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Blockchain’s Popularity In The Southeast Asian Gaming Market

Blockchain’s Popularity In The Southeast Asian Gaming Market
By Guest Author
November 11, 2024

Blockchain’s integration into modern gaming has the potential to be transformative, enhancing immersion, improving gaming experiences, and creating a transparent industry that offers greater control to gamers. While the technology is still in its infancy, it has seen progress, not least in the Southeast Asian gaming market, which is leading the way in this disruptive field.

What Blockchain Brings To Gaming

Blockchain is still an emerging technology within the gaming industry. However, as players and gaming companies start to realize the benefits of the technology, it will continue to gain popularity. In particular, blockchain brings the following to the gaming sphere.  

Greater Access

Blockchain can improve access to certain types of games. Subscription-based games and casino games, for example, typically require players to add bank or credit card details.

Casino sites like Gcash casino apps allow users to connect their Gcash app and from within Gcash, it is possible to buy cryptocurrency. In any case, Gcash has emerged as an alternative to traditional banking accounts, making it accessible to the population of unbanked people. Vietnam and the Philippines have some of the highest unbanked populations, per capita, of any country, making these especially popular in the Southeast Asian gaming industry.

Ownership Of Gaming Assets

Blockchain games use NFTs. Every account, avatar, skin, and even in-game asset is minted as an NFT. The player retains ownership of their in-game NFTs. Currently, that means that NFTs can be traded between players of the same game but, in the future, it could see assets from one game transferred to other games.

This will make it possible for players to use items or even characters from one game in another. It will also make it possible to transfer in-game currency to other games.

Secure Transactions

Cryptocurrency payments are more secure than fiat payments. They use advanced cryptography to secure every entry to the blockchain, and because users don’t have to add their bank account or other financial details to games or websites, there is no chance for these details to be stolen or lost from the site.

Cybercrime is on the rise in Southeast Asia, as it is in all regions around the world. Because blockchain gaming helps protect consumer finances and details, it is seeing an increased take-up in a lot of regions.

Industry Transparency

While blockchain records are pseudonymous, they are recorded and can be viewed by any third party that is given wallet or transaction details. This means that a gamer can provide proof of the transfer of an account, or a gaming company can provide its wallet address and gamers can verify all incoming and outgoing transactions.

This can prove especially useful to online casinos, so they can prove fairness in their games. It can also be beneficial in eSports tournaments, which are popular in Southeast Asia. Players can verify tournament details and ensure that prizes are paid according to the terms of the competition. Not only do players benefit but gaming companies can build trust with their gamers, too.

Potential To Earn Money From Gaming

Because players retain ownership of their accounts, in-game assets, and potentially even in-game currency as cryptocurrency, this offers the opportunity to earn real money from their gaming efforts.

Blockchain gaming accounts can be traded on open markets because they are NFTs. And the same goes for the weapons or other in-game items they use. Some blockchain gaming titles also use a play-to-earn model, which sees the player earn currency for time spent playing, leveling up, or meeting certain objectives within the game.

Blockchain Gaming Industry Drivers

Traditional video gaming has a considerable head start on blockchain gaming, but the new technology is making some headway. And not only can the two co-exist, but they can merge. Various factors are driving and will continue to drive growth within the blockchain gaming sphere.

Increased Internet Access

Approximately 60 million people have 5G subscriptions in Southeast Asia at present, but this is expected to rise to 560 million by the end of the decade. This means nearly ten times as many gamers will have access to high-speed mobile Internet. Not only will this drive further uptake of mobile gaming but it will also benefit blockchain gamers.

eSports Popularity

eSports is popular in SE Asia, and with eSports teams embracing blockchain through the launch and distribution of fan tokens and other initiatives, this is likely to continue pushing the mainstream adoption of blockchain gaming even further. Games like Axie Infinity and Heroes of Mavia are already popular in the region, and as more games launch, with new features, there will come a time when a blockchain game becomes part of the eSports tournament scene.

Youthful Population

More than half the population of SE Asia is under 30, which means it is a young population, and younger populations are more open to the adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain in general. It also means that companies are more likely to target the younger crowd, while many startups are packed with youthful talent looking for ways to push the boundaries of blockchain gaming.

The Future of Blockchain Gaming In SE Asia

Major gaming companies have yet to embrace crypto or blockchain gaming, which has left the door open for startups and new companies. So, rather than being dominated by the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Activision, the Web 3.0 gaming scene is made up of many smaller entities. In some ways, this is beneficial because it encourages competition and it brings diversity. But, at present, it also means that blockchain games are disconnected.

For blockchain gaming to take off, it feels like it needs a single platform, or a small number of platforms, to combine games and encourage the cross-platform benefits that this unique form of gaming could offer. If it’s going to happen anywhere, the Southeast Asian market seems as likely a market as any, thanks to blockchain gaming’s popularity and growth in the region.

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