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Asia’s current gaming domination ‘crucial’ for Web3 games: DappRadar

Asia is home to 1.7 billion gamers and contributes over $72 billion in annual gaming revenue, making it a critical market, according to DappRadar.

Asia is “crucial” to the Web3 gaming industry, as it already boasts the majority share of gamers and gaming revenue, and has a high interest in blockchain technology, according to a new report.

An April 13 report from analytics platform DappRadar emphasized the Asian market has over 1.7 billion video game players, accounting for 55% of the world’s tot.

It also houses over half of the global gaming revenue and has long been “the driving force” behind the global gaming industry, according to the report.

Market share of global gamers data revealed. Source : DappRadar

Due to these factors, DappRadar claims the Asia region “plays a crucial role in the adoption of blockchain gaming.”

China, Japan and South Korea dominate the gaming industry in Asia and are home to 62 of the world’s top 100 gaming companies by market capitalization.

China has banned crypto and prohibits gaming companies from integrating blockchain technology into their games, DappRadar reported.

Meanwhile, gaming companies in Japan and South Korea are “leading the way in the adoption of blockchain technology in gaming,” the report says, pointing to Sony’s recent NFT-related patents and gaming firm Sega’s announcement of its upcoming blockchain game.

A survey of 1,030 Japanese men and women ranging in age from their 20s to 70s cited in the report revealed a promising outlook for the Japanese blockchain gaming industry.

It revealed just over 40% of respondents were familiar with blockchain games and over half of those familiar had a favorable impression of them.

Survey results of those familiar vs not familiar with blockchain gaming Source: DappRadar

The Web3 industry on a global scale was also addressed, with the report highlighting that “visual quality and game experience” are “slightly” more important factors for gamers when evaluating a new game over other aspects such as entry price, the number of active users and game economies.

*Metrics that gamers check to evaluate new games. Source: DappRadar*

The report also emphasized the significance of airdrops in motivating gamers to try out new games.

It was stated that airdrops are considered “an essential factor,” with gamers still expecting to receive them before starting a new game.

Magazine: Why join a blockchain gaming guild? Fun, profit and create better games

Nifty News: Napoleon Dynamite cast reunites in Web3 animated series, Sega’s blockchain game and more

An NFT collector borrowed 1,044 ETH against two MAYC NFTs just to purchase another MAYC NFT for 1,000 ETH, and Sega is set to drop its first blockchain game.

The main cast from the cult-classic film, Napoleon Dynamite, is reuniting for an animated series that will be released through blockchain technology.

According to a Tuesday report from Hollywood news outlet Deadline, the stars from Napoleon Dynamite have all signed on to voice characters in CyKo KO, an animated rendition of Rob Feldman’s comic book bearing the same name, with a 12-minute pilot to launch on Web3 streaming service Rewarded.TV.

Napoleon Dynamite is an indie comedy from 2004 that developed a cult following across the globe despite being shot in just 22 days and having a limited budget of $400,000. The main cast includes Jon Heder, Tina Majorino, Efren Ramirez and Jon Gries.

Heder, who played Napoleon Dynamite, will take up the role of the main character, who also bears the same name as the show. CyKo KO follows the story of a hero and his sidekicks who protect the colonies of “SuperEarth” from enemies and giant monsters. A 12-minute pilot is reportedly in the works at this stage.

As part of the fundraising process from the show, Rewarded.TV will host the sale of CyKo KO nonfungible token (NFT) card collectible packs on Oct. 1.

The packs start at $59 a pop and were developed in partnership with Theta Labs. Hodler’s of the NFTs will gain access to all season one episodes of the series along with other shows and films on Rewarded.TV.

Monthly prizes and a chance to meet the cast of CyKo KO or to cameo in the pilot has also been touted.

The Web3 streaming platform enables users to earn RPLAY tokens and NFT rewards for time spent watching media, while people can also earn from launching their own content.

Sega’s first blockchain game

Japanese gaming giant Sega is set to release its first blockchain game via Oasys’ layer-2 network called the HOME verse.

According to a Tuesday announcement from Oasys, the game is based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms mythology, which is from Sega’s SANGOKUSHI TAISEN arcade-based card game franchise.

The game itself will be developed and operated by double jump.tokyo and it will consist of a digital collectible card game, most likely with a PVP battle mode attached to it.

*Artwork from Sega’s SANGOKUSHI TAISEN game franchise: Oasys*

While it doesn’t represent a triple-A quality game launch, the move is significant as it shows that Sega is finally ready to dip its toes into the blockchain gaming market.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the 2022 Tokyo Games Show earlier this month, Oasys representative director Ryo Matsubara emphasized that big gaming companies in Japan such as Bandai Namco, Sega and Square Enix all hold a long-term vision for blockchain-based gaming.

