What is Gala Games and how to buy GALA coin?

September 18, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Gala Games is a blockchain-based gaming platform enabling players to create, own, and trade in-game assets using cryptocurrencies.

Echoing the momentum of GameFi (gaming and finance) and the great success of Axie Infinity, Gala Games was launched in 2019 to pursue technology development and innovation in play-to-earn (P2E) blockchain gaming. The global market size of blockchain gaming exceeded $4.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach around $65.7 billion by 2027, establishing itself as one of the most promising sectors revolutionized by blockchain technology.

Gala Games offers players a plethora of blockchain games that encourage players to gain in-game rewards and earn cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

For the first time, through the use of NFTs, blockchain games offer players the ability to own in-game items, such as strategic tools, physical accessories and land. All items can be acquired in Gala Games using the GALA native token (GALA). GALA is also used for governance voting and to incentivize node operators.

This article takes readers through an understanding of the Gala ecosystem, how Gala Games works, and what the incentives are for using it.

What is Gala Games (GALA)?

Gala Games is a blockchain gaming platform that participants can use to play, stake and sell assets and compete with one another. The platform uses blockchain technology to secure the network and offers decentralized video games to allow players to have fun while earning rewards like NFT prizes.

Developed on the Ethereum blockchain, Gala Games offers players P2E games, an NFT marketplace, and the possibility to store and distribute music and film products. It relies on a network of distributed user-owned nodes necessary for the platform’s security and to boost its development.

Players and user-owned nodes are rewarded with the GALA ERC-20 token for playing and contributing to the network. It is the necessary currency to participate in the platform’s games, trade NFTs on the marketplace, and cast a governance vote.

How does Gala Games work?

The Gala Games ecosystem offers a multitude of blockchain games developed by in-house developers and external partners, including Ember Entertainment, Kung Fu Factory, Gamedia, Certain Affinity and 22cans. It launched as a platform for users who want to play and have fun rather than a platform that only uses incentives to attract customers.

Gala Network users can enjoy real-time strategy (RTS), multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) and role-playing game (RPG) titles all while being rewarded with the GALA cryptocurrency and NFTs for using the platform.

NFTs represent in-game items, such as weapons, tools and skins, that users actually own and can trade on the Gala Store — also known as its nonfungible marketplace — and OpenSea, one of the world’s largest NFT marketplaces.

Gala Games’ platform was developed on Ethereum; however, the Gala team launched its own blockchain (Project GYRI) in February 2022. Initially permissioned, the Gala blockchain aims to transition to a more decentralized platform for maximum autonomy in the peer-to-peer transfer of value.

One of the features the Gala team promotes is incentivizing players to run their own nodes for an opportunity to earn the GALA cryptocurrency, limited edition NFTs and the chance to contribute to the growth of the ecosystem. To operate their own node, users must buy a license for roughly $100.

Gala Nodes

The Gala Games platform is run by a distributed network of nodes ensuring decentralization rather than a central server controlled by a single entity. These nodes offer their computational resources to contribute to the ecosystem, vote on community proposals, and help guide the network’s development. There are four different types of nodes, as follows:

Founder Nodes are necessary to secure the network from fraudulent activities and vote on the project’s development using the GALA cryptocurrency. There are only 50,000 Founder Nodes available that can be purchased from the platform with the GALA token.

Game Nodes are specially dedicated gaming servers that can access specific allowances, such as NFTs, the ability to invite other players, etc., in the games they support.

Player Nodes are decentralized music players that allow participants to play and share their music as NFTs.

Film Nodes, like Player Nodes, are for film experiences and entertainment.

History of Gala Games

The founders of Gala Games are Eric Schiermeyer, Michael McCarthy and Wright Thurston, who launched the project in 2019. Schiermeyer had previously co-founded Zynga, an online gaming platform that developed popular games, such as Farmville, Mafia Wars and many others. Also, McCarthy worked at Zynga as a director before moving on to Gala.

Gala Games entered the market in 2019, and since its launch, Gala has secured some significant partnerships with Flare, Mazer Gaming, Bitrue, Brave, Ember Games and AMC, which helped promote the project and increase its market penetration.

What is GALA used for?

The primary use case for the GALA token is to be a medium of exchange between participants in the Gala Games ecosystem and to purchase digital assets, including NFTs.

