Can EOS Games Overtake Ethereum Games?

The New Contender for Top DApp Games Platform

Decentralized app (DApp) games have become a hit in the blockchain world, especially on the Ethereum blockchain, which has around 10k daily users of DApps, according to stateofthedapps.com. But the EOS mainnet was released on June 1, 2018 and this dark horse is giving the Ethereum network a run for its money when it comes to hosting DApp games. Let’s take a look at why:

To start, why do we love Ethereum?

The main reason Ethereum is the most popular platform for DApp Games is because of its amazing smart contract capabilities. With the ERC721 token, the Ethereum network was able to create a market for a whole new use of the blockchain, which was DApp games that allow users to play and purchases unique collectibles that, through the blockchain, are traceable and linked directly to the owner with very minimal chance of being tampered with. And because of open source users can see the game’s rules, making it harder for creator’s to mess with the game’s source code because loopholes or possible ambiguities are viewable and analyzable by anyone and everyone.

So what’s the problem with Ethereum?

Smart contract capabilities gave Ethereum life, but it doesn’t come without its fair share of problems. One of the biggest problems for the Ethereum network is the scalability problem. Currently, the network can only handle up to 20 transactions per second, meaning that it’s not possible for the network to be bombarded with a high volume of smart contract transactions. Which creates the problem of how many people can play a DApp game at a time. It also leads to the second problem, high transaction fees. The more people using the network at one time, the higher the transactions fees as the demand increases and miners only choose transactions with higher gas fees. Together, using Ethereum to play a DApp game means that not that many people can play at one time, and it can be expensive.

How does EOS solve these problems?

In order to answer this question, we have to look at how both networks compute transactions. Ethereum uses a proof of work (PoW) protocol which requires that some mathematical equations be solved in order to create and add a block to the chain. This method is incredibly secure but also quite slow. But EOS uses a delegated proof-of-stake (DPOS) consensus mechanism and claim that because of this, they can easily compute millions of transactions per second, which would solve the problem Ethereum has of slow transaction speeds and a low transaction volume. EOS is also working to eliminate transaction fees by working on an ownership model where rather than paying for every transaction, users own and are entitled to use resources proportional to their stake. Meaning that if you have N amount of EOS coins, you’re entitled to N*k amount of transactions.

Well if it solves all these problems, why don’t we just switch to EOS?

So what’s the catch? Why isn’t everyone running over to EOS? Well, one answer is that it is more centralized than Ethereum and other blockchains. The delegated proof of stake method mentioned earlier is a modified version of the proof of stake method. In proof of stake miners — called forgers — put their own coins at stake in order to validate blocks of transactions and, in doing so, be rewarded. In delegated proof of stake, this method is modified so that instead of anybody being able to join, so long as they have capital, “witnesses” are elected by the community to secure the network. The problem lies in that the more stake you have, the more weight your vote has. So the rich can, theoretically, vote who they want into power and the masses wouldn’t necessarily be able to stop it, making the network a lot less decentralized.

The “0 Transaction Fees” mechanism has also come under scrutiny because you need to hold a certain amount of EOS tokens in order to get a transaction approved, so this means that people are kind of forced to hold a certain amount of coins. Cryptocoins are notoriously volatile and therefore this puts people who aren’t economically well off or not very active users at risk of losing money.

But more than the technical problems, how much hype is there really surrounding EOS? I can name you a dozen DApps on the Ethereum network, and since the hit wonder that was CryptoKitties, DApps on Ethereum have just taken off. But with such a well-established platform, EOS is having trouble breaking into the market. Taking a look at the top-ranked DApp games on Ethereum, about half of them are crypto collectible games like Etheremon, CryptoKitties, and Blockchain Cuties, and the other half are betting games. If we look at EOS’s top-ranked DApp games, the majority of them are betting and casino games. If we look at subreddits, the Ethereum subreddit has 401k subscribers versus EOS’s 59.7k. Ethereum is just simply more popular than EOS at the time being, despite EOS’s supposedly superior platform for gaming.

So what does this all mean for the DApp Game world?

Currently, Ethereum still holds the top spot with 2,029 total DApps as opposed to EOS’s 74. Many people don’t even know an alternative to Ethereum-based games exists in the form of EOS games. But, those stats are not the only ones we need to focus on. EOS leads Ethereum in daily active users with almost 13k daily users to Ethereum’s 10.66k. And EOS dwarfs Ethereum in number of daily transactions which is at more than 586.55 thousand to Ethereum’s 66.66 thousand. This is exactly what EOS was aiming to do, however, and how it aims to become the most used DApp platform.

According the dappradar.com, the current top Ethereum DApp game is Etheremon, with approximately 393 daily active users (DAU). If we compare that to the top EOS game, EOS Knights, which has approximately 2,693 DAU, we can already see the effects of EOS’s platform taking hold. More DAU are allowed on the platform because of the faster transaction speeds and smaller transaction fees. There’s probably a reason a lot of betting games are popular on EOS more than Ethereum, because they’re easier to play on EOS.

Recently, shEOS, a firm that helps provide important infrastructure to the EOS network, launched a new protocol that allows for the smooth transition of ERC-20 tokens to the EOS ecosystem. This new protocol is called EOS21 and has great potential to pull many users as well as DApps away from the Ethereum network with the ease of transition. If this campaign succeeds, it has the ability to make EOS a huge success as a DApp gaming platform, and help EOS breakthrough into the cryptocurrency elite.

EOS is still in its infantile days, and it’s hard to see whether it will grow or not, but the future looks promising for the cryptocurrency. Both EOS and Ethereum have problems in their own rights, and it’s currently a race to see which network can fix or combat their problems first. If EOS succeeds, there’s no telling what kind of growth the platform could see. But until that time, Ethereum remains the top DApp network, but we’ll just have to wait and see if EOS can muster the growth it needs to overtake Ethereum as the reigning DApp champ.

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