- Despite the branding of “decentralization” in crypto games, most are only partially decentralized.
- Game assets are on-chain, but game logic, state, and storage remain off-chain on centralized servers.
- The main challenge is that current blockchains are too slow to handle the high number of transactions required by video games.
- Developers have to make tradeoffs to make the game accessible to non-crypto audiences.
- Some games have implemented hybrid systems, allowing assets to live off-chain for wider audience reach.
- There is a passionate community interested in building fully on-chain “autonomous worlds” where players have more control.
How Web3 games started
- Web3 games initially focused on being financial products, which helped gain mainstream attention during the crypto bull cycle.
- However, when token prices fell, the emphasis on financial returns diminished.
- Web3 games are now shifting their focus to ownership and fun rather than financial returns.
- Fully on-chain games have assets, game logic, state, and storage all on-chain.
- Having everything on-chain ensures immutability, transparency, and allows for open composability.
- On-chain games enable players to implement innovative changes without waiting for centralized updates.
- On-chain games like Dark Forest and OPCraft have allowed players to form communities and implement collective actions through on-chain smart contracts.
- These actions are binding and cannot be altered by anyone, ensuring transparency and fairness.
- In games like OPCraft, players have formed a communist society where resources are shared among all members.
- These rules are enforced through on-chain smart contracts, preventing any changes or manipulations.
- The main limitation of on-chain games is scalability due to the high cost of executing complex game logic on-chain.
- Current on-chain games have simple game loops and are similar to early-era video games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man.
- Partially decentralized Web2.5 games do not face the same scalability tradeoffs but sacrifice open composability.
- Scalability and game design principles are key challenges for fully on-chain games.
- Improvements in blockchain infrastructure and software frameworks can unlock the full potential of on-chain games.
- Ethereum’s ZK-rollups offer scalability opportunities for on-chain games.
- Developers are exploring the use of layer 2 solutions like Starknet for fully on-chain games.
- The on-chain gaming space is evolving, and the future holds possibilities for more complex and immersive on-chain games.
