Blockchain technology has eclipsed most of the world’s industries under its shadow, and the gaming industry is no exception, as blockchain games began taking the industry by storm in 2020. Initially, gamers played for fun and possibly to sharpen their IQs. However, every gamer wants to play for fun and earn passive income. While traditional networks could not make that possible, blockchain came to the rescue to incentivize gamers, including fixing some abnormalities of the conventional networks.
Blockchain combines finance, NFTs, and games to bring not only the ability to earn passive income through its play-to-earn (P2E) scheme but other users such as investors and artists through GameFi and NFTs, too. Seeing the potential of the gaming industry, experts have developed several gaming-centric blockchains for building on.
This article will discuss the top blockchains used for developing blockchain games and why they are regarded as such. Before fully delving into that, I will give a surface explanation of the terms associated with blockchain gaming.
Terms Related to Blockchain Gaming
In the blockchain gaming industry, some terms are frequently used. They include:
Blockchain
This is a decentralized ledger with features like immutability, cryptography, interoperability, and programmability. These features make it possible to have permanent transaction records, own game collectibles, use game collectibles on other blockchains, and have seamless automated transactions, which are desirable in the blockchain gaming industry.
NFT
NFTs, also known as non-fungible tokens, are digital valuables that cannot be interchanged for like items. NFTs exist in different forms, including artworks, pictures, music, videos, clips, cartoons, etc. Once given a unique digital identity, it becomes an individualized property.
GameFi
GameFi is the general term used in the blockchain industry to refer to blockchain games. It was merged as a single word from “gaming” and “finance.” It is a useful term since it intertwines gaming and decentralized finance. The most popular model in GameFi is the self-explanatory play-to-earn model.
How Can We Combine These Terms to Understand Blockchain Gaming?
A blockchain game, otherwise known as GameFi, is built on the blockchain that allows players to earn collectibles (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies on gaming platforms. Unlike usual games, blockchain games enable users to own whatever they make by playing, outside of the game. Players can then sell them, or (sometimes) use them in other games.
Many games currently exist and are built on different blockchains. Let’s consider some of the features required of blockchains to create them.
Features of a Blockchain Useful to Building Blockchain Games
Smart Contract Compatibility
Blockchains that can be used for creating blockchain games must be smart contract compatible. Smart contracts are programmed codes that get executed when certain conditions are met. For instance, smart contracts automatically send an NFT to a user once a gamer gets to a certain level. Smart contracts are necessary to carry out financial transactions in games, among other things.
NFT Compatibility
In gaming, NFTs can be bought, resold, earned, etc. In other words, NFTs are one key element in the gaming economy. The most valuable blockchains for building blockchain games must be NFT compatible and, ideally, easily transferred.
Metaverse and Interoperability
This means items collected in blockchain games must be compatible for use in other games, be able to interact in the metaverse, and have access to several markets hosted on the blockchain for easy trade. Interoperability is still rare but is becoming more common, particularly with bridges as we have seen with WAX and BSC.
The Top Blockchains for Building Blockchain Games
There are several blockchains available for building blockchain games. However, those rated as the most effective embody the features outlined above, amongst other attractive features.
Ethereum
Ethereum is one of the most famous blockchains. Being one of the first blockchains built, it has maintained an indelible place in the hearts of industry experts. More than that, the Ethereum blockchain has continually sought to improve and adapt to suit the many platforms being developed on it.
The Ethereum blockchain is considered one of the best blockchains to build games since it can easily be termed one of the foremost blockchains, as well as being one of the first to offer smart contracts and NFTs. Hence, it is a good fit for blockchain gaming. Nevertheless, it has infamous drawbacks, such as transaction speeds, gas fees, and network speeds, though many layer 2 solutions overcome those.
It is no wonder some of the most widely played games have been built on it. Some include F1 Delta Time, Zed Run, Cryptokitties, Mirandus, and over 530 other games.
BSC
The BSC (Binance Smart Chain) is a blockchain network built for running smart contracts. It is popularly known for its lower transaction fees and high speed (being able to complete transactions within 3 seconds). Having these, in addition to NFT compatibility and interoperability across a ton of blockchains, BSC stands out as being one of the top blockchains for building games.
Built using the Ethereum model, it is the go-to blockchain for those running from high Ethereum fees. Several game makers are aware of the advantages of the BSC network and this has led to a massive influx of game makers to build their games on BSC. As such, the BSC blockchain is host to top-ranking games like Mobox: NFT Farmer, Squid NFT World, Battle Pets, and over 430 other games.
WAX
The WAX blockchain is rated as one of the top blockchains for building blockchain games for the following reasons:
- It is NFT and smart contract compatible.
- It is scalable, able to handle over 15 million transactions daily.
- Its users have access to thousands of dApps (decentralized applications) and the world’s most exciting NFT marketplaces, such as Atomic Hub and NeftyBlocks.
- It uses a Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism to be eco-friendly, being 125,000x more efficient than networks using Proof of Work (PoW) like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Games available on the WAX blockchain include Alien Worlds, R-Planet, Kolobok Adventures, and over 60 other games.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, as we have several other blockchains on which some top-notch games have been built. Blockchains like Hive, Ronin, Polygon, EOS, Tron, and Immutable X are currently hosting over 100 great games worthy of note.
Conclusion
Blockchain gaming is changing the gaming industry as it was formerly known. It has revolutionized gaming by including features such as:
- Earning while playing games (play-to-earn)
- Complex virtual world creation with land ownership (metaverse)
- Game item ownership (through NFTs)
With these features and more to come, it is reasonable to expect an exponential rise in the number of games built on these top-rated blockchains.
