True Agency is Reimagining the Future of Gaming Economies
An economic agent is an actor in a model of an economic aspect who typically makes decisions by solving a well- or ill-defined choice problem or optimization. Consumers and producers (e.g., buyers and sellers) are two common types of agents in single-market, partial equilibrium models. True agency implies that these actors can make choices based on their information, goals, and preferences rather than being controlled by external factors.
The implications of economic agency for the gaming niche are palpable. The global gaming market is projected to reach $236.9 billion in 2025, achieving annual growth of 4.6%. A global gamer base of 3.27 billion drives the growth, with mobile gaming remaining a dominant force. The digital art market is simultaneously experiencing growth, with an expected market size of $5.80 billion by the end of 2025.
Many avid gamers are also fans of digital art, and their interest in blockchain-based gaming is considerable. These games feature NFTs, uniquely combining art and gaming. The ideal games have low entry barriers and affordable gas fees and allow players to interact, join groups, and become part of a community. They also make it possible to earn money, but many of them became a chore in the late stages of play-to-earn gaming. Their focus on earnings deterred gamers who were otherwise inclined to support or even embrace the niche.
Essentially, the games became a form of employment. The assets earned also couldn't be used outside the games. They could only be exchanged for cash or to advance within the game itself, and payouts also declined with time. In contrast, play-to-own games allow players to not only own but also monetize and trade their assets outside the respective game. Governance tokens enable them to vote on new features, game updates, and economic policies, fostering a sense of collaboration.
How true ownership and cultural appeal changed the game
Gaming platforms like Mythical Games enable true digital ownership, where players have verifiable ownership of characters, items, land, and other in-game assets. The platform harnessed global passion for football with FIFA Rivals, a new arcade-style mobile game that launched worldwide on iOS and Android on June 12. Adidas is collaborating with fresh kit drops, exclusive digital gear, limited-edition boots, and even a customized, built-in training facility.
Players can own and trade futuristic designs, classic looks, and digital collectibles. Adidas boot releases are connected to real-world player performances, so when a player's favorite striker scores, their squad can level up as well.
Players can build dream teams, take part in PvP matches, or trade NFTs on the Mythical Marketplace, a platform for trading assets across Mythos ecosystem games, including NFL Rivals and Blankos Block Party. They are examples of titles where players can collect, customize, and trade assets, bringing items from different games together in one place and alleviating management and transaction processes. Ownership of NFTs and other in-game assets also allows players of FIFA Rivals to trade, sell, and use these in secondary markets.
Mythical Games passed 3 million transactions within 48 hours of migrating to Polkadot and boasts over 5.6 million active wallets per month. The platform and its blockchain Mythos were inspired by the dominance of gray markets in traditional gaming. Fortnite, WoW, and other popular games lacked formalized systems to trade in-game assets, and players had to turn to risky unofficial channels.
Recognizing the demand for true asset ownership, Mythical Games was created to enable players to securely own, hold, use, and trade digital assets within regulated ecosystems. It continues to test new features on Polkadot, particularly in enhanced trading capabilities and user-generated content monetization. These improvements will ensure that each game within the ecosystem maintains high standards for economic design and gameplay.
The risk of oversimplifying permissionless vs. permissioned blockchains
There is a misconception in the blockchain world that "permissioned" implies centralization, while "permissionless" is automatically associated with decentralization. While convenient, this assumption oversimplifies the reality of the operations of different blockchain ecosystems. Permissioned systems can utilize multi-signature and multi-party computation to decentralize access to bridges.
No single entity can control asset flow across the bridge when the control is distributed among a network of validators. This aligns with the principles of decentralization and enhances security, spreading control across numerous autonomous entities. Permissioned blockchains are more suitable for gaming than public ones because they eliminate financial elements. They maintain the focus on the game by ensuring that no money exists within the environment. This approach makes it more straightforward for developers to create games that prioritize engagement and fun over financial incentives.
Another lingering myth is that permissioned blockchains consume an inordinate amount of energy. They don't normally involve cryptocurrency mining while mining via permissionless blockchains does indeed drive up expenses. A trusted governing body makes the rules for validating information across the blockchain. Permissioned blockchains are cost-effective, which has important implications for how games will be played in the future when gaming economies become fully decentralized.
Players can create, own, and trade virtual assets in the metaverse, from real estate to avatars. Blockchain technology ensures their uniqueness and verifiability, paving the way for new economic opportunities. Metaverse IP rights empower players to retain ownership of their contributions and to monetize them, sharing in the ecosystem's economic benefits. The shift has the potential to enhance collaboration within the gaming industry, where players become creators and stakeholders.
Preventing copyright infringement, ensuring fair attribution, and addressing regulatory challenges will be crucial as the metaverse continues to evolve. Despite these challenges, blockchain technology offers a strong foundation for redefining ownership in gaming.
True economic agency is the future of gaming
P2O games encourage players to hold onto virtual assets through a variety of game mechanics that grant the assets dynamic and unique traits based on the player's actions. Ultimately, each player's experience is completely different, giving the time and effort they invested real value. They play with the only purpose of enjoying themselves. Assets are part of a continuous experience, not just there to be sold, reflecting the concept of the real economy, which is rooted in the economics of wealth. The goal is to restore the definition of wealth as anything of value that can be stored over time as the core of the economy.
When a player truly owns assets that sustain value, they have an unwavering incentive to remain part of the ecosystem. No company controls the game they love, so they don't need to worry about unexpected and unwanted modifications or the game shutting down. Ideally, gameplay is governed by transparent, community-driven, decentralized autonomous organizations, allowing players to vote on rule changes, economic models, and development roadmaps.
Scalable blockchains optimize peer-to-peer matchmaking, decentralized storage, and real-time on-chain interactions, enabling seamless, trustless gameplay without the need for centralized servers. Players can still earn through staking or user-generated content, turning gaming into a decentralized economy powered by smart contracts and collective governance.
While it's essential to be realistic about the degree of self-custody, privacy, and decentralization required for games, as well as how much of a game's activity and code should be on-chain, P2O encompasses everything gamers might care about at present. Centralized authorities are relinquishing the key to exciting gameplay, putting the power where it belongs – in the players' hands.
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