Bankless: 2023 Web3 Game Wishlist

Original Title: 2023 NFT gaming wishlist

Author: William M. Peaster, Bankless

Compiled by: DeFi 之道

There is no doubt that as we look to the future, many crypto leaders, including myself, believe that the NFT gaming ecosystem will shine brightly in 2023.

But what should we hope to see in this ecosystem to make this important year a reality?

To that end, I have compiled a wishlist of 8 emerging themes in the NFT gaming space that I hope to see more of in 2023. Here they are.

1) Deeper and richer gameplay

One reason people love games so much is that they allow us to test and hone our skills.

This is most evident in games with depth, which offer rich tactical and strategic possibilities. Examples range from chess to Hearthstone.

The pace of development in the NFT gaming ecosystem is faster than ever, but so far, many early games feel "lackluster" because there isn't much to do, and opportunities for players to test their skills are few. Currently, there is one project making strides in the right direction: Axie Infinity.

In April 2022, Axie's creator Sky Mavis released Axie Infinity: Origins, an optimized version of its original tactical card battle game, introducing card updates, charms, and rune crafting systems, as well as real-time combat. As you can see in the tweet above, these new elements allow players to enjoy a lot of depth through unique customization of their gameplay style.

Of course, Axie Infinity: Origins is still a work in progress, but I hope to see more projects follow its "deepening" footsteps in 2023. If you're interested in learning more about this game, you can check out the basics in Sky Mavis's guide.

2) New mobile versions

A decent smartphone is cheaper than a computer or console, making mobile gaming highly accessible.

I have always loved Axie Infinity because you can play it on Android devices (with iOS support coming soon). Undoubtedly, as mobile gaming activities continue to rise to new heights, we will see more NFT games following this path.

One project I am currently watching is Treeverse.

Treeverse is an Ethereum-based mobile MMORPG developed by Endless Clouds and Loopify, currently in a limited alpha pre-testing phase. From early test videos, I believe this game not only looks great but is also very fun.

Bringing fun to more people and getting more people into crypto applications is the direction of mobile NFT gaming. I am really looking forward to how Treeverse and other similar mobile games will develop.

3) Gasless gaming

Games with a lot of on-chain elements can involve a lot of transactions and wallet signatures.

A lot of transactions and wallet signatures = poor user experience.

Therefore, a new NFT game has demonstrated how to provide a gasless user experience: Pirate Nation, an on-chain adventure game built on Polygon. This project uses a game wallet system that allows Pirate Nation to cover transactions behind the scenes, so players do not have to pay gas or sign any transactions in the game.

I hope other web3 games will also start experimenting with this excellent user experience approach!

4) The invasion of Arbitrum games

For some time now, Arbitrum has been the largest and most popular L2 Ethereum scaling solution.

Of course, cheap and fast infrastructure is ideal for NFT gaming. This reality, combined with all the advancements Arbitrum is about to achieve, makes L2 a fertile ground for the web3 gaming boom.

Moreover, projects like Treasure DAO have already laid the groundwork for a large NFT scene on Arbitrum, so the best is yet to come. The same goes for projects like The Beacon, a free RPG game that just had an explosive launch and will bring significant activity to Arbitrum. I believe this is just the beginning for L2 gaming.

5) More competitions

The thrill of competition, the glory of skillful victories, the rewards of achievements, and the sense of belonging to a passionate peer community. These are all reasons that make competition so exciting for players.

Therefore, when it comes to NFT gaming, competitions are definitely a great way to provide players with an engaging and captivating rolling experience, and I hope to see more of such competitions.

A project currently focusing on this competitive approach is Sorare: NBA, which allows players to build fantasy card decks and register for various competitions whenever they wish.

6) Flexible crypto-native design

Sometimes, when NFT games push updates, game creators temporarily pause their contracts, and players have to unstake or migrate their game assets. This is not a great user experience.

Currently, there is a game addressing this issue: Shattered EON, set to launch in April 2023. It achieves this through a flexible and modular Diamond Standard smart contract approach, allowing NFT games (and other use cases) to scale and update their projects at any time. I fully support seeing more practical approaches like this in the field.

7) More experiments with on-chain game engines

What I mean by "on-chain game engines" are a series of smart contracts created on blockchains like Ethereum that indefinitely drive the backend of games.

On-chain game engines are interesting because they allow third-party creators to build new experiences around NFT games and publicly construct on top of them. This dynamic paves the way for modifications, which in turn allows players to actively choose how to enjoy and experience the games they select.

Recently, there have been many exciting developments in this area. For instance, in recent months, we have seen Curio, Lattice, and Adam Cochran launch new on-chain game engines. These are the seeds of a new field with vast possibilities currently.

8) No-token games

So far, almost all NFT games have accepted ERC 20 Tokens in some form or another.

Up to now, the most popular approaches we have seen revolve around single-token or dual-token models. The latter separates governance and utility issues into different ERC 20s, while the former attempts to handle all needs with just one token.

Both approaches can face significant issues, and 0xKepler, whom I consider one of the great figures in the web3 gaming space, has excellently articulated these problems in this Thread:

As a way to avoid these issues, 0xKepler suggests creating a no-token model that relies on "off-chain currency + NFT value appreciation."

The idea is that players can "mint their NFTs with off-chain currency," which would alleviate direct fiat exchanges, thus reducing the financial incentives that can disrupt NFT games in an unrestrained manner. I think this is a good approach that could lead to more interesting and balanced games. I would be excited to see more projects put this strategy into action, as we definitely need more experimentation in this area.

An exciting future awaits us

If you are interested in NFTs and are also a gamer, this is going to be an incredible moment in the NFT ecosystem.

Yes, the NFT gaming scene is still in a relatively primitive state, but upon closer observation, one can feel that it is turning a corner and making significant progress. Once there were only a few simple NFT games, now there are many games at different stages of development, each with varying degrees of complexity.

In fact, various possibilities and technologies are constantly emerging. Gameplay is becoming richer, user experiences are improving, and our collective infrastructure and collective knowledge are advancing in all directions. We are far from solving all the problems in this field, that is for sure, but as an enthusiastic player and NFTer, my hope and prediction is that we will see NFT gaming projects continue to make significant strides in 2023!