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The video game industry is a giant in the entertainment sector, outgrossing music and movies combined. is expected The market size is expected to reach $363 billion by 2027. While traditional video game models such as Games as a Service GaaS has long been the gold standard, but the industry faces significant challenges that require innovative solutions.
Historically, the GaaS model has thrived in its free-to-play (F2P) incarnation by allowing users to access a base game for free and monetize it through in-game purchases such as cosmetics or gameplay perks. It’s easy to see the appeal of the F2P model for gamers: with no upfront costs and therefore no risk of paying for a gaming experience of unknown value, as there was in the past, there was little downside to trying out new games.
The success of the GaaS F2P model over the past decade has been so incredible that it has become a staple across the industry. From casual games to industry-leading publishers, GaaS F2P games are on everyone’s books. However, the sustainability of GaaS F2P is under threat as margins are getting smaller across the board. This is due to the perfect storm of a saturated market and high user acquisition costs, exacerbated by recent stringent privacy policy changes.
As the industry seeks a lifeline amidst these growing challenges, blockchain technology has been a beacon of hope for many, with its promise to revolutionize gaming monetization through Web 3. However, early attempts at Web 3 gaming focused on NFT collectibles came with a serious flaw: games required a constant flow of new players to exist. It was an interesting model but unsustainable in the medium to long term.
The second wave of Web3 games took the original NFT collectibles mode and augmented it with play-to-earn (P2E) and token economies. Unfortunately, these systems not only didn’t solve NFT collectibles gaming’s reliance on acquiring new users, they also brought new problems to the table. P2E games quickly became play-to-win (P2W) schemes, frustrating most players and hurting retention. Worse, many token economies raised concerns about their resemblance to gambling rather than traditional gaming due to their random reward distributions.
This divide is still evident in the Web3 gaming community today. It is divided between speculators who are attracted to the financial incentives of P2E models and are eager to turn gaming into a business, and traditional gamers, who are increasingly disillusioned with P2W-oriented monetization strategies and have yet to see truly engaging games that give them what they want: real entertainment value.
Furthermore, the broader gaming community, reaching billions of people worldwide, is still largely unaware of or uninterested in Web 3 gaming. For many of them, Web 3 is still a futuristic proposition, a wild west of possibilities that only the bravest dare to explore. The fact remains that there are significant gaps between the current quality of Web 2 games, the current implementation of Web 3 games, and the true potential of blockchain in gaming.
At GFAL (Games For A Living), we plan to bridge the gap between Web 2 and Web 3 gaming with an innovative business model that combines the best of both worlds. The GFAL business model focuses on GFAL game collectibles and transforms them from in-game assets into real-world valuables by focusing on ownership, seasonality, and standardization.
The first element of our business model is ownership. At GFAL, we make it possible for players to become the legal owners of the collectibles they acquire in-game. In other words, once players mint or purchase any in-game collectible from GFAL, they obtain a license to exploit the intellectual property rights to it. This means that players can profit from and monetize these collectibles in ways that have never been explored before, outside of the gaming environment, if they so desire.
Secondly, all games should follow a seasonal “Battle Pass” system, similar to the one we often see in Gaas, designed to keep the game engaging, fresh, and constantly running. GFAL takes this even further with its fusion mechanics and blends them with our unique approach to collectible ownership. On a practical level, this means that games require existing collectibles to be used to create new ones, which cleverly encourages healthy cross-play and prevents inflation within the game economy.
The third element of the business model, standardization, makes collectible ownership and seasonality with integration mechanisms possible. All collectibles in the game must follow a standardized system that tracks them and assigns them a level and rarity based on the time invested in the game. This allows for the creation of unique collectibles with their own individual history and gives all in-game collectibles a comparable and fair value that can also be transferred to all other GFAL games.
This groundbreaking business model, which combines ownership, seasonality, and standardization across games, addresses many of the current concerns surrounding video games. Designed to foster a fair, stable, and sustainable game offering that benefits both players and developers, this approach could be just what blockchain gaming needs to transcend its niche and achieve mainstream adoption.
However, we recognize that alongside a business model, products must provide an exceptional gaming experience. For this reason, developers must remain committed to building games that are fun in their own right, with blockchain elements that enhance the gaming experience rather than dominate it.
To support this, we are also developing a robust ecosystem that includes a proprietary identity system and a multi-game marketplace. These features are designed to support a community-focused gaming environment, encouraging interaction and engagement beyond the games themselves. This comprehensive ecosystem, open to third parties, is part of GFAL’s strategic approach to reducing friction for gamers transitioning from web2 to web3, ensuring the seamless integration of new technologies into familiar gaming contexts.
As we prepare to launch new titles later this year, we know that the gaming industry is watching closely. There’s no doubt that many people want to see if this new model can set a new standard for how games are played, owned, and monetized. We believe this approach could herald a new era for the gaming industry, one where the lines between Web 2.0 and Web 3 not only blur, but effectively disappear, creating a unified gaming experience that honors the roots of gaming culture and its future potential.
