SINGAPORE: South Korean gaming powerhouse Nexon is tapping blockchain technology to sustain the interest in online games, as developers struggle to prolong their products’ shelf life.
This comes as thousands of new titles are released every year.
Blockchain-based games incorporate tokenisation into the gaming experience. The idea is to encourage players to become even more involved, which will sustain the lifespan of the game itself.
LEVERAGING BLOCKCHAIN TECHIt is “a huge experiment” that the studio is embarking with blockchain technology, said Nexon Universe’s head of strategy Keith Kim on Wednesday (Sep 18).
“We believe that it will be organic, and it will allow us to be sustainable for over the next two decades or more.”
He was speaking to CNA on the sidelines of Token2049, the largest crypto event of the year in Singapore, where the company shared its idea of leveraging blockchain tech.
Nexon, the developer of MapleStory, has innovatively merged the popular multiplayer online game with blockchain technology. The game has a considerably long shelf life and is still being played by a devoted community, more than two decades since it was released.
The blockchain project, called MapleStory Universe, creates a dynamic virtual ecosystem where various games and applications made in MapleStory interact with non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Nexon has introduced its own token to get players to shape in-game content, an area usually handled by game developers.
This gives users digital ownership and the ability to trade assets within the game's ecosystem.
“(By) utilising web3 technology tokens, we are actually allowing this process to be driven by the market,” said Mr Kim.
“That means this token will have a price, and this particular price, in turn, will act as a cost of issuance. So issuance is no more free or controlled by a centralised entity, and it will be driven by market dynamics.”
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Players cash in as cryptocurrency, NFTs and gaming collide | Video REGULATING BLOCKCHAIN GAMINGWhile some countries have banned blockchain games to prevent gaming addiction and illegal transactions, Mr Kim remains confident.
He noted that the blockchain scene is still growing and changing every day.
“Because of this, we understand that regulations are not firm yet, in a way, and maybe it's not favourable for all the gaming companies at the moment, but we believe this is a shared mission to shape these regulations going forward,” he added.
“I'm very optimistic that in the coming few years, blockchain technology will be more well-definedbalato8, well-regulated, so all the players will create within the very set boundaries of what is allowed.”