There is no doubt that 2024 has been a huge year in the blockchain world. Bitcoin reached its historic value of just over $100K, and the experts predict even greater things for 2025.
But what will change for crypto gaming?
In this article, we will try to predict where the trends will take this industry next.
iGaming is already a big deal in the online world. More and more casinos are introducing cryptocurrencies as valid options for play, but we have yet to see a truly widespread integration. Now, with a possible step up in the field of regulations, it is quite possible that this will change for the better too. With more support for multiple cryptocurrencies, online gambling would turn into an even more lively ecosystem, especially if more stablecoins get introduced so the volatility of the market can be reduced.
Of course, there are already innovators and early adopters. CoinPoker is one of the best crypto casinos 2025 can offer thanks to their very wide support for popular cryptocurrencies. It's not just about the easy deposits and withdrawals, their selection of over 400 games and live tables truly makes this online casino a type of place we hope to see more of in the next year.
Although blockchain is a popular topic in the gaming circles, we haven't seen a true AAA blockbuster game based on crypto. While those titles do take a lot of time to produce and develop, it's fair to say that it's not very likely we will see a world-changing game come out in 2025 either. However, there are more and more signs that in the long run, things might change in that direction as well.
Western publishers are still somewhat shy when it comes to crypto integration in their games. Japanese giants like Square-Enix have already made their steps into crypto by introducing NFTs to some of their lower-level titles, with varying degrees of success. However, with the rumors of the Chinese Game Dev titan Tencent looking to buy Ubisoft, we might be in for a tectonic change. Tencent has long been known for its willingness to introduce blockchain into games, and this might be a match made in heaven for crypto enthusiasts. Ubisoft comes with a massive platform of dev teams and some of the most famous franchises in the world, while Tencent could bring their know-how and start working on what could be the first and biggest crypto AAA game we have ever seen. It's a long shot, but still something to hope for.
Another big shift in the landscape we hope for in 2025 is the way how pay-to-earn games are looked upon. As Vince Dioquino of Decrypt writes, public perception is still a major hurdle for P2E games. Fortunately, not everything is bad, in fact, some things are looking good. As it turns out, onboarding into blockchain games has become significantly easier for new gamers. The numbers reported by Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) show that friction rates have dropped by around 25% as user experiences get more smooth. Sebastian Borget, the president of BGA, claims that player empowerment is the key here. Moving away from user experiences that are based around very techy crypto market concepts and more towards gaming has proven to be a good choice as now players can enjoy more games. Blockchain games are predicted to move more towards more on-chain models and game worlds that are truly autonomous. This will give the gaming communities a stronger sense of ownership both for in-game economies and the assets derived from them.