Most sectors of modern economies have already started adopting blockchain technologies in order to benefit from the offered transparency, decentralization, security and efficiency. When it comes to the gaming industry, there are already a number of cryptocurrencies that are changing the way the industry traditionally worked. Some of these technologies are still in infant stages while others have a working product.
At the moment, an estimation of the market cap of the existing cryptocurrencies in the gaming industry would be approximately 2 billion. Although this may initially sound a lot, let’s put things into perspective:
Considering the table above and the fact that 2.3 billion people play games every day, there is a lot of room for growth in the gaming industry which is projected to reach $128.5 billion by 2020. This growth creates a very positive industry outlook for the blockchain technologies which are rapidly entering and revolutionizing the space.
There are already dozens of cryptocurrencies that offer different services in the gaming industry. Below is an indicative list of the big blockchain market players:
On top of these tokens, there are a number of esports tokens such as DreamTeam, Esports Gold, Esports.com, First Blood, Gimli, GZR, HERO, Krowns, LEAP, LevelUp Coin, SkinCoin, Skrilla, UnikrnGold as well as smaller cap coins such as Game Machine or FLUX.
Most of the tokens above focus on solving different problems or the same problem with a different approach. They are using blockchain technologies to offer services such as trading virtual assets, making payments, creating cloud gaming or virtual reality platforms and many other.
The latest ICO in the gaming industry, Refereum, was completed on February 8th. Refereum is trying to solve a different problem than the tokens above, focusing on the marketing inefficiencies of the industry and aiming to redistribute the marketing costs from the traditional advertising companies to the gamers and influencers (promoters, streamers etc.). This redistribution of money takes place through the Refereum token which is offered as a reward to the engaged users. Essentially, it is a referral marketing platform that rewards players and influencers for promoting online games.
In 2018, we expect more cryptocurrencies entering the gaming industry as well as wider adoption of the underlying technologies. New solutions will be offered, competition will increase and partnerships between different gaming cryptocurrencies will be made. Fundamental changes are coming to the gaming industry.
