Play to Die: Imagination of a New Model for NFT Games

Original Title: 《New NFT/Crypto Game model - Play to Die》

Author: Dave Stanton

Compiled by: DeFi Path

Making Death a Reality in the Metaverse

To be precise, I mean introducing the concept of permanent death in crypto games, just like in real life.

Permanent death in games will unlock new experiences and ways to play.

When you play FPS or RPG games, you might "die" in the game. Additionally, you will have a certain number of lives, either fixed or infinite. The concept of death exists in games, but it is more of a feedback mechanism indicating that you performed poorly in some aspect of gameplay, while real death means the game is completely over.

I believe there is an opportunity to introduce this concept into crypto games, which will unlock new experiences in gameplay, create new earning opportunities for players, and potentially generate some of the most engaging spectator experiences.

Why Now? Why Crypto Games?

The permanent death mechanism has been attempted in various games, but with a very low success rate. For various reasons, it has not received the same attention and appreciation as other models, such as fixed lives or infinite lives.

In my view, NFTs open up a new opportunity, with two key aspects:

1. NFTs represent digital ownership.
2. NFTs can be bought, sold, traded, or used in other contexts outside of a game.

These points are very important and unique compared to previous gaming experiences, as players can now not only use characters in the game but also buy and sell them on the open market (yes, the market does exist, but its scale and liquidity are still insufficient). Additionally, we are beginning to see the potential of NFTs in terms of interoperability, and I believe this will continue to grow. If all this is true, it means that game characters will have greater value (not just monetary value, but also emotional value to players), as they are no longer confined to a single game. This interoperability can manifest in many ways. Being able to use the same character across multiple games is a clear example. Furthermore, I believe there will be promotional partnerships, membership opportunities, and more possibilities that we cannot currently imagine.

All of this makes me believe that the potential value of NFT characters is much greater than that of traditional game characters, making the introduction of the concept of death as a loss in games more interesting and appealing than ever before.

Theoretical Research on New Experiences, Behaviors, and Gameplay

Imagine that in an FPS, battle game, or other games, your character is an NFT. When you win a battle, you accumulate skills, but if you lose, your character dies, and the NFT is destroyed. What does this mean?

• If the game is very popular, any player can start from scratch and build a high-power character purely based on their skills. Theoretically, high-power characters will be very rare because many characters will die in the game. These players can use this character to play or sell it to those who want high power but do not want to invest the effort. This creates earning opportunities for skilled players with almost no capital, and the rarity here is not random (unlike current NFT minting) but based on skill, effort, and survival.

Moreover, I believe there is another opportunity where skins or items can only be unlocked after reaching a certain level or surviving a certain number of battles. This would create additional value for these characters, beyond just skills in the game.

• Since dying in the game means losing your character, players may become more focused on their characters and place greater importance on their actions. This could attract more players to participate.

Additionally, I think the audience may also become more invested in various high-power persistent characters.

• Streaming these battles could attract more viewers to the game, and more importantly, it would draw in more viewers from outside the game, similar to how the world's biggest sporting events (Super Bowl, World Cup, Olympics, etc.) attract sports fans and many "non-sports fans" due to their scale of interest and impact on popular culture. Since characters in the game "die" when they lose, it could evoke more emotions from the audience and may be more engaging than current games.

Key Points

In addition to the points mentioned above, there are certainly countless other possibilities that I have not thought of. However, I believe the concept of permanent death in games will add a lot of appeal for players and spectators, something that has not worked in the past but can now be realized through NFTs.

In my view, if this approach is adopted in crypto games, we will see many economic opportunities based on lower entry barriers, while also potentially revolutionizing game viewing, as it will feel more real and heartfelt for non-gaming audiences. Just like how sports fans feel when watching a game, they know that athletes are putting their bodies on the line, and in some cases, such as motorsports and combat sports, their lives are at risk.