The most interesting NFTs of 2022 related to the world of gaming
On the other hand, the framework that has long been involving NFT, metaverse and blockchain has carved out an important space in mass culture, attracting hordes of crypto-enthusiasts as well as armies of skeptics. After all, the possible drifts opened by this new kind of tools are extremely numerous and varied, therefore it is very difficult to establish a priori whether the future that lies ahead of the digital universe consists of a soft transition or a path fraught with dangers. br>
But, in the end, what is an NFT? NFTs, or Non Fungible Tokens, are well non-fungible, i.e. non-replaceable and intrinsically unique: their uniqueness, in fact, is digitally certified through the distributed ledger of a blockchain. A hypertext link is perpetually recorded within the blockchain that refers to the receipt of an NFT - which can take the form of an image or a video stored on dedicated servers.
This mainly means two things: in first of all that the NFT is not actually "found" within the blockchain, and consequently - more importantly - that the NFT can in fact be anything, such as the object of a video game, a work art created by an artist - be it a model, an image or a video - or even a virtual plot of land, which is becoming the focal point of numerous projects related to metaverses.
If you wish to deepen the subject further, we can only refer you to the analysis on the current state of NFTs prepared by Massimiliano di Marco and to that relating to the implementation of Lorenzo Mancosu's play-to-earn models. Today, however, we will talk about the most interesting initiatives related to NFT that are connected to the world of video games, perhaps because they are active within titles and metaverses, or because they are launched by actors who work closely with this sector.
Here are the most interesting NFTs related to the gaming world of 2022, in a selection of implementations that are completely different from each other, from those focused on artistic implications to even the maze of the real estate market.
Decentraland
Among the initiatives that more than others have managed to involve investors usually alien to the digital sector, Decentraland stands out without a shadow of a doubt, a metaverse that relies on the Ethereum blockchain and which associates individual NFTs with plots of virtual land, with the promise that - in the future - on these foundations there will be businesses, homes and any other goods that the digital consumer should need .
Decentraland is undoubtedly one of the most expanding virtual worlds in the last period. The entire infrastructure of the project is based on the cryptocurrency MANA, which is necessary to get your hands on the land, and therefore on the NFTs, to grab substantial slices of this world. It was precisely this reason that led several real estate investment companies to bet tens of millions of dollars on the validity of the ecosystem, leading the cryptocurrency to quadruple in value over the last year as a result of the demonstrated trust. br>
Ubisoft Quartz
Although the first reports regarding Ubisoft's Quartz platform do not seem encouraging, the idea of associating NFTs with unique items exploited by players of mass-oriented titles could represent one of the main uses of this system in the videogame undergrowth. Quartz, in fact, allows enthusiasts to purchase NFTs linked to digital objects guaranteed by the Tezos blockchain, which are therefore not replicable, and which consequently exist in a single copy within the inventories and cosmetic collections of the buyers.
While the community doesn't seem to have enthusiastically embraced the Ubisoft idea, Quartz has the potential to unify the digital ecosystems in the video games released by the French company. Probably what Ubisoft has been missing is the specific weight of the giants of the multiplayer gaming sector: if we try to imagine a parallel universe in which Epic Games has launched unique and non-replicable skins linked to single NFTs for its Fortnite, well, it is likely that these would have been snapped up in a few minutes, because the entirety of the business behind the "battle royal" video game is based precisely on obtaining distinctive data objects. And what would happen, instead, if the system were introduced in MMO video games, therefore made of shared worlds in a cooperative and competitive environment, and the NFTs were linked to unique and non-replicable objects of power?
LevelUp - The Gaming Booster Collection
In just a few years LevlUp has established itself in the gaming market as the reference energy drink, and if it has achieved this goal it is also and above all thanks to the capillarity of its reach: it was no surprise, for example, seeing the soda appear in FiveM GTA V Online's digital universes over the past year. The approach chosen by the house towards NFTs, on the other hand, is the most "classic" one possible: the creation of digital works of art in the form of NFTs to be sold to the loyal public during a first drop. It is important to specify that these are not simple .jpeg files, but unique digital works that cannot be replicated precisely because they are guaranteed by the blockchain.
Established strongly in the field of energy drinks, now LevlUp seems ready to expand in the sector of metaverses. In a nutshell, there is little difference between the purchase of a LevlUp NFT and the purchase of a painting made by an artist in the gallery: the only thing that changes is that the transaction and authenticity are registered and verified by the Ethereum blockchain. But be careful, because the presentation of the operation also speaks of the fact that each exclusive work constitutes a key to the LevlUp-Verse: is it possible that we are facing the dawn of a new metaverse not yet announced? For the moment it is possible to participate in the first drop of NFT signed LevlUp, waiting for news about the expansion of the connected digital universe.
Verasity VeraEsports Fight Club
Verasity is a working company directly on blockchain systems, and recently presented the future of VeraEsports, a business branch that mainly deals with the organization of tournaments with cash prizes open to amateurs and professionals with particular importance in Asia. Recently, the company unveiled Esports Fight Club, raising the curtain on the real raison d'etre of the project: implementing NFTs in the universe of esports.
NFT and eSports together, a combination that could prove successful for Verasity. According to what was announced, the project aims to create a cohesive ecosystem around the transformation of each element of the export "machine" into a potential NFT, from merchandise up to even the individual highlights of the matches, which would become the property of users. interested in buying. If we take into account that, on the sidelines, the idea is to make users earn currency simply by attending the matches of competitions, it is easy to understand how the purpose lies in the construction of a self-sufficient consumer ecosystem.
The Sandbox
Established way back in 2012 as a title for iOS and Android mobile devices, The Sandbox has recently revolutionized its formula by fully embracing the possibilities offered by blockchain technology. This means that virtually any element that constitutes the non-linear experience conceived by the developers will take on the characteristics of the NFT and then place itself within what presents itself as one of the most advanced metaverses.
In the now large group of metaverses, The Sandbox is certainly the one that has taken the most steps towards its ambitious goal.Even a giant of the gaming sector like Square Enix has decided to invest in the confines of The Sandbox, which has led numerous other equity management companies to believe in the project. Of course, users can buy virtual land validated by the blockchain, but also create objects, events, shops and any element that can contribute to building the foundations of the metaverse imagined by the creators. For the moment, it promises to be the only digital experience in which every single good present is an NFT.
Gods Unchained
The peculiarity of Gods Unchained lies in the fact that it is the first video game based on NFT that could carve out a space in the world of played export. The Immutable card game, in fact, transforms every single collectible gaming card into an NFT certified by the proprietary ImmutableX blockchain. This means that the player has the exclusive right of ownership over every single card he has earned, and above all that he can dispose of it as he sees fit.
With Gods Unchained, we return to the era of gambling halls. Basically, this is the digital equivalent that brings closer the ecosystem that brought Magic: The Gathering to great international success, and it is no surprise that among the developers of the title there are several veterans from the ranks of Wizards of the coast. But, as pointed out at the beginning, the peculiarity lies precisely in the fact that the title is presented as highly competitive and extremely adaptable to the tournament formula: it could turn out to be the first export that is actually played "through" the NFTs.
Even if NFTs have not yet found a real dimension in the videogame undergrowth, and there is no proven formula that has been able to prove its feasibility and sustainability, it is inevitable that the market will push in this direction, seen and considered the announcement by the main players in the medium to invest in this direction.
2022 will be the first year in which NFTs will actually make their way into and out of the video universe -games. For the moment there is nothing to do but look around, carefully observing the way in which the "pioneers" of this market are moving. In fact, one day, the "new" digital property linked to NFTs could become the norm, and not only between metaverses and digital worlds.
