Cryptocurrencies and digital currencies will disrupt more than just financials in 2021; they will also impact entertainment and gaming. NFTs and the metaverse have become hot (and contentious) subjects in mobile, tech, art, and gaming. With $91.8 million in NFT sales and Facebook’s new direction as Meta.
While we discussed the fundamentals of blockchain and crypto exchange applications in Part 2 of our series. In this article, we look at NFTs, blockchain gaming, play-to-earn (P2E) games, and the metaverse implications for mobile app developers in 2022.
What exactly are NFTs, and how do they affect mobile?
While NFTs have been in some form since 2014 and a standardised form since 2017. The cultural awareness and usage increased dramatically between 2020 and 2021. As we described in part one of this series, record-breaking auctions of digital art NFTs by Sotheby’s and Christie’s, celebrity endorsements, and the popularity of NFT collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club fueled a passion for these tokens in 2022.
NFTs are one-of-a-kind data units that may be used on a blockchain to signify digital ownership. Unlike bitcoin, they are non-transferable; each NFT is unique and can only reside in one wallet at a time.
NFTs have enormous ramifications for music, gaming, events, and other entertainment verticals. As they offer new revenue strategies for producers, interoperability of digital things, and digital ownership for fans, in addition to art.
Gaming In 2021, NFTs and blockchain games drew about $4 billion in investment, making it the industry’s biggest investment category. Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive are among the major firms that have endorsed the potential of NFTs in gaming.
NFTs, on the other hand, has proven to be a divisive issue, with many players opposing companies’ attempts to implement the technology. In 2022, Coinbase and Gamestop will launch NFT markets, while Samsung has indicated that its Smart TVs would have an NFT platform starting in 2022.
Popular NFT markets like OpenSea are now view-only on mobile, allowing users to show their NFTs on their phones. Working with an MMP like Adjust allows for smooth tracking of in-app events related to NFT generation. As well as the ability to correlate and credit these events to UA campaigns and analyse the number of users acquired as a result of them.
What is the metaverse, and how does it work?
The public’s understanding of the metaverse has exploded as a result of the NFT trend. It owes in large part to Facebook’s rebranding as Meta and identifying its goal as a metaverse corporation. Many businesses regard the metaverse as the next step in the growth of the internet and mobile, in which consumers engage with immersive virtual and mixed reality environments.
While the concept of virtual worlds is not new, crypto-economic innovations like distributed ledgers and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It allows for the creation of a universal state layer. It could provide the property rights, identity, and digital ownership backbone needed for an open and interoperable metaverse. New interest in NFTs and crypto, combined with the popularity of immersive, multi-user games like Roblox. It has sparked a wave of speculative interest in metaverse projects and cryptocurrencies, including a “land boom” for virtual real estate. As well as announcements and investments from companies like Microsoft, Nvidia, Disney, and Epic Games.
While a fully functional metaverse is still a long way off, mobile apps, particularly games, have taken advantage of the buzz. According to Sensor Tower data, over 500 applications have used the term’metaverse’ in their title or description to pique user interest. And with mobile games leading the way and banking apps following closely after.
Mobile gaming, blockchain gaming, and play-to-earn
Blockchain-based games, allow players to earn digital currency. It has increased in prominence as a result of the tremendous growth and popularity of Axie Infinity. These games typically include in-game money, a marketplace, and a token economy (usually governed by the community of token holders).
In a development known as GameFi, certain games are merging decentralised financial (Defi) features with gameplay.
P2E-enabled mobile games, on the other hand, are gaining traction. In less than three months, Thetan Arena, a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game with P2E capabilities that was published in November 2021, surpassed 10 million downloads and turn out to be the #1 Act > Brawl game in December 2021.
NFTs and P2E models open up new possibilities for mobile game developers. But they also present several challenges, such as the long-term viability of P2E business models. The successful combination of game mechanics and financial incentives. The integration of new blockchain infrastructure, regulatory issues, and so on.
Conclusion:
As blockchain-based games and NFT features become more popular on mobile. The competition for consumers in this new vertical will intensify, making effective user acquisition methods critical for success. MMPs like Adjust is essential for mobile marketers who want to analyse and attribute conversions, optimise ad spend, and use deep links, among other things.