The GALA token can be an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token or a BNB Smart Chain-based BEP-20 token and is used in various ways across the Gala platforms. It can be a reward incentive for Founder Node operators or a governance token that allows its owners to vote on the project’s future developments.

It can also be in the form of in-game player rewards and can be used to purchase NFTs from the Gala Store. Users can also spend it to buy a license required to operate a Gala node.

How to buy GALA

While Gala Games has been developed to run mainly on Ethereum, the GALA token can be used on platforms such as Polygon and bridged to the BNB Smart Chain so that users can enjoy better trading fees when transferring value.

Gala’s total supply is approximately 50 billion, and each day, a pre-determined amount of new GALA tokens are distributed to the Founder Nodes and the Gala Games Conservatorship, which is Gala Games’ treasury. The daily issuance is cut in half every year, and in July 2023, it was slightly fewer than 4.3 million tokens.

Players can earn GALA in games, and investors can buy GALA from a number of cryptocurrency providers, including major exchanges such as Kraken and Binance. Kraken offers to trade GALA with the United States dollar and euro only, while Binance provides a broader choice of cryptocurrencies — other than Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) — that can be exchanged with the GALA token. Coinbase only allows you to buy Gala with a Coinbase wallet from a decentralized exchange.

Investors must have an account with their provider of choice and verify their identity to start acquiring GALA; select the currency that will buy the token, click “buy,” and once the transaction has gone through, they can either store the token within the exchange (not recommended) or withdraw it to store it in a private and secure wallet.

Is Gala Games a good investment?

As the blockchain-based gaming industry keeps expanding, it is fair to predict that GameFi will play a significant role in the future of entertainment. In 2021, Gala Games sealed a partnership with crypto investment firm C2 Ventures to form a $100-million fund to invest in advancing the play-to-earn gaming and metaverse markets. Gala Games also received funding from Binance’s Accelerator Fund for its development.

Such funding was a positive outcome for Gala Games investors looking for the project’s reliability, opportunities and innovation. Whether Gala Games is a good investment or not is up to the investor to decide after proper research and assessment. Indeed, from a future perspective, GameFi is a promising branch of finance that uses blockchain technology to leverage security and decentralization, encouraging widespread optimism across the financial world.

Illuvium’s collapsing token represents the problems with GameFi

August 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

GameFi developers have been focused on raking in money — and they've forgotten that they need to make games fun in order to win over players.

Blockchain games began as a means to effectively test technology’s true potential. However, making sure they reach that potential remains a challenge. While Illuvium was one of the most highly anticipated crypto game releases in history, the price of its ILV token has fallen significantly since 2021 — to the tune of 97%.

The project’s developers have not released anything substantial for quite some time. The immersive gameplay and impressive graphics are not enough to stop the game’s token from plummeting. The same can be said of most GameFi tokens.

Blockchain games have been largely underwhelming to date because they do not focus enough on ensuring a quality user experience. Ultimately, the task of creating these games is underestimated. When GameFi emerged, it had a lot of potential, but it has been largely underwhelming. It’s not an easy task to build quality AAA games (those released by top publishers). It is a complex, expensive process with intense competition.

Developers and publishers are now also engaging in many tired tropes and poor practices. Many games have been rushed or poorly designed. Some have featured no meaningful entertainment value, and the earning potential is the only reason people play them. This is usually due to a lack of budget or rushing out unfinished games. Additionally, some companies have released games that do not match the gameplay in the trailer, causing players to lose trust in the industry.

With all this in mind, it’s fair to say that many of these games may not prioritize their players. Audiences wait months for the arrival of new games — only to find that they are low quality, poorly designed and lacking in entertainment.

Illuvium: Overworld is still beautiful on the low settings of my laptop. @illuviumio #Illuvium #web3game pic.twitter.com/6AGu5tcC2W
— Gringo HodL // (@GringoHodl) August 15, 2023

Illuvium raised funds by issuing its ILV token and selling land nonfungible tokens (NFTs) for $72 million before the game’s launch. Despite this, the public beta launch is being delayed. This highlights one major disadvantage of AAA games: Focusing on earning can potentially take the enjoyment out of the game. The very same issues occurring with Illuvium are happening with other AAA blockchain game projects.

