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One of the main themes of GamesBeat Summit 2023 was the potential of blockchain and Web3 games – and one of the first day panels discussed what the next successful Web3 game will contain. It also covered the challenges a Web3 game faces before it can succeed. GamesBeat’s Dean Takahashi moderated the panel. Urvit Goel, VP and head of global business development at Polygon Labs; Serhat Maraşlıgil, COO of Boomland; and Peter Kieltyka, CEO and co-founder of Horizon spoke on the topic of the panel.
All panelists discussed some of the benefits of developing for Web3 and the benefits it brings to gamers. Kieltyka said Web3 unlocks new forms of each game and changes the gameplay experience. He added: “Why do players buy items? They now buy items for utility, status, and the joy of collecting. With the introduction of Web3, you look for additional drivers: this thing could have value, or there could be a resale market. Or there’s a persistent profile, a history of everything you’ve done.’
The challenges of building a Web3 game
Maraşlıgil said that one of the challenges for developers is that some basics differ between Web2 and Web3. New developers may not necessarily know how to take into account certain new aspects of Web3.
“The most important thing is to understand that there will be a community aspect, or a player-run economy aspect when you go to Web3. Even if you are not going to create a marketplace or list your tokens, the technology allows it. Someone will sell your NFTs – how will your economy behave if you have those actors? This comes with the scaling issues. Is your economy going to work with 5,000 players and 5 million players at the same time? Is it scalable? These kinds of problems are there to be solved in rapid succession.”
Goel also said that Web3 has a perception problem. “We believe that gamers want the concept of NFTs. What they don’t like is how it’s depicted… What’s the point to the player and are you bringing more value to the player? For those still stuck with that, what’s the value the technology can bring to players that over time will value them more than what we have today?
Kieltyka said blockchain still faces many conundrums, from creating a seamless user experience to developers understanding how best to market their collectibles. But for these issues, he adds, “The good news is that they’ve all been resolved and they’re all just getting better.”
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