Fuel Games has announced a new eSports platform based on Ethereum blockchain where players will have complete control over the economy within the game.
Gods Unchained is a multiplayer online card game in the same vein as Hearthstone and The Elder Scrolls: Legends, but with one important difference. Users will be able to sell their in-game items on markets outside of the game because they’ll have full rights over them.
This game follows on from the success of Fuel Games’ first offering, Etherbots. James and Robbie Ferguson are the sibling founders of Fuel Games, which is based in Sydney. James Ferguson, the CEO of Fuel Games said “Gamers spend tens of billions of dollars and countless hours each year acquiring in-game items. But game studios barely offer their users a licensing agreement for these items, let alone actual ownership – they’re a central bank with no oversight,”
In just a few short weeks, Etherbots sold in-game items worth in excess of $1 million after it’s launch in February, with some items trading for up to $18,000. It also saw volumes of daily transactions overtake CryptoKitties, which is one the biggest blockchain based collectible games.
Developers have capitalized on their understanding of the drawbacks of gaming economies that are centralized, and have created a decentralized approach in response. Users will have complete control within the economy of the game, seeing value and rewards in return for their input.
Robbie Ferguson, Fuel Game’s COO said “Offering players true ownership of in-game items, and the ability to trade those items freely on secondary markets, means gamers can finally be rewarded for their efforts and spending. As the games industry switches to asset-driven revenue models, players have a more urgent need than ever for guarantees about the value and tradability of those assets.”
“Decentralised games will allow people to familiarise themselves with blockchain technology in a fun and user-friendly environment. I won’t be surprised if gaming ends up being blockchain’s first killer application outside the financial space. Gamers have always been early-adopters, and this time will be no different,”
Both publishers of games and consumers alike are set to benefit from the emergence of blockchain in the gaming industry. It is very likely that blockchain technology will become an inherent part of in-game digital economies, thanks to the increasing popularity of revenue models driven by assets.
With the launch of Gods Unchained, Fuel Games is pushing for increased adoption of blockchain. They are already developing Apollo, which is a blockchain infrastructure platform which game developers can integrate. The Apollo platform has taken a big step forward having raised more than $2.4 million in funding from the likes of Continue Capital, Nirvana Capital, Coinbase and Sora Ventures. These funds will support the development of Apollo and the gaming platforms linked to it.
