Five developers of games with tokenomics have discussed the past, present, and future of blockchain-powered games, shared their ways of dealing with industry-related issues, and answered some burning questions regarding the topic.

Each day, the topics of tokenomics, NFTs in games, and the metaverse are becoming more and more discussed. Some people think that they are just a passing gimmick, others believe blockchain-powered games to be the future of the game industry. Our recent survey proved once again that these topics remain controversial to this day and showed that most people express skepticism about the metaverse. But no matter where you stand in this debate, no one denies that the metaverse has already changed the industry, for better or for worse.

To learn more about NFTs in games, token release mechanisms, the legal basis of it, and get a clearer picture of what tokenomics are, our 80 Level Research team conducted a series of interviews with tokenomics experts, directors and CEOs of studios that create such games and asked them a series of burning questions related to the topics. In this article, you can read some bits from this report and download the full version of it by clicking this link.

The first topic our team addressed is the building of a token economy for the game. The respondents were asked to share their ways of choosing a blockchain platform, creating a wallet that supports the cryptocurrency of the blockchain, and working with smart contracts.

Product Manager at Powder Aaishwarya Jain, for example, had this to say about minting their own tokens and choosing the right blockchain platform:

Another question the interviewees were asked was about payment protocols used for games. It's important to keep transaction processes fast and transaction costs low while also retaining a low level of energy consumption. It is known that the most popular protocols for blockchain gaming are Solana (standalone protocol) and Polygon (L2 protocol on Ethereum), and the respondents told us why it is so.

Here's what Ada Jonušė, CEO & Co-Founder of Lympo has told us regarding the matter:

The respondent also addressed the “token first” vs “game first” issue. From the tech angle, it is easier to integrate tokenomics into a gameplay-ready game. Though, building a blockchain economic model and creating tokens before developing gameplay allows developers to create a community around the NFTs as well as do pre-sale activities to raise funds long before releasing the game. On the other hand, a “token first” game may be of poor quality due to a lack of focus on gameplay development.

Jure Grahek, Head Of Marketing at ZEBEDEE, explained the company's approach to this issue:

Our team has also asked the interviewees what a game token is from the legal perspective and whether or not it can be considered an investment in the game. 

Mathieu Nouzareth, the CEO for the U.S. at Sandbox, has told us how his company designs tokens as a utility:

And, of course, the respondents were asked how to build a sustainable game token economy that will work for ages. 

Here's what Lewis Grafton, the COO at SolChicks had to say about developing a long-lasting game:

You can read the full report by clicking this link.

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