Pixelmon stands out when discussing AAA blockchain game projects that did not meet the mark. The play-to-earn game inspired by Minecraft, Fortnite and Pokemon sold a collection of 10,000 NFTs in 2022, earning approximately $70 million simply from hype — but then the game’s launch failed all expectations from players. Some characters were standard Unity models, and one user got an invisible character. This was not the sort of project that was worth $70 million.

Players weren't impressed by Pixelmon's $70 million valuation. Source: Twitter

Developers could prioritize unsustainable economic models over implementing features to create a more exciting experience for players. This has been a trend in the GameFi market, neglecting engaging gameplay.

In Illuvium’s tokenomics, 45% is set aside for the team and investors. Just 10% is assigned to game rewards, a minuscule figure compared with the investors’ share. All of the token investors’ allocations will be available and can be sold before the game’s launch, meaning the Illuvium team and investors have the benefit of an early exit.

With these kinds of games, there is a massive risk of losing money. Users might have to spend long periods in the game before they receive any significant monetary return. It should also be noted that token prices fluctuate rapidly.

With blockchain gaming, there is also a high cost of entry — greatly hindering the mainstream adoption of GameFi. There must be additional value added other than a monetary return that takes significant time to build up. The user experience needs to be rectified. This factor not only turns off players but also investors. The ultimate purpose of token issuance is to increase its value with the team, investors and players.

However, with Illuvium, there is a risk for retail investors and players, given that 45% of the tokens could face selling pressure before the game even launches. Token investors have an incentive to sell when the demand for ILV rises, but this is at odds with game players, who are hoping for a decent return on investment from playing the game.

So far, Illuvium is profiting from the buzz generated by tokens and NFTs — and retail players and investors bought the excitement — but it has not yet shown real value. The game’s “token first, make the allocations available, and game later” strategy creates a situation where investors and players have diverging interests. The game was primarily made for investors rather than gamers.

While it has some impressive designs and ideas, the game is still missing a lot of features, and there is significant room for improvement.

Investors represent too many of the game’s users, making its success a product more of marketing than the quality of the game. Illuvium’s current nature is akin to an initial coin offering project, hyping the creation of an AAA blockchain title that hasn’t been delivered. Even if a $100 million title is successfully produced, the question remains: Are there enough blockchain gamers to support it?

Takuya Tsuji is the founder of Eureka Entertainment Ltd, a gaming company set to release an upcoming blockchain game, Coin Musme. He previously founded Techcross Inc, a company he established in 2009 as a student at the University of Tokyo and grew to $70 million in annual sales. He also worked as a top developer on DMM Games, a gaming platform in Japan, and has been involved in the development of more than 50 game titles.

The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice.

Cointelegraph Pitch Room launched, bridging promising projects to quality investors

June 7, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Cointelegraph presents Pitch Room, where innovation meets opportunity.

Cointelegraph presents Pitch Room, a new stage in the effort to boost innovation in the crypto space, dedicated to investors interested in deal flow. Pitch Room opens doors for promising startups in the Web3 space, exploring new markets and building solutions with the potential to disrupt the industry. Investors can view a one-page summary of each company, a two-minute elevator pitch and an in-depth presentation. The goal of Pitch Room is to bridge venture capitalists and private equity managers with innovative firms at the cutting edge of the crypto space.

As Bitcoin (BTC) matures and delivers a beta return in the industry, investors are now looking for disruptive innovation to generate alpha returns. By actively seeking out startups and projects that push the boundaries of what is possible in the Web3 space, investors aim to capitalize on the next wave of innovation that can drive alpha returns, leading to exciting opportunities for both investors and the industry as a whole.

Join Pitch Room now and be the first to see the future of crypto.

Challenges for investors

Despite the large number of companies emerging in the crypto and Web3 space, it is often difficult for investors to assess the true potential of many projects. This is especially true for investors who may not have a strong technical background or a deep understanding of the underlying technology.

Another challenge for investors is the sheer number of projects out there. According to data from CoinMarketCap, there are currently over 9,600 cryptocurrencies in circulation, with new projects being launched all the time. Similarly, there are countless Web3 projects in development, ranging from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces and beyond.

With so many options available, it can be overwhelming for investors to determine which projects are worth their time and money. Startups often struggle to articulate their key idea and the practical benefits of their product, and investors can struggle to distinguish between two similar projects, making it hard to determine which one is more likely to succeed.

