minded players into one organized group to maximize their profits through play-to-earn games. They’ve created comprehensive databases that explore all in-game NFT options within Star Atlas, such as ships and costumes. Speaking of their ships, I hope you’re sitting down because wait till you hear about their real-life market valuation.

On the 12^th of November 2021, The Club invested $3 million in a collection of Star Atlas ships. The ships are categorized as NFT’s and are exempt from ever expiring or being taken back by the game studio itself. Averaging at around $90,000 a ship, The Club took a massive step forward in the gaming community by breaking the previous record of money spent in an NFT game. It was previously broken in the game “Axie Infinity”, where nine digital lands were sold for $1.5 million. Their dedication to promoting and expanding the metaverse is a great sign of the booming health of NFT’s in gaming.

Let’s move away from space exploration and land back on earth for a sec. I want to talk about another example of an NFT game that is having wild success. But first, let’s take a trip down memory lane to when we were happy go-lucky kids. I used to wake up early in the morning to get ready for school. One of my favorite things to do while eating breakfast was watch cartoons. The two shows that coincided with my early wake-up were Pokemon and Digimon. Those adorable little monsters were a worldwide sensation. Pikachu himself (or is it herself?) was used as a mascot to advertise all the show’s products. One of their most popular products was their trading cards. They invented a whole trading card game that I used to love playing with my friends. Who doesn’t enjoy the feeling of getting one over the smug bully with a shiny MewTwo card? Now that I think about it, Digimon was basically just Pokemon with weapons. They had the same cartoonish appeal, but why did every one of them pack machine guns and missiles? Talk about overkill… Anyway, back to the main point. Trading card games are not exclusively a children’s game anymore. One gaming studio created a whole NFT video game called “Splinterlands” based off of the age-old concept of monsters and card-trading. Players build and customize their own deck of cards and battle it out amongst each other. All available cards in the game that you choose to purchase are NFT’s. You can buy them, sell them, and even trade them according to what the market dictates. Games like Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone are already well-established card games, but this is the most popular NFT play-to-earn of its kind. With a growing user database and card valuation growing in monetary value, it seems like NFT’s and gaming are an inevitable match.

The future is looking very bright, and most gaming companies seem to be convinced of the potential that NFT’s have in integrating within their domain. It is one of the most interesting technological concepts that can provide very lucrative opportunities for your business. If you’re looking to find out more about how you can capitalize on the impending future of in-game purchases and NFT’s, let me introduce you to GTH Translations.

GTH Translations have been in the business of localizing brand new concepts for every possible market out there. When you’ve been around for as long as they have, you surround yourself with the most knowledgeable team of people from every background imaginable. They have been working with the gaming industry for years now and excel at even the most advanced tech terminology. You don’t have to figure it out on your own. It’s a lot less risky to work with experienced experts who have your best interest at heart. They speak the language that your target demographic wants to hear. They’ve even launched their own in-house production studio to build your multimedia demands from scratch. With video game voice overs and worldwide talent casting, they’ll launch you straight into the metaverse ready to captivate your audience. I also hear that Alan guy has got a voice that could melt snow, but maybe I’m just biased.

The future of in-game purchases has already arrived. Are you going to be another late mover complaining about how “I should have gotten in there a lot earlier!”, or are you going to move exactly when the time is right?