A future already past?
The promises and pitfalls of cryptogames, blockchain, and speculative play
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7557/23.7131Keywords:
cryptogames, play-to-earn, Huizinga, Caillois, gambling, speculationAbstract
The article argues that blockchain-based games should be conceptualized as an emerging social practice that attracts financial speculators under the guise of online games. The article first outlines the blockchain-gaming discourse, which promises ownership and benefits to players, while it encourages financiers and publishers to exploit players. The article presents the performative discourse of blockchain advocates as well as the counterarguments presented by journalist, players, and developers, in order to demonstrate that arguments against cryptogaming are not anticapitalist and politicized, but mostly based on common sense. Then, the article investigates game studies concepts for their capacity to further explicate cryptogames, and finds that neither gamification nor playbor are completely fitting. Instead, the article turns to the game research fundamentals of Huizinga and Caillois to cast blockchain gaming in a new light. From this perspective, games like CryptoKitties and Axie Infinity emerge as nested activities that can be approached as play of financial speculation, with the latter approach being significantly privileged in existing games.
References
Backe, H. -J. (2008). Caillois revisited: Towards a general theory of games and rules. In M. Ghosh-Schellhorn & R. Marti (Eds.), Playing by the rules of the game (pp. 53–63). Berlin: Lit Verlag.
Badea, L., & Mungiu-Pupӑzan, M. C. (2021). The economic and environmental im-pact of bitcoin. IEEE Access, 9, 48091–48104. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3068636 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3068636
Blockchain Game Alliance. (2020, April 24). How blockchain collectibles can transform game monetization & promotion. Medium. https://medium.com/blockchain-game-alliance/how-blockchain-collectibles-can-transform-game-monetization-promotion-7e02f9c7ffbe
Boluk, S., & LeMieux, P. (2017). Metagaming: Playing, competing, spectating, cheating, trading, making, and breaking videogames. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5749/9781452958354
Caillois, R. (2001). Man, play and games. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Calleja, G. (2012). Erasing the magic circle. In J. R. Sageng, H. J. Fossheim & T. M. Larsen (Eds.), The philosophy of computer games (pp. 77–91). Dordrecht: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4249-9_6
Carter, M., Gibbs, M., & Harrop, M. (2012). Metagames, paragames and orthogames: A new vocabulary. Proceedings of the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, 11–17. https://doi.org/10.1145/2282338.2282346 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2282338.2282346
Chalk, A. (2022, March 29). Crypto thieves rob adorable digital animal game for more than $617M. PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/crypto-thieves-rob-adorable-digital-animal-game-for-more-than-dollar617m/
Chow, A. R., & de Guzman, C. (2022, July 25). A crypto game promised to lift Filipinos out of poverty. Here‘s what happened instead. Time. https://time.com/6199385/axie-infinity-crypto-game-philippines-debt/
Dapper Labs. (2017). CryptoKitties [Browser-based]. Dapper Labs.
Delfabbro, P., & King, D. (2023). The evolution of young gambling studies: Digital convergence of gaming, gambling and cryptocurrency technologies. International Gambling Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2023.2171469 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2023.2171469
Egliston, B., & Carter, M. (2023). Cryptogames: The promises of blockchain for the future of the videogame industry. New Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231158614 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231158614
Fenlon, W. (2022, February 26). “50% of transactions were fraudulent” when Steam accepted bitcoin for payments, says Gabe Newell. PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/50-of-transactions-were-fraudulent-when-steam-accepted-bitcoin-for-payments-says-gabe-newell/
Fuchs, M., Fizek, S., Ruffino, P., & Schrape, N. (2014). Rethinking gamification. Lüneburg: meson press.
Gach, E. (2022a, February 4). Ubisoft’s latest galaxy-brain move is to gift scammy NFTs to employees. Kotaku. https://kotaku.com/ubisoft-nft-crypto-scam-tom-clancy-ghost-recon-breakpoi-1848484228
Gach, E. (2022b, February 10). Report: Gaming CEO pushes NFT scam while devs struggle to buy food. PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/overcooked-and-going-under-devs-revolt-against-publisher-team17s-nft-plans/
GDC/Informatech. (2022). State of the game industry 2022. https://images.reg.techweb.com/Web/UBMTechweb/%7B0e130537-da8b-43da-971d-ccd0104cdb02%7D_GDC22_Report_SOTI.pdf
Harviainen, T. J., Serada, A., & Sihvonen, T. (2022). Cryptogames as drivers for blockchain application development. In A. Dingli et al. (Eds.), Disruptive technologies in media, arts and design (pp. 55–61). Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93780-5_5
Herian, R. (2019). Regulating blockchain: Critical perspectives in law and technology. London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429489815
Hjorth, L. (2018). Ambient and soft play: Play, labour and the digital in everyday life. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 21(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549417705606 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549417705606
Hoyng, R. (2023). From bitcoin to farm bank: An idiotic inquiry into blockchain speculation. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 29(4), 1015–1032. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231154104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231154104
Huizinga, J. (1949). Homo ludens: A study of the play-element in culture. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Huizinga, J. (1987). Homo Ludens. Vom Ursprung der Kultur im Spiel [Homo Ludens: The play-element in culture]. Reinbek: Rowohlt.