In addition, the crypto and Web3 industry is still subject to some risks and uncertainties, like regulatory changes, technical glitches and market volatility, which can all affect a project’s success. Consequently, investors need to evaluate these risks and assess whether the potential rewards a project can bring outweigh the potential downsides.

Pitching innovation

To help institutional and retail investors overcome these challenges, Cointelegraph launched Pitch Room. With this new initiative, Cointelegraph’s team hosts pitch desks and helps investors navigate the complexities of these emerging industries. From on-chain scoring and capital-efficient lending protocol RociFi to a one-stop gaming ecosystem GameSwift, Cointelegraph introduces the companies’ products, elaborates on their competitive advantages, market size perspectives and team background, and much more.

Pitch Room allows Web3 entrepreneurs to present ideas, solutions and long-term visions for their projects as well as discuss their experience, market conditions, expansion plans and more. For example, in a two-minute pitch accompanied by an interview, Bernardo Corti, CEO of decentralized derivatives exchange EMDX, provides insights into the company’s mission and addresses market issues and challenges. Corti also presents the company’s financial derivatives products and discusses the benefits of the Avalanche blockchain and strategic partnerships. In such a short and easy-to-understand format, investors can quickly get brief information about the project, and then contact the entrepreneurs if interested.

Pitch Room is always on the lookout for both innovative startups and qualified investors interested in staying updated on promising companies and emerging market trends. Feel free to contact us for more information or to submit your application.

GameStop NFT back in the spotlight after partnership with Illuvium

June 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The partnership will debut 20,000 nonfungible tokens in its inaugural collection.

On June 5, Ethereum blockchain game developer Illuvium announced a partnership with video game and consumer merchandise retailer GameStop to debut a 20,000 nonfungible token (NFT) collection starting June 12. As told by developers:

According to developers, the "Illuvitars" NFTS are "dynamic collectable works of art, representing a specific avatar of an Illuvial with a distinct expression. Each Illuvitar carries a power rating, determined by its rarity, which helps you climb the leaderboard."

Each "GameStop x Illuvitar D1SK NFT" will contain a unique GameStop-branded "Illuvitar," which developers say possess "108 potential combinations based on six different Illuvials, three expressions, three background stages, and two finishes." D1SKs contain random Illuvitars and accessories and can be traded on the Illuvi decentralized exchange. In addition, NFT holders will be entitled to early access to Illuvium's creature collector games, Illuvium Overworld and Illuvium Arena, and other perks.

Cointelegraph reported in February 2022 that GameStop selected Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Immutable X to power its NFT marketplace. However, by August 2022, the daily fee revenue of GameStop NFT reportedly fell to just $4,000 due to the ongoing cryptocurrency bear market.

The figures represented a significant decrease from the project's first full day of business on July 13, 2022, with an NFT sales volume of $1.98 million, equating to about $44,500 worth of fees. At the time of publication, the NFT collection with the highest trading volume on GameStop NFT is Buck Season II, with $109,213 worth of digital collectibles traded within the past 30 days.

Get ready for a groundbreaking collaboration with @illuviumio for exclusive, branded D1SKs!⁰Stay tuned for sale details and exclusive opportunities to own a part of digital collecting history. https://t.co/85Cq2PZSgT pic.twitter.com/w9Flysaac6
— GameStopNFT (@GameStopNFT) June 5, 2023

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Decentralized exchange PancakeSwap moves into GameFi

May 30, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The DEX has partnered with BNB GameFi protocol Mobox to create a blockchain tower defense game.

On May 29, decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap announced that it had launched a new tower-defense GameFi game in conjunction with BNB GameFi protocol Mobox. Dubbed “Pancake Protectors,” the game allows players to utilize the DEX’s native CAKE (CAKE) tokens to earn in-game rewards.

Utilities for CAKE tokens within Pancake Protectors include accelerating the level-up process, purchasing in-game currency, claiming CAKE heroes, staking CAKE to earn resources, and unlocking game levels. There will also be an in-game marketplace for trading CAKE heroes, which can be further enhanced by participating in lotteries yielding nonfungible token (NFT) upgrade rewards. Developers explained the game as follows:

“Adapted from MOBOX’s MOland Defense Game, players assume the role of a commander to assemble hero characters across various levels and engage in a tower defense game. CAKE hero characters are the most coveted characters in-game and can be purchased with CAKE tokens.”

In addition, players integrate their NFT with the in-game heroes and display it on their PancakeSwap profile.

