The biggest news coming out of the crypto gaming world this past week is the decision by Valve to ban all blockchain games from its Steam gaming platform.
According to its updated Rules and Guidelines, Steam now prohibits “applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs.”
Steam changed these rules quietly, but the news got leaked on Twitter when SpacePirate Games tweeted that their blockchain game, “Age of Rust”, was kicked off the platform along with other blockchain games.
Community: A few minutes ago, we were notified that @Steam will be kicking *all blockchain games* off the platform, including Age of Rust, because NFTs have value. Behind the scenes, we've had good communication and have been upfront with Steam. #blockchaingames #NFT
— Age of Rust (@SpacePirate_io) October 14, 2021
1/4 pic.twitter.com/W4pR3Xl63q
As of this writing, we still don’t have an official statement from Valve or Steam as to the reason why.
SpacePirate Games said the ban was because the company doesn’t allow game items that could have real-world value.
On the surface, this is weird because Steam has a marketplace where players can trade actual currency for in-game goods.
Last year, an anonymous gamer paid $100,000 for a single game skin for Valve’s first-person shoot, “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” (CS:GO).
Amy Wu, a partner at VC firm Lightspeed, posited that Web2 incumbents such as Valve don’t want to lose control of revenue streams:
1/ Valve banned blockchain games from Steam yesterday. It’s not surprising. Web2 centralized platforms get a cut of all value generated from its ecosystem. Blockchain circumvents that and decentralizes value back to builders and usershttps://t.co/vkE2RtZ8OI
— Amy Wu (@amytongwu) October 16, 2021
Another argument I’ve heard is that Steam wants to reduce risk and avoid controversy because the NFT world is notorious for scams and rug pulls.
Earlier this month, the anonymous developer of “Evolved Apes”, which purported to be an NFT fighting game, disappeared with 798 ETH, which is the equivalent of $3.2 million as of this writing.
So what does this mean for the future of blockchain games?
If you listened to the Metacast episode I shared in Issue 5, you’ll recall the team talking about the possibility of major app stores prohibiting blockchain games on their platforms and how that could affect growth.
In my smooth brained opinion, app stores and gaming platforms are vital to the growth and adoption of blockchain games.
The harsh reality is this:
MOST PEOPLE ARE LAZY.
I don’t mean to be insulting, but it’s the truth.
(Sure, Axie Infinity has succeeded in spite of not being on any major app store, but it’s the exception to the rule.)
The more friction people encounter in order to do something, the more likely they are to give up on it or avoid it completely.
That’s why it took the design prowess of Steve Jobs and Apple to take both PCs and mobile computing mainstream.
Even though the value proposition of computing and mobile devices seem obvious today, it wasn’t until an easy and intuitive UX arrived that they achieved mass adoption.
The same goes for crypto.
If you’re reading this, you’re in the vanguard of blockchain early adopters. The value proposition of owning your digital assets and earning currency with real-world value may be obvious to you, but it may not be strong enough to motivate the average person to jump through all the hoops required to start playing a blockchain game in 2021.
Gaming platforms and app stores reduce the steps involved with finding and playing games.
So if they prohibit blockchain games, these games will miss out on massive numbers of potential players.
This is why it’s a HUGE deal that Coinbase is launching an NFT platform, even though it irks the ire of crypto purists (since it’s a centralized platform).
Coinbase will bring an easy onboarding experience for the average person (which means MOST PEOPLE) to get into NFTs.
That’s why I like the hybrid approach of Mythical Games, a company whose CEO understands balancing the benefits of decentralization with the importance of an easy and intuitive UX.
But here’s another take on this:
Someone is out there, at this very moment, building a crypto-native gaming platform with the smoothest UX and easiest onboarding experience ever designed in the history of mankind. It’s the future destroyer of incumbent platforms, the disruptor of disruptors.
Maybe that person is you.
So let’s f*cking build 🧱👩💻👨💻🧱
Agree? Disagree? Want to talk more about this idea? Do you think a mainstream game dev will achieve this before a crypto-native? Email me at michael@cryptogamebites.com or tweet me @themikesteez
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All investment strategies and investments involve risk of loss. Nothing contained in this magical newsletter should be construed as financial or investment advice. We’re just two brains connecting through cyberspace and shooting the shit about the wild world of blockchain gaming, where buzzwords like “crypto” and “NFTs” roam freely. Any reference to an investment's past or potential performance is not, and should not be construed as, a recommendation or as a guarantee of any specific outcome or profit. Remember to do your own damn research and don’t just ape into things like I did with all those shitcoins from the Spring 2021 bull run.