Slow Burn
The Crypto Long Game
Gaming is an ever-evolving medium for escape, challenge, and connection—and, historically, has offered an early use case for tech advancements. From experimenting with computer graphics to embracing virtual and augmented reality, gaming has welcomed innovation as it strives to provide more immersive and interactive experiences for its (predominantly young) audience. The open-minded attitude and digital sophistication it fosters have uniquely primed the gaming community for the on-chain world.
We believe that gamers will respond to crypto, in part, because they fundamentally understand the value of digital ownership and interoperability. Traditional gaming often requires that digital assets—such as avatars, weapons, or achievements—are controlled by game developers and their proprietary marketplaces. By contrast, in on-chain gaming, each in-game item can be tokenized and fully owned by players. This not only allows them and their owners to share in the game's economic growth, but also ensures that (when built on universal standards, such as ERC-1155) they can be used across multiple games.
In an on-chain environment, these assets can accrue value separate from their in-game utility. They can be traded, borrowed, or leased in an open secondary market. Today, off-chain transactions usually take place in obscure corners of the internet (e.g., CS:GO Skins), and can yield a permanent player ban enforced by game operators. Instead, crypto-based models introduce the possibility of a new paradigm, in which holistic economies surround games.
Much like in crypto, the force that sustains gaming ecosystem growth is its community of independent developers. As this cohort increasingly gravitates towards on-chain gaming mechanics, the experience improvements they effect will undoubtedly stir the $200Bn+ mainstream gaming market. This month, we’re excited to explore the history of on-chain gaming, the challenges facing early experiments today, and the teams leveraging entertainment to bring more of the world on-chain.
About Slow Burn
Weekly explorations into emerging crypto trends and how to navigate 2023 from the Slow Crypto Team, Sam Lessin, Clay Robbins, and Caroline Cline.