Launched in 2020, PancakeSwap has become one of the most popular DEXs, with $462 billion in cumulative trading volume and over $2.5 billion in total value locked.

In April, the DEX passed the Pancakeswap v2.5 tokenomics proposal to lower its CAKE token inflation rate from over 20% to a target range of 3%–5%. The price of CAKE tokens subsequently plunged 36% in the past month to $1.73 at the time of publication due to the lower value of nominal CAKE staking rewards. Before the proposal, PancakeSwap operated a high-token-emission model to incentivize user adoption.

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How blockchain is revolutionizing the gaming industry?

May 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

GameFi is the new gaming frontier, providing an innovative model using blockchain and DeFi. Here’s all you need to know about blockchain-based games.

What does the future hold for blockchain gaming?

As blockchain gaming continues to evolve and become more adopted in entertainment, it’s natural to contemplate the future of the industry.

The future of blockchain gaming is promising and will likely see significant growth in the coming years, including mainstream adoption as more businesses endorse blockchain technology. More traditional game developers may incorporate blockchain technology into their games, leading to increased mainstream adoption.

One primary challenge for blockchain gaming will be overcoming entry barriers for players and organizations. Emerging market players like DeFi Kingdoms, 0xBattleGround and CryptoBeasts are built around DeFi models focusing on decentralization and players’ ownership of in-game assets. This leads to lower barriers to entry for new players and helps increase the overall participation and engagement in the gaming industry.

By granting users more power and ownership over their virtual assets, the use of blockchain-powered NFTs has the potential to influence the future of the gaming sector. Blockchain-based games can employ NFTs to verify players and eliminate bad actors — as demonstrated by 0xBattleGround — making the gaming experience safer and more transparent.

Furthermore, having access to NFTs that stand in for in-game assets enables users to earn money from virtual goods outside the game environment. This might open up new revenue opportunities for users, promoting a more decentralized and fair gaming industry.

As blockchain continues to gain recognition, further technological advancements are expected, enabling even more innovation in the gaming experiences as well. This could include more sophisticated smart contracts, advanced token systems and better integration with other technologies like virtual reality.

Increased interoperability may also be a focus in the future of blockchain-based gaming platforms to allow better communication between game networks. Players can use their assets across multiple games and platforms, creating a more seamless and integrated gaming experience.

Greater integration of blockchain gaming with DeFi would benefit from including more advanced DeFi features in blockchain games, such as staking, yield farming and liquidity provision.

There’s no doubt that the gaming industry has the potential to offer innovative and thrilling new experiences to players — all within a favorable sustainable environment. Will it rise to the challenge of replacing the traditional gaming industry? Only time will tell!

What are the downsides of using blockchain in gaming?

Blockchain-based platforms bring innovation to the gaming industry but may also carry some risks that could discourage players from using them.

While blockchain technology offers several benefits to the gaming industry, including the use cases mentioned above, there are also some potential drawbacks that players should carefully consider:

Technical barrier: Implementing blockchain technology in games requires technical expertise and may be challenging for developers unfamiliar with the technology. This complexity can increase game development time and costs, making it more difficult for smaller developers to enter the market. Game players may also be discouraged by the technical complexity required by using crypto and blockchain technology, such as setting up a crypto wallet and acquiring cryptocurrencies or NFTs before being able to participate.
A limited selection of blockchain-based games: As a relatively new gaming sector, blockchain games can’t yet provide a competitive environment for experienced players who may not feel compelled to join the ecosystem.
Scalability: One of the main challenges with blockchain technology is scalability. Blockchain networks can struggle to handle the high transaction volumes required for online gaming if adoption proliferates. This can lead to slow transaction times, high transaction fees and poor user experiences.
Regulatory uncertainty: The regulatory landscape for blockchain technology is still evolving, with some uncertainty around how blockchain games will be regulated in different jurisdictions. This uncertainty could create legal and compliance risks for developers.
Crypto token security: While blockchain technology is decentralized and secure, centralized service providers, on the other hand, are vulnerable to hacking and other malicious activities.

While there is an increasing interest in the gaming world around blockchain-based applications, developers, investors and players should consider all factors and risks before implementing blockchain in their games or participating in the ecosystem.

What benefits does blockchain offer to the gaming industry?

