The popularity of NFTs has spread like virtual wildfire across many industries. So much so, that it has even spread to the massive world of gaming and Esports. Video game giant Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), the makers of Need For Speed, FIFA, and NBA Live, believes NFTs will play an important role in the future of gaming.
NFTs and Gaming
Recently, the shift in the NFT space has been a focus on blockchain gaming since NFTs can be used to represent in-game assets. For example, a unique digital plot of land that is under the control of the NFT owner rather than the game developer, or a unique skin that changes the player’s in-game appearance.
NFTs could also be used to transfer in-game assets from one game to another, like importing a rare weapon from one first-person-shoot game into another.
We have already seen blockchain gaming beginning to boom on OpenSea with the hype surrounding the Wolf Game, and major projects such as The Doge Pound rebranding themselves as an NFT gaming studio.
It’s predicted that NFTs will allow gaming companies to shift to a centralized marketplace utilizing blockchain technology to allow gamers to freely create and transfer digital goods across multiple gaming platforms. More and more companies are looking to NFTs to create digital assets which allow for virtual commodities such as music, art, sports, and other popular entertainment, including gaming.
EA and NFTs
As one of the largest gaming companies, EA believes that NFTs are the next big thing. EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson recently stated, “I think the play-to-earn (P2E) or the NFT conversation is still really, really early.”
He went on to note, “I do think it will be an important part of the future of our industry…In the context of the games we create and the live services that we offer, collectible digital content is going to play a meaningful part in our future.”
This could mean we might see EA getting into NFT P2E franchises, which EA believes its gamers will want to see soon.
EA is the creator of the hugely successful FIFA Football (or soccer for you US fans) series of games. FIFA’s Ultimate Team allows gamers to use “card packs” to “collect” football players from loot box-style systems. NFTs are already being used in the sports collectibles market and seem as though they may be a natural fit with FIFA’s Ultimate Team and similar customization modes in other games.
However, there are still many considerations around the implementation of NFTs in gaming. For example, Wilson has indicated that sports games like FIFA are rolled out annually, reflecting the current sports calendar, and the ongoing value and utility of NFTs in this context must be considered.
The Bottom Line
EA appears poised to proceed with investigating the addition of NFTs into its gaming business model. Wilson went on to state, “Is there an opportunity, particularly as we think about NFTs and other digital ecosystems to expand [the value of collectability in sports games] over time? I think the short answer to that is ‘Yes’.”
