The intersection of Bitcoin and gaming

[Kyt Dotson]

Hails all,

So, now that it's the end of 2013 and near the beginning of 2014, I'm looking for how the technology and community surrounding bitcoin is beginning to intersect video games. From 2013, there have been quite a few mass media stories that I've followed and I'm looking for the input from people here about what you think.

* Bigpoint Games (browser-based MMO publisher) accepts BTC for virtual items;
* PC Game Supply started accepting BTC;
* BitFantasy MMO uses BTC as internal currency;
* Gaming company fined $1 million for using anti-cheating software to mine BTC.

I've also heard of a Minecraft server that pays out BTC for block modification, but I'm looking for anything else that might show where Bitcoin and gaming could intersect either from 2013 or into the future.

I am also looking at Craftcoin.net -- Minecraft again -- even though it's not Bitcoin, it's a cryptocurrency that does provide an interesting proof-of-concept for linking economies across games.

[Elwar]

This game is very fun, I played it a lot in Beta.

https://www.bitfantasy.com/

It is an RPG that lets you buy items from the stores using bitcoins. You can also sell things to other players in bitcoins. Or you can just play the game without using bitcoins.

[cdog]

Id like to see it as an official currency. Maybe we could find a few MMO developers and mount a kickstarter.

[Welsh]

Seems Bitcoin could be very useful to gaming related companies. As most gamers would be interested in Bitcoin because of the way Bitcoin works. I would expect to see a lot more gaming companies popping up which accept Bitcoin.

[titulng]

game??  I'm GG...

[BTCisthefuture]

It seems pretty likely to me that it's not a matter of if but a matter of when. Microtransactions is huge business for the gaming industry and bitcoin is great for microtransactions. 

Looking forward to seeing it happen! What great free "marketing" for bitcoin as well.

[jbreher]

I've been thinking that Bitcoin would be a great currency for OpenLifeGrid OpenSim.. It might even become the glue that holds disparate worlds together. But I guess I'm tilting at windmills.

[Kyt Dotson]

I've been thinking that Bitcoin would be a great currency for OpenLifeGrid. It might even become the glue that holds disparate worlds together. But I guess I'm tilting at windmills.

I'm curious, what is OpenLifeGrid? (The name reminds me suddenly of AR games similar to Ingress, which I think a Bitcoin-like currency would be brilliant for combining economies.)

[Kyt Dotson]

It seems pretty likely to me that it's not a matter of if but a matter of when. Microtransactions is huge business for the gaming industry and bitcoin is great for microtransactions. 

Looking forward to seeing it happen! What great free "marketing" for bitcoin as well.

I believe that if Bigpoint Games can show a sort of proof-of-concept using BTC for in-game microtransactions (where often virtual items can cost as little as 10c) could prove to be the vanguard for gaming companies who do social MMOs to use BTC. The thing would be, of course, advertising that and getting the Bitcoin+gamer community to pile on and use it.

[gambit1]

Do you reckon we could make a game as a community project? A bitcoin based game that is?

[Alias]

Instead of "Proof of Work" (POW) or "Proof of Stake" (POS) you could devise a cryptocurrency which relies on "Proof of Ability to Play Games Really Well" or alternatively Proof of Excellence (POE). POE has been proposed before. See here - www.peercointalk.org/index.php?topic=1655.0

So gamers would get monetary rewards for the quality of their play or style of play. This could create competitions/contests where there is no cash reward for the winner of the tournament - there is simply continuous monetary reward during the tournament for the most stylish players.

[str4wm4n]

^ Proof of Skill?

[jbreher]

I've been thinking that Bitcoin would be a great currency for OpenLifeGrid OpenSim. It might even become the glue that holds disparate worlds together. But I guess I'm tilting at windmills.

I'm curious, what is OpenLifeGrid? (The name reminds me suddenly of AR games similar to Ingress, which I think a Bitcoin-like currency would be brilliant for combining economies.)

Oops - too many virtual worlds. I meant OpenSim.

