For anyone who’s into gaming and who hasn’t yet opened a bitcoin wallet, now could be the right time to do so. More and more games developers are now incorporating the digital currency, either within the playing experience or as a way to pay.
Play-to-win
bitcoin
One area
where it’s now as easy to play with bitcoin as any other currency is in casino
gaming. In the past couple of years, the growth of the bitcasino market has
been phenomenal. In the same way that you can have an online casino account
funded with fiat currencies, there are now lots of bitcasinos with the usual
gamut of casino games available. Many players choose bitcasinos as they are secure and accounts can be
anonymous – you only need to supply a username and email address and have a
bitcoin wallet you can fund your account with. An added advantage is that any
winnings cleared for withdrawal can be transferred back to your wallet
immediately, giving you the freedom to spend your profits elsewhere.
Table” (CC BY
2.0) by slgckgc
It’s not just at bitcasinos where
bitcoins can be won, though. There’s one free-to-play geocaching game called Takara,
where players both plant and hunt for bitcoin treasure – think Pokémon Go but
instead of looking for Pokémon, you’re on the lookout for bitcoins and
Counterparty tokens. The Counterparty tokens that can be collected in the game
can be used directly on the bitcoin blockchain, which means that the game’s
prizes will be valid to use outside the app. In this way, the game developers
are hoping that the influence of the digital currency will be increased.
Buy games with bitcoin
As well as games that involve the
winning of bitcoins, it’s now also possible to buy games with bitcoins. On the
Steam platform, and at Kinguin and G2A, there’s a now a pay with bitcoin option. In addition, the No Man’s Sky website began accepting
direct bitcoin payments this August for pre-orders of the PC version of the new
exploration and survival game.
“ESL Extreme Masters: Pro Gaming” (CC BY 2.0) by wuestenigel
A bitcoin-enabled gaming experience on the CEVO platform is
being developed through a partnership between Global eSports company, CEVO, and
Leet, a bitcoin-based gaming service, working together with Xapo, a bitcoin
debit card provider. CEVO users can already enter tournaments that have prize
money to play for and through the new partnership they will be able to boost
their bitcoin wallets when playing games and challenging their friends. Any
winnings can be withdrawn to a Xapo wallet and held as a bitcoin balance.
Already gamers can win and lose gambling games in bitcoins,
they can buy games in the digital currency and earn it in free-to-play games.
Perhaps professional gamers will soon be paid in bitcoin too. With bitcoin
crossing all kinds of gaming platforms and international borders, gamers’
playing funds will be able to jump from casinos and poker to console games and
treasure-hunt games like Takara. In the same way that email has all but
replaced the need for the old-fashioned postal system, it’s highly likely that
in a few years’ time many gaming transactions will be made with bitcoins and
gamers’ credit cards will be left gathering dust.
Play-to-win bitcoin
