Taking All The Fun Out Of Non-Fungibility
Fun and Fungibility
One of the more contentious issues to bubble to the surface of the games world in the last couple of years, is that of blockchain technology. The use of cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens and the idea of play-to-earn, have all become hot button topics across the media, online forums and even within major events.
Adherents believe they will change the face of gaming forever. Critics claim they’ll destroy the planet and are a massive con. The rhetoric has been heated and even the simplest online post can attract swarms of comments which quickly polarise into the pro and con lobbies.
The reality is, of course, likely to be somewhere in between the extreme views. Looking at the global games market in terms of funding and M&A, the amount of money being invested into the enabling technologies and blockchain pioneers would suggest there is a huge amount of interest in making this work.
However, finding rational and informed discussion of the underlying value of blockchain and where it might fit within the future of gaming is harder than it should be.
Thankfully, there’s a new source out there. Colin Anderson, the CEO of Denki has created a new Substack (sign up to regular email newsletters) which explores the world of crypto and gaming, in a sensible, expert and level-headed way, with a vast amount of experience in the world of game development to inform the opportunities and challenges of blockchain.
You can sign up for free and follow Colin’s exploration of and thoughts upon, the fun and fungibility of games and NFTs.
First Issue Free:
Welcome to Fun & Fungibility, a newsletter about what happens when we give gamers property rights.
Here’s the thing: I know a lot about cryptocurrencies. I started studying bitcoin in 2014 and the majority of my personal research since 2017 has been around bitcoin and the cryptocurrency space. I also know a lot about videogames. I’ve been employed as a professional game developer since 1993, set up my own development studio in early 2000, and have worked on well over 100 game releases in that time.
And yet, despite understanding both cryptocurrencies and games in the kind of detail most people would never want to, I still haven’t formed a strong opinion about one of the most divisive topics of our time – the application of Non-Fungible Tokens to videogames.
A Considered Opinion…
I’ve created this newsletter to help me form that opinion. A considered one, from first principles, because I’m not satisfied with the current quality of the “NFTs will revolutionise gaming” vs the “NFTs will destroy the world” discourse I currently see. I may not know everything I want to about cryptocurrencies and videogames, but I already know enough to be sure that whatever else might be true, neither of those perspectives are.
I usually do all my learning in private and keep my opinions to myself, but this time I’ve decided to learn in public and do my thinking out loud. Just for a change, since I’ve never tried that before.
So if you’re someone with an interest in games or cryptocurrencies who’s also curious where their intersection might lead, then please hop aboard. It would be great to have your company for the journey.
Colin.
