The casual gaming market will continue to be a crucial audience for blockchain gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in games, according to three co-founders of blockchain gaming companies.
Casual gamers, people who play fairly regularly but rarely spend significant time, make up the largest segment of gamers in the video game industry.
Kieran Warwick, co-founder of Illuvium, a blockchain-based RPG, called casual gamers “critics” due to the large number of them in the population.
in 2023 there will be more than 3,000 million players around the world, and it is estimated that at least 1.950 million are casual gamers, according to Exploding Topics.
Warwick says that players interested in gaining profit in the game, coming mainly from developing countries and attracted by mobile games, are also becoming more important.
However, Warwick admits that there is a “major challenge” in attracting casual gamers to the market due to the perception that blockchain games are of low quality.
Despite this, he was optimistic that NFTs, blockchain and Web 3.0 will have a bright future in mainstream gaming.
“NFTs, blockchain and Web3 have a place in mainstream gaming for the long term, as mainstream game developers are already working on incorporating these technologies into their games, despite some backlash from their communities,” Warwick said.
“As more fun and engaging NFT-based games are developed, players are likely to experience the benefits of ownership and not want to go back to traditional games,” he added.
Yat Siu, co-founder and president of Animoca Brands, shares a similar view, calling the mainstream casual audience “absolutely critical” for blockchain and NFT games, arguing:
“Games are still games regardless of whether they’re casual or mid-core. One of the things that really grew mainstream gaming was casual gaming.”
According to Siu, the mainstream video game industry hit a rough patch between 2010 and 2011 and “stopped growing”. The introduction of mobile gaming helped reinvigorate and attract a whole new generation of gamers, a feat that blockchain gaming needs to replicate.
Siu believes that one good game will suffice for a boom in blockchain-based gaming and predicts it could start in the next 18-24 months, with hundreds of millions of gamers entering this space.
“I think we’re on the right track, but you know, you’re not going to convert everyone overnight, are you? But it’s just getting started and people are having fun, and the games are getting better and better.” it states.
“All you need is a game that’s really going to be reasonably successful and basically you’re going to get big news, and because it’s Web3 what will happen is that once it’s very popular, it’ll spread to the other games.”
NFTs in games have faced backlash from the general public, which has forced several renowned companies to abandon their plans to incorporate them, but Siu believes this is only temporary until players learn more about how this technology works.
“I think they try to be sensitive to their audience. It’s the right thing to do as a company. You can’t just say, well, whatever your opinions don’t matter,” he claimed.
“Most of the gamers I talk to say they’re in favor of digital ownership of games, but they’re still against NFTs, but over time, education will fix that.” Siu added.
Bozena Rezab, Co-Founder and CEO of GAMEE, a blockchain-based mobile gaming platform, believes that mobile gaming will play an important role in attracting casual gamers.
“Casual mobile games are the easiest step into gaming, with the ability to attract a massive audience. This is what these can offer to a seeking player new to NFT/blockchain gaming,” said.
However, the games executive believes that several aspects must be changed first, like games without paywalls, the shortest sessions and the easiest setups for casual gamers.
“We are still exploring the use of Blockchain technology in games, the concept of asset ownership is very powerful and will remain. The exact game genres, game economy models and mechanics that will define the future are yet to be explored.” , he claimed.
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