It’s true to say that many casinos have been making use of Bitcoin, and other forms of cryptocurrency, for a while now.
Interestingly though, this hasn’t been the case for other forms of online gaming.
Online gaming is now a highly competitive market, regardless of which platform a player chooses to game on. Real money poker and online casinos, in particular, are growing in popularity.
Forms of Cryptocurrency are expected to change the way people access and play games online in the future.
As Online Gaming Grows in Popularity, the Need for Rules and Regulations Increases
By 2022, consumer spending on games is expected to hit $196 billion, with mobile gaming accounting for the most significant rise.
The market is expected to be worth $34.9 billion in China by 2023. In the US, video game revenue is expected to top $30 million that same year.
What’s clear is there is a particular demand for ‘virtual’ items within games. Something that could be addressed with technologies like Cryptocurrency, which could help offer gamers more of what they want.
There are other benefits to this as well. Regulation has become an increasing priority in gaming, and Cryptocurrency would support this in some ways. On the other hand, it could also cause some issues.
Are the Advantages of Crypto Enough to Persuade Regulators and their Concerns?
It could help gaming to grow even further. However, regulators are concerned about anonymity and difficulties in tracing funds, which could cause security problems.
There are many great reasons why online gaming should integrate with different forms of cryptocurrency.
For customers, it allows safe and instant payments to be made. Plus, it enables transparency and lowers fraud risk as individual games would be verified using blockchain despite some known security drawbacks.
Players can view any transaction on the public ledger, and it’s virtually impossible to hack. It promotes fairness and safety to some degree.
Because it’s completely anonymous, players from non-regulated jurisdictions can play under known European regulations.
As well as supporting responsible gaming, it enables better customer acquisition due to the number of affiliate programs out there that support blockchain. It’s also useful for web admins as it provides stats on the number of referred players.
It’s great for players who enjoy investing in currencies as it considers fluctuation. Therefore, players are better informed of how much they should bet on certain games.
It provides a form of in-game currency. While initially, this may not sound particularly impressive, it’s useful for players.
For example, imagine being able to earn currency for a game you’re really good at, then exchange this for a game you perform poorly with? Then, imagine just how good it would be to exchange this for actual money!
Similarly, gamers could have the chance to earn money as they game or sell items in the game. Something which could be achieved much easier than having to brand or market yourself. Or having to rely on donations or revenue.
A similar kind of concept could be applied to the trading of ‘virtual objects. Authentication could also be tied into this so that items could not be sold multiple times or be duplicated.
Something else that authentication could help with is the selling, buying, or trading of accounts between customers.
And while we’re on the subject of trading virtual objects, cryptocurrency could allow different assets from separate games to be combined. Helping to create unique scenarios for gamers.
If gamers show enough interest in this and developers realise it could be profitable, it may very well happen.
Cryptocurrency could allow cheaper games to be made. But why? It’s because it uses blockchain technology, which is renowned for creating a peer-to-peer exchange.
In layman’s terms, this means that any middlemen are removed. For example, app stores. The result? Better profits for developers and potentially cheaper games as well!
Other great advantages of incorporating cryptocurrency into different online gaming forms include greater player confidence due to the lesser risk of false results and broader payment diversity.
The Downsides of Introducing Cryptocurrencies into Online Games
With the benefits come some drawbacks as well. However, these are mainly for the operators themselves.
In some markets, introducing cryptocurrency into online games could result in the tightening of restrictive measures and communications policies which could then cause potential problems for other industries.
Some companies may also stop receiving taxes, which is why some regulated markets won’t give licenses to operators considered illegal. Nevertheless, some governments are changing this.
In other cases, obtaining a license may be an impossibility, especially if a relatively unknown jurisdiction issues them. However, there could be a way around this.
This involves creating a private label, where the gaming products offered are integrated easily, compared to what competitors are offering.
A final downside of bringing cryptocurrencies into online games is the consequence of other sectors being attracted to it. For example, video games.
Suppose such a sector happens to develop its own crypto ecosystem. In that case, they could create further complications surrounding regulation, transparency, security, and transaction speeds. All of which are the very things that make crypto great.
Cryptocurrency is Likely to Boost the Popularity of Online Gaming Even Further!
Online gaming, particularly casinos and poker, are now more popular than ever and generating impressive revenue figures year after year.
With the incorporation of new technologies like cryptocurrency, this is set only to continue into the future.
If this happened on a large scale, it could result in some drawbacks for operators. Particularly surrounding areas like legislation and regulation.
However, it’s safe to say that the benefits for customers themselves are virtually endless.
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