“They don’t [want to] change that policy. They really understand the future adoption of blockchain. They’re not thinking about, you know, just the revenue, they want to create the next future [of gaming],” he said.

PUBG creator looking at Metaverse game next

Brendan Greene, the creator of the highly popular survival shooter game PUBG, has revealed his next game called Artemis will be a metaverse-focused title that will likely have NFT and blockchain elements.

Greene noted in a Wednesday interview with Hit Points that the game will allow players to create whatever they like in a large open world and that digital items like NFTs will be incorporated so that users can extract value out of the game via digital goods:

“We’re building a digital place. That has to have an economy, and it has to have systems at work. And I do believe you should be able to extract value from a digital place; it has to be like the internet, where you can do stuff that will earn you money.”

“But it’s not about, like, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. It’s some kid called AwesomePickle selling cool skins because he understands what people want,” he added.

Mega ETH borrow against Mega Mutant Apes

One ballsy NFT collector has utilized the NFT lending platform Arcade to borrow 1,044 Ether (ETH) against two of their Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFTs this week.

At the time of writing, 1,044 ETH is worth $1.33 million, and the holder, who goes by fragmentxyz on Twitter, used the borrowed capital to purchase another rare MAYC NFT for 1,000 ETH.

1000 ETH was borrowed against two mega mutants today on @arcade_xyz! The payback is set to be 1,044 ETH in 90 days (18% APY). Additionally the borrower (@fragmentxyz) has bought a third mega mutant from @machibigbrother pic.twitter.com/0dkWIVOGYo

— 0xTIGΞR (@PltTiger) September 27, 2022

Under the loan repayment terms, fragmentxyz has an interest rate of 18% annual percentage yield that needs to be paid down within 90 days. The move marks a novel method to extract liquidity NFTs without selling them (in theory) and suggests that the hodler is betting on there being no major price volatility for MAYC NFTs over the next three months.

Other Nifty News

Christie’s has launched its own dedicated NFT “on-chain auction platform,” allowing auctions to be carried out fully on-chain on the Ethereum network.

The Walt Disney Company could be on the verge of expanding into the crypto space after posting a new job for an “experienced corporate attorney” to work on “emerging technologies” such as NFTs and the Metaverse.

Bandai Namco, SEGA among gaming giants eyeing blockchain gaming

Big gaming firms are working to spur mainstream blockchain gaming adoption, and don’t want to “change that policy” even if it causes pushback from some.

Japanese gaming giants are positioning for mainstream blockchain game adoption and will not be swayed by the section of gamers that are against crypto and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), an executive from the Oasys blockchain project told Cointelegraph.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the 2022 Tokyo Games Show last week, Oasys representative director Ryo Matsubara emphasized that the project’s big-name partners such as Bandai Namco, Sega and Square Enix are not just jumping on the crypto bandwagon — there’s a long-term vision for blockchain-based gaming:

“We have a shared vision about blockchain at the executive level. They don’t [want to] change that policy. They really understand the future adoption of blockchain. They’re not thinking about, you know, just the revenue, they want to create the next future [of gaming].”

Bandai Namco has developed beloved titles such as Tekken and Pac-Man, Sega’s most famous title is generally seen as Sonic the Hedgehog, while Square Enix is the developer of the widely popular Final Fantasy franchise.

Questioned whether these companies are looking to integrate blockchain tech with their current gaming franchises, Matsubara suggested that they are initially looking at developing brand new blockchain games instead.

He noted that as this is a completely “new model” of gaming, it needs more time to mature before these big companies will look at broader blockchain integrations with traditional games.

“When the model is fixed, becomes sustainable and successful, then strong [popular] IP will be added,” he said.

Looking at what needs to be improved in blockchain gaming, Matsubara noted that a “big problem” so far is that many projects are too dependent on the price of in-game tokens. As a result, there is more demand for “speculation” rather than the gameplay itself.

He went on to note that there will be an “adjustment” over time as projects work to develop genuine hype for the games themselves, most likely by improving the overall gaming experience.

This echoed similar sentiments to the lead community manager at Australia-based game developer and Animoca Brands subsidiary Blowfish Studios Luke Sillay, who was also at the event.

During an interview with Cointelegraph, Sillay emphasized that more people want games that are actually “fun to play” rather than just a hustle to earn tokens.

Oasys’ proof-of-stake blockchain is geared directly toward gaming and is tentatively set for an official mainnet launch in the remaining months of this year. Matsubara also hinted that games from its big-name partners will likely be announced next year.

Looking outside Japan, major western gaming companies such as Fortnite developers Epic Games have increased exposure to blockchain gaming of late. Last week the Epic Games store listed a new free-to-play NFT game called Blankos Block Party by Mythical Games.

The move follows comments from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney in July, in which he stated that his company “definitely” wouldn’t follow Microsoft’s Minecraft in banning NFT integrations in games.