The future of Web3 gaming lies in making games that are free-to-play and fun-to-play, according to Gabby Dizon, the CEO and co-founder of Yield Guild Games (YGG), a decentralized gaming organization.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Dizon said that the current model of play-to-earn (P2E) games, which requires players to invest in nonfungible tokens (NFTs) or tokens to participate, is not sustainable for mass adoption. He argued that Web3 games should lower the barriers to entry and focus on gameplay first, rather than tokenomics.
“There’s this big realization that for millions of people to be able to get into a game, they have to be free-to-play first,” he said. “There’s an evolution of the business model where the games are free to play, and then at some point along the way while you’re playing, then you’re able to mint an NFT or start earning tokens, but a lot of new games aren’t really starting with requiring NFT ownership at the start.”
Dizon Shares his Insights on the Future of Web3 Games
Dizon cited the example of Axie Infinity, a popular P2E game that requires players to buy at least three Axie NFTs to play. The game saw a huge surge in users and revenues in 2021 but also faced challenges such as price volatility, scalability issues, and user retention. Dizon said that many players left the game after the prices of Axies and the in-game token Smooth Love Potion (SLP) dropped significantly.
Dizon observed that many individuals who participated in Axie were not primarily gamers, but were attracted by the financial prospects. However, when these financial benefits ceased, these individuals tended to depart. Dizon anticipates that the forthcoming generation of Web3 games will prioritize the development of captivating and immersive experiences that retain players, irrespective of the financial rewards.
He said that he expects to see more high-quality games launching in the next year, as many experienced game developers have been working on Web3 projects since 2021. He also mentioned some of the innovations that Web3 games will bring, such as the use of the ERC-6551 token standard, which allows players to attach artificial intelligence (AI) behaviors to their NFTs and automate tasks in the game world.
Dizon anticipates the emergence of a novel gaming genre where interaction with AI takes precedence over continuous gameplay. In this new approach, players would establish guidelines for the AI, which would then autonomously navigate the gaming environment. He believes that this development could introduce intriguing dynamics to the gaming world.
