Sony and Microsoft set off towards the chain game

Source/cointelegraph

Compiler/Nick

Sony and Microsoft, two gaming giants, have made significant progress in blockchain technology in recent years. At the same time, Sony and Microsoft are looking to enter the crypto gaming space, a move that not only has the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry, but could also become a "Trojan horse" that will bring blockchain into the mainstream.

Sony and Microsoft are looking to enter the crypto gaming space

Sony has filed a patent that allows players to leverage blockchain technology to transfer digital assets between PlayStation games. This will enable unified progression and asset ownership across different games, rather than locking assets into a single game. Sony has also explored the possibility of tokenizing in-game assets, allowing players to sell and trade these assets on the secondary market. **

**Leaked documents show that Microsoft is planning to add a cryptocurrency wallet to Xbox. This will allow players to securely trade assets between different platforms. Microsoft's goals in its annual report are also in line with this, as they are looking to acquire Activision Blizzard, as well as Savage Game Studios in the mobile space. This shows that Microsoft is seriously expanding its gaming business, and blockchain can play a role in this. **

Blockchain gaming is a significant opportunity, so it's no surprise that it's gaining traction from the two gaming giants. **It is estimated that by 2025, the market value of blockchain games may increase by more than 10% compared to 2022. **

**The main drivers for the growth of the blockchain gaming market include the growing popularity of play-to-earn games, the growing demand for more immersive and engaging gaming experiences, and the increasing adoption of blockchain technology by game developers and publishers. **

Source: Newzoo

But why adopt blockchain in the first place? The traditional gaming industry generates revenue primarily through game sales, in-game purchases, and subscriptions, often restricting player ownership of in-game assets and focusing monetization strategies on microtransactions and downloadable content (DLC).

While tokenization has been present in games since the advent of in-app purchases, the unique attributes of blockchain provide true ownership of in-game assets, new revenue streams for players and creators, and a more transparent and secure game economy, including the possibility for players to earn real-world value, community governance where players can influence game development decisions, and dividend-like payouts or staking rewards distributed to token holders.

Ownership of characters, items, and currencies also means that players can trade or sell these assets on the secondary market, or use them in other blockchain games.

Can gaming consoles make blockchain mainstream?

This isn't the first time Sony has brought previously niche-ed, cutting-edge technology to the masses.

In the early 2000s, Sony was one of the main proponents of the Blu-ray disc format. Blu-ray eventually triumphed over HD DVDs and became the standard for HD discs. By partnering with other big companies, Sony has provided enough support for Blu-ray to help it become the dominant format.

But with the addition of a Blu-ray player to the PlayStation 3 (followed by PS4 and PS5), it provided a cost-effective HD theater for more than 239 million homes worldwide. In the year before the PS3 was launched, the average price of a Blu-ray player was over $1000, and it couldn't play games yet, unlike a $500 console.

The Japanese gaming giant has also made several mistakes. Sony Aibo is arguably the best home robot ever built, and in the eyes of many, connecting with the PlayStation, being able to play games with this powerful metal dog, as well as being able to reprogram it, will obviously create the necessary economies of scale to make it a must-buy.

The general consensus in the market is that PlayStation Home may be ahead of anything Meta and other companies are creating, and it has tried to bring the metaverse into homes and offices. However, when the PS4 was born, PlayStation Home strangely disappeared.

Existing blockchain gaming hardware

Of course, Sony and Microsoft are not the first companies to enter the blockchain gaming space.

There are a variety of blockchain gaming hardware products on the market, which can be mainly divided into two categories: headsets and laptops. Headsets include the Oculus Quest 2 and HTC Vive Pro 2 VR, both of which can be used to play blockchain games, as well as a variety of high-end gaming laptops, such as the Alienware x17 R2 and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15.

Still, all of these devices are similar to earlier Blu-ray players in terms of cost and popularity.

However, there are also some options at the other end of the price range. The company behind WOWCube, a 3D puzzle game console that allows players to interact with the digital world by twisting, shaking, and tilting the device, reminiscent of the Rubik's Cube, has announced that they are working with developers to develop blockchain games that can be played on the device.

In 2021, Atari released a new version of the iconic VCS designed specifically for blockchain gaming. It has a built-in wallet, supports multiple blockchains, and comes pre-loaded with a number of blockchain games, including Atari Pong, Atari Breakout, and Atari Asteroids. It is also possible to sideload other blockchain games onto the VCS.

The Anbernic RG552 is a handheld retro gaming console that was also released in 2021. While it's aimed at those who want to play retro games, including Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment, and Super Nintendo Entertainment, it can also play blockchain games through an open-source RetroArch emulator.

The road ahead is promising

Sony and Microsoft's move towards blockchain is a major development in the gaming industry. Blockchain has the potential to revolutionize how games are designed, played, and monetized. **

Although traditional mainstream gaming platforms generally prohibit the issuance of applications that allow cryptocurrency or NFT transactions, it has brought considerable challenges to the development of Web3 games. However, we believe that with the strong push of the two gaming giants, these obstacles may be removed in the future.

Giants such as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo dominate the console market. However, these platforms do not yet offer decentralized game development or digital asset ownership. On the other hand, various blockchain-based games already exist. Despite this, there is no unified hardware platform to optimize the gaming experience for blockchain-native games, and all games are currently limited to personal computers.

If Sony and Microsoft change the landscape, or if any of the existing emerging solutions become wildly popular, then gaming (as opposed to financial services, real estate, voting, or NFTs) can succeed in bringing blockchain to the masses and even have a significant impact on global technology.

Perhaps, just like Blu-ray, gaming is the key to propelling the blockchain to the masses. **