The blockchain-based gaming industry market size is estimated to be worth $435 billion by 2028, corresponding to a record compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 12.1% from 2022 to 2028.

According to a report released in 2022 by Zion Market Research, the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to enormous growth, with people forced to stay at home and experimenting with the innovative games model.

Since then, gaming industry key players have been showing an increasing interest in crypto games and have implemented blockchain technology in their products to stay at the forefront of innovation in the space.

Here are some of the most common benefits of implementing blockchain technology in the gaming industry:

Digital identity and reputation: Blockchain technology can create secure digital identities and reputations for players. These identities can be used to verify players and prevent fraud in the gaming industry.
Secure and transparent transactions: Blockchain provides high transparency and security to the gaming industry. Transactions on the blockchain are transparent, efficient and immutable, making it difficult for fraudsters to cheat the system.
Players’ control: Users have complete management of their gaming experience, including the possibility to monetize their assets and set game rules and mechanics, upgrade features, and add new content for a more engaging experience.
Players’ security: Users can play the games and own their in-game assets in a secure environment, less vulnerable to cyberattacks due to the decentralized nature of the blockchain. Such security lets them manage and store their gaming earnings more efficiently.
Secure environment for game developers and entrepreneurs: Powerful data encryption and no use of single servers provide a safe working environment. A decentralized blockchain network relies on nodes to maintain the distributed databases in a shared manner, with each node having complete information in the database.
Interoperability: Players can use their public address for transactions across different blockchain platforms and take it from one game to another.

Blockchain is proving very useful in gaming due to its immutability and security. The decentralization factor encourages players to participate in the development and innovation process while monetizing their crypto assets. Its numerous use cases are revolutionizing how games are played, owned and developed.

How is blockchain changing the gaming industry?

A new crypto-gaming model has emerged for businesses and the gaming community, which utilizes NFTs and cryptocurrencies for in-game asset purchases, convertible into real-life money.

This new model uses decentralized networks to make gaming more secure with protected data encryption and no centralized servers easily hacked by cybercriminals. Transactions on the blockchain are immutable, making it difficult for fraudsters to cheat the system. Blockchain also provides a decentralized and transparent ledger, which allows players to track their transactions and assets more efficiently.

These decentralized marketplaces allow for a more open and transparent economy enabling players to buy, sell and trade assets without the need for intermediaries like game developers or publishers. Most gaming on the blockchain is also community-operated, with players deciding about future updates, features and the general direction of the network.

Blockchain gaming allows actual ownership of in-game assets that make a contest more exciting than other competitive games available in the market. These items can be 3D props, characters, furniture, tools, vehicles, weapons and anything that can be stored on the blockchain as NFTs, making them unique and verifiable.

Such ownership gives players more control over their gaming experience. It allows them to monetize their assets, which can be transferred outside virtual games and exchanged for real money on crypto platforms.

Most blockchain-based games offer secure payments using native crypto tokens, which are convenient and potentially profitable investments. They are also secure, with transactions validated and recorded on the blockchain.

What is GameFi, and how does it work?

GameFi is a term used to describe “game finance,” as it integrates traditional gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi) using blockchain technology.

GameFi employs blockchain technology to create decentralized gaming marketplaces offering players different economic incentives and financial opportunities through play-to-earn blockchain games. Players can earn cryptocurrency by playing games or participating in various activities within the gaming world. In contrast, the traditional gaming industry is mainly retained by corporations offering limited earning potential until now.

GameFi is the new frontier of gaming innovation that has rapidly impacted the traditional gaming industry since the rise of Axie Infinity. The Ethereum-based platform has developed a new gaming model that rewards players for the time and effort spent playing the blockchain game instead of just the money they put in, making platforms like Axie Infinity a popular investment option among crypto gaming enthusiasts.

GameFi typically involves the creation of gaming tokens or NFTs that can be used as in-game assets like virtual land, avatars, weapons, costumes or currency traded on cryptocurrency exchanges. Players can earn these tokens by participating in various activities within the game, such as completing quests, winning battles or staking tokens.

These tokens can then be used to purchase in-game items, trade with other players, or exchange for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies. GameFi platforms may offer additional DeFi features such as yield farming, staking and liquidity supply.

Overall, GameFi offers gamers a new and exciting way to earn money while playing their favorite games. It allows DeFi investors to make returns on their digital assets while participating in the gaming ecosystem.

