In spite of the crypto scare in 2022 characterized by bankruptcies, the drop in prices, and the plunging of stock prices of some of the leading companies at the center of the crypto market and the metaverse, NFTs have continued to soar as an asset class. Enthusiasm hasn’t dimmed as many of the big names in cryptos and NFTs filed for bankruptcy last year.

Nonfungible tokens have been around for just over two years now, yet, the old NFT drops and collectibles already look and feel like a legacy asset class as the industry is evolving at a breakneck speed. The latest trend in the NFT world is the shift toward gamification.

Gamification in the context of NFTs refers to the utilization of game concepts in trading digital assets such as nonfungible tokens representing images, videos, games, and other digital creations. Recognizing its potential, many companies that leverage NFTs for diverse purposes are increasingly incorporating gamification in their experiences. This new frontier of technology offers several advantages that many stakeholders are eager to tap into.

Even the startups doing legacy NFTs or offering these digital assets as pure collectibles are now leveraging gamification to level up their offerings. Gamification is basically a combination of the gaming medium with the NFT as a technology along with the underlying power of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

It helps that NFTs are primarily used as collectibles and can, thus, be easily integrated into games and offered as rewards, treasures or collectibles to be unlocked. This has birthed play-to-earn games where users earn NFTs or cryptocurrencies simply by playing. Players can also easily buy and sell NFTs with relative ease inside and outside games.

Gamification has been incorporated in platforms like Axie Infinity where users can earn cryptocurrency by breeding, trading, or battling against animal-like characters in the game known as Axies. The play-to-earn mode in Axie Infinity incentivizes the player to play more and spend more time in the game in order to earn more.

The crypto earned in such NFT games can also be exchanged for real-world fiat money. This takes the game to the next level, from mere gamification to real economic value that can sustain a livelihood.

NFTs have also been integrated into gaming in Alien World. Here, players can stake and trade tokens and immerse themselves into the running of the planetary world’s treasury.

It is not just the more established games that are joining the NFT games train. Brands are also immersing themselves in the gravy train and employing gamification to increase customer loyalty, user engagement, and conversions. Stella Artois launched an equestrian NFT venture in partnership with Zed Run where players can buy raceable horses in various unique breeds and themed skins.

However, it is not all smooth sailing when it comes to NFT gamification. There are issues to do with the high gas fees. Gas fees are accrued when a blockchain transaction is completed. Where there is a large number of transactions, the gas fees will skyrocket thus imposing costs on the crypto traders. This was seen during Yuga Labs’ Otherside launch when gas fees rose to the tune of thousands of dollars. Otherside is an example of a gamified metaverse platform where NFTs can be transformed into playable characters and users buy lots of land with NFT deeds known as Otherdeeds.

The Evolution of NFTs

The ability to gamify these tokens represents the next phase in the development of NFTs. New gamification strategies such as the application of special effects or the evolving of nonfungible tokens to create new “mutants” are injecting a fresh lease of life into old NFTs.

Bored Ape Yacht Club 3749
Bored Ape Yacht Club 3749

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a forerunner in the applications of various transformative gamification approaches. The BAYC evolved its collection to launch an offshoot called Mutant Ape Yacht Club that is accessible to preexisting owners that expose the original ape NFT to a “mutant serum”. This innovation has expanded the BAYC experience but also made the process of minting new NFTs a lot more fun and gamified.

Some collections are adding an ability to blend two NFTs to create a completely new NFT. Many of these unique NFTs are incredibly popular with collectors.  Such is the case with the Roaring Leaders collection of NFTs that offers the ability to combine a “male” and “female” lion NFTs, breeding them to create “Roaring Roccstar” NFT cubs. The collection even goes further to incorporate a “dating marketplace” where NFTs from different owners can meet and facilitate “breeding” and the minting of new NFTs from the union. This model has transformed the NFT collection into a game in itself.

Brands are hopping in to leverage gamification and use them in their brand promotion and marketing campaigns. For brands that are early adopters, NFT gamification offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a competitive edge in the rapidly developing metaverse, experiment early on and tap into the potential of next-gen NFTs.

A foray into NFT gamification must be well thought out before the activation, taking into account the gas fees, blockchain sustainability as well as the working out its smart contracts.

https://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/NFT-Boom.pnghttps://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/NFT-Boom-150x90.pngRob GrantMetaverseTechnologyIn spite of the crypto scare in 2022 characterized by bankruptcies, the drop in prices, and the plunging of stock prices of some of the leading companies at the center of the crypto market and the metaverse, NFTs have continued to soar as an asset class. Enthusiasm hasn’t dimmed...VR, Oculus Rift, and Metaverse News - Cryptocurrency, Adult, Sex, Porn, XXX