Video gaming is now a multi-billion dollar industry. Triple-A games have budgets the size of Hollywood blockbusters. Professional gamers can earn as much in a year as A-list celebrities. More than half of all US households now own a games console. An activity that was once the preserve of nerds and computer geeks has long been as mainstream as watching television and listening to music.
So play-to-earn should have spread like wildfire. Not only does it promise players that they can continue to enjoy their games. It also promises to pay them for their fun. As players build their metaverses or pitch their NFTs into battle, they can load up on tokens that they can use to purchase more in-game products or convert into other cryptocurrencies, and even into fiat.
And yet play-to-earn hasn’t quite taken off yet. The practice is still limited to gaming corners of the blockchain world or the blockchain corners of the gaming world. It’s likely that that situation will change soon. Companies as large as both EA and Ubisoft have talked about the future of gaming on the blockchain and hinted that it will involve NFTs. As they churn out top-end games with play-to-earn features, we can expect those games to find an audience.
For now though, the blockchain world is still waiting for that breakthrough game that will pitch even casual gamers into the world of blockchain gaming.
That breakthrough might just come in the form of one of the oldest and most traditional of games: quizzes. Mimir is a new game that describes itself as the world’s first quiz powered by blockchain technology. Players can take part in livestreamed tournaments broadcast from Sweden or they can challenge their friends and strangers in one-on-one competitions. Questions cover topics from sports to popular culture, and the game is completely free to play.