Hyrynsalmi, S., Hyrynsalmi, S. M., & Kimppa, K. K. (2021). The state of the art of the blockchain ethics in healthcare: A systematic literature review. FinJeHeW, 13(3), 193–206. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.102906
Itch.io. [@itchio]. (2022, February 6). A few have asked about our stance on NFTs: NFTs are a scam. If you think they are legitimately useful [Quote tweet]. Twitter. Retrieved 4 June 2023, from https://twitter.com/itchio/status/1490141815294414856
Kücklich, J. (2005). Precarious playbour: Modders and the digital games industry. Fibreculture, 5(1). http://five.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-025-precarious-playbour-modders-and-the-digital-games-industry/
Macey, J., & Hamari, J. (2022). Gamblification: A definition. New Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221083903 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221083903
Nofer, M., Gomber, P., Hinz, O., & Schiereck, D. (2017). Blockchain. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 59, 183–187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-017-0467-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-017-0467-3
Nunley, C. (2021, May 14). People in the Philippines are earning cryptocurrency during the pandemic by playing a video game. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/14/people-in-philippines-earn-cryptocurrency-playing-nft-video-game-axie-infinity.html
Ongweso, E. (2022, April 4). The Metaverse has bosses too: Meet the ‘managers’ of Axie Infinity. Motherboard. https://www.vice.com/en/article/88g3ag/the-metaversehas-bosses-too-meet-the-managers-of-axie-infinity
Pereira, A. P. (2023, April 15). NFT.NYC: Play-to-Earn is not dead, but game publishers are looking for alternatives. CoinTelegraph. https://cointelegraph.com/news/nft-nyc-play-to-earn-is-not-dead-but-game-publishers-are-looking-for-alternatives
Raczkowski, F. (2014). Making points the point: Towards a history of ideas of gamification. In M. Fuchs, S. Fizek, P. Ruffino, & N. Schrape (Eds.), Rethinking gamification (pp. 141–160). Lüneburg: meson press.
Robb, L., Deane, F., & Tranter, K. (2021). The blockchain conundrum: Humans, community regulation and chains. Law, Innovation and Technology, (13)(2), 355–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2021.1977215 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2021.1977215
Schüll, N. D. (2012). Addiction by design. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Serada, A. (2022). Fairness by design: The fair game and the fair price on a block-chain-based marketplace. In A. Dingli et al. (Eds.), Disruptive technologies in media, arts and design (pp. 63–75). Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93780-5_6
Serada, A., Sihvonen, T., & Harviainen, J. T. (2021). CryptoKitties and the new ludic economy: How blockchain introduces value, ownership, and scarcity in digital gaming. Games and Culture, 16(4), 457–480. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412019898305 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412019898305
Sky Mavis. (2018). Axie Infinity [Multiplatform]. Sky Mavis.
Stenros, J. (2012). In defence of a magic circle: The social and mental boundaries of play. Proceedings of DiGRA Nordic 2012 Conference: Local and Global–Games in Culture and Society. Tampere: University of Tampere.
Tan, E. (2022, February 3). Who’s using the Metaverse? Poker players in Decentraland. CoinDesk. https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/02/03/whos-using-the-metaverse-poker-players-in-decentraland/
Wang, Y., Horky, F., Baals, L. J., Lucey, B. M., & Vigne, S. A. (2022). Bubbles all the way down? Detecting and date-stamping bubble behaviours in NFT and DeFi markets. Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, (20)(4), 415–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/14765284.2022.2138161 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14765284.2022.2138161
Wulfert, E., Franco, C., Williams, K., Roland, B., & Maxson, J. H. (2008). The role of money in the excitement of gambling. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22(3), 380–390. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893164X.22.3.380 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-164X.22.3.380
Xiao, L. Y. (2021). Regulating loot boxes as gambling? Towards a combined legal and self-regulatory consumer protection approach. Interactive Entertainment Law Review, 4(1), 27–47. https://doi.org/10.4337/ielr.2021.01.02 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/ielr.2021.01.02
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Hans-Joachim Backe
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