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NFT.NYC: Play-to-Earn is not dead, but game publishers are looking for alternatives

April 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain Game

Cointelegraph team was on the ground in New York to bring exclusive insights from the NFT event.

The Play-to-Earn (P2E) business model may not be dead, but game publishers and developers are exploring alternatives to replace it, according to a panel at the NFT.NYC 2023. Cointelegraph team was on the ground in New York to bring exclusive insights from the NFT event.

According to the CEO of gaming platform OP Games, Chase Freo, companies that branded themselves as P2E are shifting their strategy amid the crypto prices downturn. "It's a model that is not sustainable at all," he noted, citing Axie Infinity's shift in some of its flagship titles as an example.

*From left: Chase Freo, Minoru Yanai, Paul Flanagan, and Paul-David Oosthuizen at the NFT.NYC 2023. Source: Cointelegraph*

Minoru Yanai from Minto, a Japanese manga and anime design company, said that game companies are now "looking at play and fun, and sometimes earn or swap," adding that players can still earn tokens and rewards, but publishers and developers are more focused on being sustainable and flexible.

Also speaking at the panel, Paul Flanagan, head of business development at Estonian mobile game developer CM Games, claimed the core problem with P2E models is that it is a "zero-sum". "As we all know, most of them are Ponzi schemes, so if you are putting branding sponsorship as a source of money that might work, but we still need to see that happening," he said.

Alternatives flourishing in the industry include marketplaces and partnerships that allow players to return tokens to the game ecosystem instead of playing and liquidating them, the panelists noted. "More companies right now are trying to make sure that the game has a really good core loop that enables these players to put back whatever they earn into the game. That's very challenging [...]. I don't think Play-to-Earn is ever going to come back, but there will be variations of how it's going to look like in the future," stated Freo.

Speakers on the panel also highlighted that the Web3 gaming industry is seeing more tangible products on the market following years of development. Especially in East Asia, a better regulatory environment is also allowing Web3 gaming companies to raise more funds and seek alternative business models, as well as solutions to improve players' experience.

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Gaming and Web3 outlook, what’s available on the market? Report

March 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Blockchain gaming is moving fast, are you up-to-speed? Cointelegraph Research’s latest report reviews 20 games of today, and a few to be looking out for tomorrow.

Where gaming and finance meet in Web3 has been termed GameFi, and it has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past few years. There are even several data analytical resources to try and figure out what are the hottest blockchain and Web3 games currently available. Cointelegraph Research dove into this topic head on and developed a top 20 games report.

The report goes over some of the differences between Web2 and Web3 gaming and some of the evolution in GameFi. Discussing play-to-earn and play-to-own, as well as providing some “insider insights” from C-suite executives in the industry, this report gives an overview of the current status of GameFi and potentially where it is moving to next.

Download this report on the Cointelegraph Research Terminal.

In addition to an overview of 20 games, there is also a section on some of the most anticipated games set to be released shortly. This report is equally fit for a casual crypto investor who wants to keep informed on different trends in the industry all the way to anyone looking to find out what Web3 game they will try out next.

GameFi combines blockchain, protocols, devs, investors and users

Web3 gaming goes far beyond a studio creating an engaging story slapped together with some cool-looking graphics. As opposed to Web2 or “traditional gaming,” which uses a gaming engine like Unreal Engine for example, the incorporation of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) makes owning a piece of the game and giving players control over the platform a reality. The use and tokenization of different cryptographic protocols also enable a greater ability to invest in the ecosystem of a particular game, like Axie Infinity.

Source: Cointelegraph Research “Top 20 Blockchain Games Report”

The Cointelegraph Research team

Cointelegraph’s Research department comprises some of the best talents in the blockchain industry. Bringing together academic rigor and filtered through practical, hard-won experience, the researchers on the team are committed to bringing the most accurate, insightful content available on the market.

Michael Tabone is the deputy director of research at Cointelegraph. The research team consists of subject matter experts from across the fields of finance, economics and technology to bring to the market the premier source for industry reports and insightful analysis. The team utilizes APIs from a variety of sources in order to provide accurate, useful information and analyses.

With decades of combined experience in traditional finance, business, engineering, technology and research, the Cointelegraph Research team is perfectly positioned to put its combined talents to proper use with the “Top 20 Games Report 2023.”

The opinions expressed in the article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security or investment product.

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