On December 6th, just two days after starting NFT-backed “card pack” sales for their blockchain-based Alien Worlds video game, the team sold 15 men behind the Dacoco development studio out of packages after successfully raising $ 250,000.
While a quarter of a million might seem like a pittance in a world where one NFT criterion can fetch six figures and more established games like The Sandbox and Decentraland routinely raise millions, but for a smaller studio, the kind of lifting that can bring success to a project – and, according to Play To Earn’s editor-in-chief, Robert Hoogendoorn, the unique set of incentives for buyers means it could become part of a larger trend.
“Finding smaller games, investing early and hoping to blossom is a lot like cryptocurrency investing,” says Hoogendoorn. “You hope to find that game that grows into the next Minecraft and make that investment go 100x.”
Where traditional crowd funding efforts for videogames allow early believers to pledge their money in return for prizes such as in-game characters named after them or invitations to launch parties, NFT-backed games could turn the same concept into a real investment ok.
“For centuries, land ownership has been a privilege of the upper classes,” said Alien Worlds co-founder Michael Yeates. “Now in crypto, everyone has the opportunity to earn a passive income by owning land that is real to them.”
In-game supported items and resources such as NFTs can accumulate significant resale value if a game becomes more popular, and according to the Alien Worlds team, complex game economies can even turn them into product-bearing assets.
“The [Alien Worlds] NFTs are different from pure NFT cards that can be collected because they have real features recognized by the smart gaming contracts, ”explained Alien Worlds co-founder Saro Mckenna. “One NFT may yield more Trilium (currency in the Alien Worlds game) when you use it, another may be able to use more often […] This is quite sophisticated by blockchain standards, where the functionality oftentimes is still somewhat basic even if immutability and decentralization are in place. “
Alien Worlds, which positions itself as ‘DAOs and DeFi in space,’ is among a handful of titles at the forefront of monetizing NFTs in the game for players, but Hoogendoorn thinks there will be more to come.
“For developers it may sound strange to give players ownership of assets. But what if developers receive 5% over every in-game / on-chain transaction? They will create a new revenue stream. They also create a community that has a stake in their games world. Engagement will be much higher because of the economic incentive. ”
However, developers who want to exchange for the new trend may want to do so research first, warns Hoogendoorn.
“Understanding scarcity, and building the game economy around that, and [make sure] you have a game economy that is interesting for players to put a lot of time and effort into. ”