Gaming has never been the same since the arrival of Web3, and in 2025, the landscape is set to reach new heights. As Immutable puts it “Web3 gaming is inevitable”.
Some of the developments we anticipate are changes to economic models, ownership of in-game assets, new P2E models, and more. Expect everything to change from gameplay to game development and monetization models.
Join blockchain gaming expert, Evelyn Balyton, in exploring how web3 technology will shift the gaming landscape and how player experiences will change. In this article, we will cover:
- What is Web3 Gaming
- Expected Web3 Trends in Gaming
- Improved Asset Ownership
- Web3 and Igaming
- Decentralized Gaming Economies
- Play-to-Earn and the Web3 Revolution
- New Revenue Models for Developers
What is Web3 Gaming?
Before we explore the changing landscape, let us look at the true meaning of Web3 gaming. Any form of gaming that utilizes blockchain technology to decentralize control and NFTs to provide users with true asset ownership can be classified as a Web3 game.
The difference from traditional gaming is that Web3 gaming removes control from a central authority and empowers players to sell, trade, or use their in-game assets across various platforms.
Another special feature of Web3 gaming is the introduction of play-to-earn models, where players receive cryptocurrency or tokens for their gaming activity, essentially giving real-life value to their achievements.
Investments in Web3 gaming are quickly outpacing expectations.
Fact: The Web3 gaming market is expected to skyrocket to $104.5 billion by 2030, with a yearly growth rate of 24.1% from now until then.
How Web3 Trends Will Change Gaming
Improved Asset Ownership
One of the most distinct features of Web3 is giving users true ownership of their digital assets. In traditional games, a user can make in-game purchases (assets or upgrades), but ownership of these assets lies with the game developers or publishers.
They keep these assets on centralized servers and when the server is offline or when a game has retired, players lose access to their assets. However, with Web3 gaming, users can retain full ownership of their assets which are tokenized and stored on the blockchain.
Players can then transact these assets however they like, such as selling or moving them to different platforms. With this new gaming world, players can sell their NFTs for cryptocurrency or other digital currencies.
While such in-game asset ownership is already present in many successful blockchain games, more games are expected to adopt this model by 2025. The result will be an increased investment asset that will hold more value without being confined to a single platform or game.
Web3 and Igaming
Web3 is going to change everything in iGaming. Expect safer, more transparent, and decentralized gaming platforms using blockchain technology.
Using smart contracts and blockchain, every bet, payout, and consequence of every game in Web3 is provably fair and tamper-proof while remaining independent of any centralized operator. In return, this builds more trust with players because players themselves can verify the fairness of the games.
Moreover, Web3 brings a decentralized payment system with it, enabling gamblers to deposit, bet, and withdraw money using digital currencies. This means much more privacy, much lower transaction fees, and faster settlements compared to traditional banking. By integrating DeFi, players can also stake or provide liquidity and earn extra rewards via passive income models.
In the long term, Web3 will redefine gaming into something far more open, transparent, efficient, and player-owned. Read more content from Evelyn Balyton on the igaming revolution with Web3.
Decentralized Gaming Economies
Another feature of the gaming revolution is how decentralized economies will replace top-down economic models. For quite some time, developers and publishers controlled the economy for in-game items. Blockchain-based games are shifting power to the players, allowing for peer-to-peer trading in open economies where gamers trade among themselves without an intermediary.
This trend for decentralization is being driven by platforms like Iskra, which operate on seamless blockchain integrations while building community-driven economies. In Web3 games 2024, developers no longer benefit independently from in-game purchases.
Rather, the revenue is shared between gamers, developers, and investors. This inclusive model fosters more cooperation and a sustainable ecosystem, ensuring everyone within a game’s community has a stake in its success.
These new economies leverage tokenization, where game currency represented as blockchain tokens can be earned, sold, or traded on decentralized exchanges. These tokens are inherent in the game’s ecosystem and can be of real value.
Another expectation seen in current web3 gaming news is DeFi gaming where you can stake, lend, or borrow digital assets within the game. This will allow players to create passive income using in-game tokens to derive financial services. These economic shifts attract more player participation and engagement since gamers are incentivized not just by gameplay but by possible financial gains.
Play-to-Earn and the Web3 Revolution
Another common trend in web3 gaming news is the growth of the P2E model. P2E players are rewarded in digital forms, either as cryptocurrencies or NFTs. This rewarding model has already gained steam with games like Decentraland and The Sandbox, where players receive crypto for contributing to the game world or completing in-game objectives.
One beauty of the gaming revolution is helping players to monetize their gaming time. Players can trade the tokens or NFTs on blockchain marketplaces or exchanges. By 2025, the P2E ecosystem will reach more types of gamers, from casual players who want to make a small profit to professional gamers who consider Web3 games as full-time work.
Web3 Games 2024 already features player-owned economies where value creation comes from crafting virtual goods, selling and buying land or property, or even voting on game governance decisions. That makes play more engaging and rewarding for gamers, as the fruits of their labor could impact the game economy and their earnings.
For instance, Axie Infinity, considered one of the best web3 investments, has been proving gamers can make considerable money while playing games. By 2025, other games will further dissolve the line separating gaming from earning an income and even promise new professions in virtual worlds.
“Within the next 5 years, the majority of gamers won’t play games unless they are being properly valued for that time. The model is called “play-to-earn” and it will become standard for video games in the future” said Alexis Ohanian.
New Revenue Models for Developers
Web3 game news also highlights the creation of new earning opportunities and business models for developers. Before the introduction of Web3, developers heavily relied on in-game purchases, subscriptions, and advertising for revenue. Now, with Web3, developers can access decentralized revenue streams offering far more flexibility and financial sustainability.
For developers, now might be the best time to pivot to web3 gaming as Dappradar reports that in the first quarter of 2024, blockchain games secured almost $290 million in investments.
Web3 game developers can now make money by selling NFTs or valuable in-game tokens. The thing is such assets can be integrated into the game economy. This essentially allows developers to keep generating revenue by earning transactional fees on marketplaces or even fashioning limited-edition items that players will buy.
Even better, smart contracts guarantee that creators will be compensated for future sales of their NFTs, hence giving them an ongoing stream of income beyond the initial sale.
Third-party developers will also be able to create tokenized games that require players to buy tokens before playing. Gamers may use the token to access special features, unlock content, or buy and sell assets in player-to-player transactions.
Conclusion
Web3 game news shows that blockchain technology will change the gaming landscape. It will feature everything from true digital ownership over assets to decentralized gaming economies and play-to-earn models. Web3 trends will flip how players engage in video games. Developers stand to benefit through new revenue streams, while players will finally have greater control over their in-game assets, allowing them to monetize their gameplay in novel ways.
