In the crowded landscape of new ICOs that came forth over the last year, many applied to gaming. While some are actual crypto games, others are more about creating solutions and platforms for game developers.

Let’s take a look at some of the best (and most popular) gaming cryptocurrencies out there.

GameCredits

This ecosystem is built on the GAME token and involves a whole set of solutions for game developers. Started in 2015 as a fork of bitcoin, the project is aimed at enabling in-game content purchases, rewards and payments to developers.

The startup has an ambitious plan to make game development open-source and their token — the cryptocurrency of choice for the $100 billion gaming industry. Leveraging blockchain technology means a decentralized game payment system is in the works, but for now you still need to go to the company’s website to complete transactions. The invoices for those transactions are stored on the blockchain, however.

With most traditional mobile platforms such as the Google Play Store, developers get to keep the biggest part of the revenue from game sales, 90% versus 70%. The distributed ledger virtually eliminates fraud payments and frees developers’ hands to work on the actual game. On blockchain, payments will make their way to the developers faster than via other systems as well.

There’s definitely some promise with this cryptocurrency gaming system. The team seems dedicated, and there are lots of planned features. Decentralizing actual transactions will be the next hurdle for them to clear, but this can be one of the platforms that are here to stay.

RevolutionVR

Focusing on game development rather than payment functions, RevolutionVR makes virtual reality game development possible without any coding. They use distributed computing to aid development and enhance gameplay, which is a pretty novel idea.

Critically, the task of rendering 3D graphics will be handled by the platform and in the cloud, keeping resources freer on the individual user’s system. Keeping the computing power distributed across the user base, more powerful computing functions can be offloaded, making more advanced gameplay available to all.

The token was originally called Voxel, and the company Voxelus, and was more focused on the cryptocurrency aspect. Earlier last year, the token was changed to RVR and the company to RevolutionVR to more accurately convey the new direction of focusing on cloud-based game development resources.

MobileGo

Recently launched on ERC20, this platform is looking to capitalize on the mobile gaming market. There are already 500+ games developed on the platform, and the token has been outperforming many others in recent months.

One of the key features that this Ethereum-based system offers is the integration of smart contracts, allowing the rules of games to be baked right into the code and not ‘cheated’ by anyone. This allows the platform to be used for secure global gaming tournaments.

The aim of MGO token creators is to create a global gaming platform that crosses boundaries and allows competitive gameplay on everyone’s mobile devices. Cross-border payments and winnings are baked right in as well thanks to the fact that game players and developers earn cryptocurrency which is naturally borderless.

Decentraland

Another novel concept for a gaming cryptocurrency is Decentraland. This system allows developers to purchase ‘land’ via blockchain that they can then develop a game or an app on top of. Most games have some sort of a ‘physical’ environment, and this platform aims to decentralize that piece of the game development puzzle.

The MANA token has recently been outperforming the market, you can tell there is the demand for such a system. Creating the ‘world’ that a video game or VR experience exists in can be a daunting part of game development, and Decentraland’s creators have realized that not only game developers may want to produce content on their platform.

They offer an exchange to purchase land, and an SDK for developers to use. They have partnered with a communication and game marketplace called Discord, and really look to be securing a unique place in the gaming ecosystem with their offering.

Firstblood

Built on the 1ST token, this platform encourages eSports based game development and supports multiplayer tournaments with secure payouts. Instead of focusing on compensation for developers, Firstblood looks to reward gamers for their skills with real cryptocurrency prizes.

Also based on the Ethereum platform, the smart contracts can enforce tournament rules, and a record of gameplay is stored on the blockchain making prize distribution fair and secure. Members are called upon to be the ‘jury’ and verify the results of matches, leading to a trusted judgment process.

They have also partnered with Discord, and are already holding tournaments across many games on their platform.

It’s all about the platforms

The above platforms have created an ecosystem that has spawned hundreds and hundreds of individual games. One of the promises of blockchain technology here is to remove friction from the development process and allow creators to jump right to producing their gaming content.

Time lost building a backbone, and revenue lost to higher transaction fees are stifling game development, but the outlined gaming cryptocurrencies are reversing that trend and generally outperforming many other areas of the market right now.