Image: Ralph Egas - Credits: Control Online
Non-fungible tokens, also known as NFTs, have been around for a while now. However, discussion on the subject has taken off recently. In the Netherlands, developers are working on blockchain/NFT games too. Control Online asked a number of Dutch game studios for their insights.
Abstraction is busy developing a blockchain game for Mythical Games' Mythical Platform. Ralph Egas, co-founder and CEO of Abstraction definitely sees opportunities for NFTs. "The security is an advantage. NFTs are guaranteed to be unique, and you don't need a broker. In general, this means decentralization. The power balance is shifting, which provides more opportunities for progressive entrepreneurs."
Egas sees opportunities within games as well. "If you ask me, play to earn only has advantages: for consumers craving to create, cross-media providers wanting to earn, and ultimately also for developers who can earn from their entire ecosystem."
QUALITY TEMPORARILY NEGLECTED
He does see the current hype as a disadvantage. "First, we will have to deal with people who preach that everything must change, just like in the past with Free to Play. Entrepreneurs will follow because they want to avoid missing out on these opportunities, typically under pressure from investors. Many other companies will go down the drain because they are all heading in the same direction. The trick is to use new technology where it makes sense and adds value, without destroying what we already know."
This is also where the challenges lie within games, according to Egas: "Initially, the emphasis is often on trade, the market, economics and only then on designed & curated content and simply quality! This is inevitable, but it will blow over after a while. Developers who really understand this will not only pull through, but will also have a large impact."
MYTHICAL GAMES
Abstraction's game, based on the Mythical Platform (announced here), has been in the making for a while. "It is based on technology that we started developing three to four years ago, inspired by a vision I had and still have about a new type of adventure game that is focused on solving problems rather than scripted puzzles" Egas explains.
"To prototype this, we spent more than three months just refining it to cut down trees as naturally as possible. Everyone who saw it thought it was very cool, but also thought we were crazy. Even colleagues at Abstraction started to wonder if it wasn't time to make a game out of it. And I understood that very well" he says.
"A few months later I spoke to Pete Hawley [Chief Product Officer at Mythical Games, red]. I showed him clips of the material. He literally said, 'So you spent months just refining that? That's great! That's the kind of developer I want to work with!' A year later he called me, and we started working together."
BOLD THINGS
Now a prototype of the game has been completed. "The game is based on the aforementioned technology and our experience with it as well as their blockchain tech," Egas explains. "It's no longer the adventure game we started with, but something entirely different that only works using our technology. That's all I can say about it at the moment, but we are doing some really cool stuff. Fortunately, Mythical has the funding we can make use of, and of course, we are blessed with a partner who understands our vision."
Click here to read the original article (in Dutch) on Control Online