There are near innumerable ways in which blockchain gaming can be brought to widespread fruition. The most obvious way is the development of better and better blockchain games, but that alone wouldn’t be enough. The gaming industry is such a goliath now that it has subindustries orbiting it that would also need blockchain integration. This is already beginning to take shape.
Team Liquid and Coinbase
Team Liquid is a major professional eSports organization, competing in more or less every game that can be an eSport, and doing so at the highest possible standard. Coinbase is of the same caliber, but in the crypto world. While they have built their empire off the back of an exchange with the easiest on- and off-ramps, they have been looking to expand in all directions for a while now, and this is not their first venture into eSports. Earlier this year Coinbase partnered with several tournaments and companies in gaming, including ESL.
Their most recent expansion is into the world of NFT marketplaces, which Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, believes will be bigger than their cryptocurrency business in the future and “more akin to Instagram than eBay.” This NFT marketplace fits neatly with the rise of blockchain gaming (which appears to be arriving sooner than even we expected), particularly as we see NFTs with utility take center stage. Now, Coinbase has cast its eye back to eSports.
When we were looking for a potential partner in the crypto space, it was really important that we found someone that was doing it the right way, the Team Liquid way. A partner who had real infrastructure in place that’s built to last, who possessed trusted expertise and nuance in this new, complex world of decentralized banking and finance. For us, those qualities were absolute requirements. And the more we learned about Coinbase, the more certain we became that this was the partner we were looking for. Like a lot of our fans, crypto was new to me once, but I quickly realized that it isn’t some passing fad—it’s here now, and will be in the future. Together with Coinbase, we hope we can demystify crypto for Team Liquid fans.
Steve Arhancet, Co-CEO of Team Liquid
The nature of this four-year partnership appears to be multifaceted, though not all details have yet been revealed. Asides from sponsor-style logos on Team Liquid jerseys, the two appear to be planning more significant collaborations. Their official announcement noted, “Team Liquid in partnership with Coinbase are looking beyond traditional territory to create infrastructure, programs and funding for goals they believe in.”
What benefits this partnership has for Team Liquid we can’t be sure, though I suspect there are myriad, not least financial. For Coinbase, this is another thoughtful step towards the retention of their ubiquity in crypto, pairing their new NFT marketplace — which may play an integral role in the metaverse — with eSports which will be central to blockchain gaming. This sort of internal synergy will be far from an accident.
