The Web3 gaming industry has transitioned from speculative approaches to prioritizing sustainability, enhanced gameplay, and strong infrastructure. According to a game developer director, the ongoing market correction is seen as an essential reset that paves the way for stable growth by removing projects that lack solid fundamentals.
A Necessary Reset for Web3 Gaming
Over the past few years, the Web3 gaming industry has experienced a major shift, transitioning from a phase of excitement and speculative play-to-earn (P2E) models to a greater emphasis on sustainability, enhanced gameplay, and improved infrastructure. Developers in the Web3 gaming space largely perceive the current market correction as a vital and beneficial reset.
As stated by Manfred Pack, the game development director at DAR Open Network, the emphasis has moved away from unsustainable speculation towards establishing long-term value. Pack argues that the initial excitement surrounding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and P2E models was inherently unsustainable. He contends that the market correction has effectively paved the way for more stable growth by eliminating projects that lacked solid fundamentals.
Pack asserts that the developers who remain in the industry are no longer “chasing speculation” but are instead dedicated to crafting games that are built to endure. He shared with Bitcoin.com News that he believes blockchain is not a shortcut to success; rather, a game must first be enjoyable and captivating, with blockchain elements simply enhancing the core experience.
The Foundations of Developer Confidence
According to Pack, developers' confidence is rooted in several essential beliefs. Primarily, they view digital ownership as a crucial and lasting transformation within the industry.
"The assurance in Web3 gaming arises from the belief that digital ownership represents a fundamental shift, alongside the ongoing development of infrastructure such as wallets, scalability, and standards, as well as the understanding that blockchain is not merely a shortcut to achieving success," he contends.
The development director further asserts that the foundational infrastructure of Web3 has progressively advanced, showcasing notable enhancements in wallets, scalability solutions, and industry standards. Developers, in turn, have gained insights from previous setbacks, acknowledging that a viable game economy must be established on authentic gameplay and community engagement, rather than solely on tokenomics.
Pack also emphasized that the speculative bubble was not exclusively the result of developers' actions.
"Investors have invested heavily in projects driven by hype rather than solid fundamentals, which has led to increased volatility and made a correction unavoidable. However, this reset has opened the door for more sustainable growth," asserts the director.
The Emergence of AI Agents
The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and Web3 is ushering in a new age for gaming, transcending basic bots and scripted actions. Although the initial excitement surrounding AI in gaming stemmed from a limited range of capabilities, advocates of the technology believe that the real transformation is just starting. Pack, along with other gaming specialists, argues that more significant innovations are on the way. He further states:
The more significant innovations, including AI-powered PvP agents that can learn and adapt to player tactics, or fully 'lifelike' non-player characters capable of meaningful interactions over time, necessitate much more development and research. These are intricate systems that require time to evolve.
In the long term, these AI agents hold the promise of radically changing gaming by crafting dynamic, ongoing worlds where players’ choices influence their experiences. Additionally, these agents can "enhance the social and economic aspects of games, especially in blockchain-enabled environments where agent-driven economies can thrive alongside player-generated content."
The Interoperability Challenge
Despite significant advancements in recent years, the Web3 gaming sector is viewed as having fallen short of one of its most ambitious goals: achieving a truly seamless experience across different games. The surge of innovation and investment has not enabled developers to create games that fulfill the Web3 vision.
Pack attributes this evident shortcoming to a critical weakness in the blockchain sector — a lack of interoperability.
"The primary obstacle is interoperability. Each blockchain and game typically employs distinct standards, complicating seamless portability. While bridges can assist, they introduce additional complexity, costs, and security vulnerabilities," the director explains.
Moreover, Pack highlights the difficulty of maintaining progression and economies across various games as another significant barrier to achieving a genuinely seamless gaming experience. Additionally, some gaming studios hesitate to incorporate external assets into their economies, fearing it may undermine monetization or disrupt player progression.
To ensure interoperability succeeds, Pack emphasizes, "we require both technical frameworks and business models that incentivize collaboration." He points out that DAR Open Network exemplifies a Web3 gaming ecosystem designed to tackle this interoperability issue, facilitating the transfer of data, assets, and value across different networks. He also claims that DAR Open Network’s chain-agnostic architecture enables cross-game interoperability and shared experiences without necessitating users to frequently transfer assets or navigate complicated on-chain processes.
The Importance of Regulation and Public Trust
When discussing regulation, or the absence of it, Pack recognizes that this is a significant obstacle since varying jurisdictions classify tokens or NFTs differently, which ultimately "hinders innovation and introduces risks when trying out new models." Nonetheless, the majority of developers still see the necessity of regulation within the Web3 gaming sector.
"Nevertheless, most developers agree that well-crafted regulations are crucial. They provide clarity, safeguard players, and establish a solid groundwork for sustainable growth," he claims.
Pack also acknowledges that the failures of early Web3 games severely damaged public trust, and restoring this trust may pose the industry's greatest challenge to date. Looking forward, the director is confident that collaborations among studios, infrastructure providers, and ecosystems will be vital for the Web3 gaming industry as it strives to offer users a genuinely seamless experience across different games.
