Crypto in Gaming – How Games Are Embracing Cryptocurrencies
The gaming industry, particularly Crypto in Gaming, is teeming with tech-savvy individuals keen on staying abreast of current trends. Thus, it’s no wonder that certain facets of the gaming sector are making significant strides in leveraging these decentralized currencies.
Consumer choice is one reason for gaming companies to use cryptocurrencies, but there are benefits, too, including low fees and extra security, which we’ll go into in more depth in this guide.
Using Cryptocurrency For Video Poker
Video poker games are an interesting example of the evolution of technology. Poker was first played with cards, but video poker was an offshoot of this, allowing people to play a variant of poker that didn’t require an opponent, but where they could still make choices on what they were going to do with their cards (which they discarded, for instance). Video poker went online along with a number of other casino games a lot of years ago now, and has been one of the games driving the cryptocurrency revolution. Bitcoin and crypto video poker have become one of the most popular ways to play.
Video poker is already a multi-billion dollar industry and is growing annually, with many studies suggesting an annual growth rate of over 20% at the moment. Some of this is down to the fact people can choose to play with either flat currencies or with cryptocurrencies, with more and more crypto casinos offering video poker.
Cryptocurrency Benefits
Crypto is being accepted by more gaming brands, including casino gaming companies, as a way to give more choice to their customers, but also because of the numerous benefits.
- Cryptocurrency can provide faster payments compared to traditional methods and many of the crypto platforms and wallets facilitate instant (or near-instant) transfers. People don’t want to wait for their transfers to get approved in an age of near-instant methods.
- Public ledgers and transparency are key factors for people using this technology, they add a level of security and mean that the transfers can be traced.
- Anonymity is huge for many people who are protective of their data in this day and age, people don’t want to give up all their personal details if they don’t have to, and crypto provides a more anonymous way to move funds into accounts.
- Cuts out the middleman. Crypto means not dealing with banks directly, which can potentially hold things up, and some people would rather that the banks weren’t a part of their monetary transfers.
Customers and brands alike are taking these benefits and running with them. Bitcoin and Ethereum are currently among the most popular, but Dogecoin and other altcoins are growing and could make more of an impact on gaming in the future. Casinos have been especially quick to embrace cryptocurrencies, and some studies suggest that most Bitcoin transactions now involve gambling in some way, showing the intrinsic connection between the industries.
Buying Games With Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the biggest of all the cryptocurrencies at this moment in time, meaning that it is the most widely used, and there are even brands that you can visit in cities with an option to pay with Bitcoin.
Steam used to accept Bitcoin directly but eventually, they switched to using a partner organization. BitPay is a crypto payment processor that gives flexibility to companies, meaning they can receive their funds in whatever currency they want, making it easier for them to accept payment. BitPay’s site shows how many brands they work with (there are some huge ones on there). Customers of BitPay could theoretically buy some games on Steam as well as go to the cinema, and even buy plane tickets using the platform.
Steam isn’t the only option. CDKeys is a big brand for buying games, especially PC games, and they accept cryptocurrencies as payment, too.
Gaming and Crypto: Linked Forever?
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies are seeing a lot of use in the world of gaming, and it seems the early adopters of the industry have forged a link that will last. Crypto gives gamers freedom and anonymity and most have the tech savvy to use a crypto wallet or payment processor. Blockchain tech is also very much part of the industry already with things like gaming NFTs, which can be incorporated into the very mechanics of the game, meaning unique items can be assigned to players and even traded and assigned more value based on the tokens created for them. Games are waking up to the blockchain potential, and this includes crypto’s use.