8 Blockchain Projects That Are Disrupting the Gaming Industry

Crypto projects that are integrating gaming & blockchain tech.

Blockchain Technology — It’s a triumph of the digital world. A new way to pay for goods, a new way to invest, and inspiration to developers around the planet. But did you know that it’s also found a place in the gaming industry? There are a number of blockchain games that have surfaced in recent years. Keep reading to learn about some of our favorite blockchain gaming projects that are disrupting the gaming and crypto industries.

CryptoKitties

Many crypto enthusiasts may be familiar with the infamous cat-collecting game, CryptoKitties. These adorable virtual pets are a far reach from early predecessors like Neopets and Nintendogs, but crypto fans really love them. In fact, they were so popular that they once congested the entire Ethereum network. This happened because you need Ethereum (ETH) in order to purchase one of the bug-eyed felines. Once you have enough ETH to purchase your digital pal and pay for gas, you can buy your kitty.

Of course, simply collecting the cute animated animals is not enough for many players. That is where breeding comes into play. By breeding your cats, you then have the chance to breed a valuable kitten, which you can put on the market for a collector to buy. While most kitties are not worth all that much, the most valuable CryptoKitty ever sold was worth 600 ETH. At the time of purchase, that was a value of $170,000 USD!

Decentraland

Decentraland is one of the most immersive blockchain games on the market, as well as a revolutionary method of leveraging tokenomics. The popular virtual reality game, which utilizes the Ethereum blockchain, focuses on purchasing and customizing 3D space that is represented by a non-fungible asset called LAND. To customize LAND, you must first purchase it with Decentraland’s purchasable ERC-20 token, MANA.

What makes Decentraland special is how truly customizable LAND is. Each segment of LAND, which is divided into sections called parcels, can be turned into an interactive environment of the LAND-owner’s choosing. Some players turn their LAND into games. Some recreate famous landmarks. Some even join other players to create what are called Districts, communities of multiple parcels of LAND that all have a similar theme or functionality. In the future, we can even look forward to accessing Decentraland from our mobile devices and VR headsets.

Want some LAND? You’ll need some MANA first. To hold, trade, and track MANA, visit ShapeShift.com.

Ethermon

Collecting, evolving, and battling digital monsters has been popular since the 1990's, and Ethermon has added another element: blockchain technology. Much like Pokemon, Ethermon allows the player to collect a number of different monsters that are all unique in their own way. From extraordinarily cute, to big and tough, there is an Ethermon that fits everyone’s taste. Once you’ve found the Ethermon for you, you can meet up with other “Mons” and go to battle!

The value of the game is found in both the collectibles themselves and the ability to mine the game’s ERC-20 token, EMONT. EMONT has a token cap of 20 million, and the earlier you join the game, the more EMONTs you can mine. Eventually, EMONT will be the only currency in the game, so join in and claim yours while you can.

Crypto Space Commander

Crypto Space Commander, or CSC, is a sandbox MMO set in outer space. Players take on the role as commanders of the Galactic Federation, and it is the player’s job to begin recruiting ships for their fleet. The Milky Way is vast, and Crypto Space Commander emulates this by offering over 900 star systems to explore.

If that‘s not enough to make you want to give it a try, perhaps the crypto element will interest you. Tokenomics plays a very important role in the game, as Crypto Space Commander focuses on a Play-to-Own Economy. By using the Ethereum blockchain, peer-to-peer (P2P) contracts can be implemented, which gives players the unique experience of controlling their own real-time economy. Plus, when you earn your assets, you have full ownership of them rather than only in-game ownership. Without Ethereum’s use of smart contracts, this would not be possible.

Project Genesis

Looking for some action and mystery? Project Genesis delivers just that. This sci-fi title launches the player into deep space, a dangerous place full of enemies and hard-to-answer questions. Fittingly, the player must investigate what happened to the Capital Class ship, n-SATOSHI, to help it get back en route.

The game, which is powered by the Ethereum blockchain, is heavily influenced by William Gibson and Neal Stephenson’s Metaverse, a world featured in popular movies like Ready Player One and The Matrix. This concept of a digital universe has been rehashed in a number of ways, but with the addition of blockchain technology, this is a new angle on an old idea.

Using Ethereum, the developers create and protect digital assets that players can then carry in a wallet. Blockchain technology also inspired a number of objects in the game. n-SATOSHI, the Capital Class ship that was previously mentioned, was named after the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Spells of Genesis

If you enjoy fantasy card games like Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering, you will be sure to love Spells of Genesis. The game borrows aspects from traditional trading card games, including card collection and deck-building strategy.

Ownership of the cards in the player’s deck is represented on the blockchain via BitCrystals (BCY). This means that any player is able to own and transfer their cards outside of the game itself. In other words, you truly own the cards that you collect, much like you would if you had them stored away in a box or an album. Unlike most modern games, you can also use your cards in other supporting games, giving you the most control over your digital gaming assets that you’ve ever had.

The Sandbox

The Sandbox has been in the works since 2015, but only in August of 2018 did they offer rights to Animoca, who had the idea of incorporating blockchain economics. It is called The Sandbox because it is the ultimate sandbox game, giving players the ability to create anything they want using numerous resources. The original version, which does not have blockchain economics, has received mixed reviews on the gaming platform, Steam, but we have yet to see what is coming down the pipeline.

With the addition of blockchain technology, players will be able to share and monetize their creations via non-fungible tokens, making it much more attractive to the avid crypto enthusiast. For now, this is a project to watch, but we know that they are hard at work!

My Crypto Heroes

Does Crypto World sound like the place for you? My Crypto Heroes will take you there. This haven for crypto fans is an imaginative universe that draws its inspiration from cryptocurrency and how it works. For example, quests take place in “nodes,” and heroes are granted “crypto energy” as they gain experience.

To purchase heroes or crypto energy, the player must use GUM, or Game User Money. While GUM is not a token that you would find on the blockchain, it can only be purchased with Ethereum, tying the game to the ever-expanding crypto community.

The Future of Gaming

What’s next for games built on blockchain tech? Let us know your favorite games that integrate crypto and blockchain technology into gaming in the comments below.