OpenSim is a crowdsourced spin of Linden Lab's Second Life. there is some extra glue that allows anyone to run a server with their own region sims. The glue allows one to cross metaverse domains from one disjoint server to another, with not much more notice than crossing a sim boundary in SL. You get to carry your persona and inventory from one world to the next, across what they term the 'Hypergrid', despite each sim being implemented on disjoint federated servers around the physical globe.

OpenLifeGrid is a somewhat less-exciting SL clone.

[Operatr]

I keep hoping to see sandbox games like EVE translate their in game currencies to real cryptocurrencies.

Imagine if the ISK was turned into a real coin, tied to the real world. Game economies would become just as real as any other, with real stock trading and the like.

An EVE corp would be a real crypto-business, selling whatever virtual goods or services for real coins to be traded for real world things. So in this world, you could actually be an EVE pirate and make a real world living from it selling your plunder for ISK, and trading ISK for other coins like Bitcoin or other goods and services that accept ISK in payment. Not to say you should do that for your own health and for that of humanity (solve real problems!), but that is a possibility. It could not be more perfect for that and creates a real economy connected to the real world opposed to a fake one typically found in games. Right now there are several pass-through sites in trading BTC for ISK or PLEX, but violates CCPs agreement in doing so.

This would give incentive to play, getting paid to play essentially, that can be converted into more game content and much more.

Selling virtual goods and in-game money has already been around quite a while, but this would take that to an entirely new level. I bet we will see new games like that in the future.

[BTCisthefuture]

Speaking of Bitcoin and gaming , I thought this article was approiate for this thread.  Coming to iOS and Android soon!

http://www.coindesk.com/coinding-bitcoin-game-poker/

[pening]

Imagine if the ISK was turned into a real coin, tied to the real world.

No need to imagine too much, there's a game called Entropia that has in game currency PED pegged to $ at 10:1.  Its probably not as sophisticated a game as EVE, but it shows some of the basic problems, in particular a balancing nightmare.  I do think there is a lot of mileage to the idea in principle, using a crytpocoin in game, solving the problem of duping that limits scope of game economies imo.

[btbrae]

I would like to see a blockchain-based MMO.

Moves would be slow but it would be a starting point. Just something very simple. You would make a transaction to move (very small amounts) thus paying a fee which would be reaped by the miners as usual.

The fact that the blockchain is reliable in my mind removes the age-old problem of not being able to trust the client.

I would be interested in contributing to something like this.

[eyjgvfdhbshm]

I am trading Craftcoins on cryptsy.com, but they haven't got me any profit, just some small losses. With more companies accepting Bitcoin, it's only a matter of time before the rates go through the roof again 

[EvilPanda]

Steam platform could benefit from BTC. Right now you can only buy there if you have a credit card (which a lot of people don't use, most people I know have only debit which are not accepted there) or paypal.

[Kyt Dotson]

I keep hoping to see sandbox games like EVE translate their in game currencies to real cryptocurrencies.

Imagine if the ISK was turned into a real coin, tied to the real world. Game economies would become just as real as any other, with real stock trading and the like.

A game like EVE would make for an interesting experiment using cryptocurrencies. Especially because EVE has a cultural mechanism that extends gameplay through and outside the game (primarily through the "corporate" culture and rampant subterfuge and backstabbing.) The economy being entirely player driven and even exchangeable for play time (via PLEX) ties it to external economies as well and makes it possible to make comments about the $ cost of a ship.

I know we've seen MMOs appear that tied their currency to real world money such as Entropia Universe and even Second Life (to an extent with Lindens.)

I expect, however, that cryptocurrencies will be more likely used as a medium of exchange for microtransaction currencies (or premium currencies) such as ZEN for Perfect World Entertainment games. Many of these MMO gaming companies want to lock money given to them into their own universe and not let it out.

Although I think that alternative auction houses using Bitcoin (or some cryptocurrency) could actually bolster an in game economy for an MMO--hacks and exploits aside. Even with the apparent critical failure of Diablo III's Real Money Auction House.