Presented by Horizon
In the past, advancements in game development relied on upgrades to compute power and graphics. In the last decade, new distribution models like digital and mobile, and innovations in monetization such as free-to-play and ads, spurred gaming into the largest entertainment category in the world. Web3 represents a new paradigm that combines both fundamental technology and unprecedented opportunities for developers and players in how they monetize and enjoy games. And developing in this new paradigm is getting a whole lot easier, says Michael Sanders, Chief Storyteller and Co-Founder at Horizon Blockchain Games, the creators of Sequence.
“Web3 is a technology that unlocks creativity and monetization benefits for game developers and builders, while at the same time enabling flexibility and new experiences for players,” Sanders says. “We’re seeing Web3-based games enable higher player retention and spend. For example, Hunters On-Chain, an action RPG leveraging Web3 by BoomLand, sees 4.5x higher D30 retention, 7.2x higher ARPU, and bigger spending from whales compared to the Web2 version of the game. And as the utility of Web3 and blockchain expands, perhaps beyond the core gaming experience, players will find even more value, especially when brands begin to curate new and immersive experiences.”
Currently, the blockchain industry is picking up speed, and games built with Web3 elements are coming from developers ranging from small teams and indie shops to triple-A game studios like Ubisoft, Zynga, Nexon, Square Enix, Atari and many more. Big tech players like Google, AWS, and Microsoft all have entries into the blockchain services market and are continuing to explore new ways to integrate Web3 into their offerings to reinforce the success of their GTM strategies.
“Half the Fortune 100 companies have active Web3 plans. Developers should be paying attention,” Sanders says.
Democratizing Web3 for studios of every size
Web3 is now in its second generation, in which the technology has become tremendously more accessible. With the first generation, game developers were forced to grapple with the technical complexity of blockchain, spending most of their focus and energy on integration and implementation before even starting to think about designing a game. This outdated technology forced certain design choices and go-to-market strategies, which often didn’t match the familiar experiences most gamers expect.
Now the technology and onboarding issues into Web3 are largely solved, Sanders says, so game makers don’t need to have highly technical Web3 expertise, and instead, they can focus on creating unprecedented player experiences while leveraging this technology. With simpler and easier-to-use developer tools, experienced game makers from the Web2, mobile, PC, and console worlds can leverage their expertise in this new frontier.
“In the next few years, there’s going to be a ton of amazing games that players adore,” he says. “Studios won’t necessarily market these as Web3 games, but they’ll be able to offer the innovative gameplay that attracts enthusiastic players because the games just so happen to leverage Web3.”
How Web3 experiences build player engagement
Web3 games can produce higher LTV, and in-game marketplaces are one of the key ingredients. Sanders points to Horizon’s Web3 card trading game Skyweaver as one example, which was praised as the best blockchain game by NFT Insider in 2022. Its in-game marketplace drives more than 90% of Skyweaver game item transactions, which means that the game doesn’t have to share royalties and transaction fees with third parties.
At the same time, an in-game marketplace keeps players in the game, rather than sending them to a third party and interrupting the fun and enjoyment expected from the gameplay. This not only deepens engagement by immersing players completely in the game’s landscape, but also adds another level of loyalty and engagement because the player actually owns the items that they buy. This sense of genuine ownership adds another layer of player-game connection, as players can proudly showcase their virtual possessions to the gaming community and beyond, fostering a vibrant and interconnected ecosystem.
“By leveraging Web3 technologies, it unlocks the ability for developers and creators to build deep and secure economies, which wasn’t possible in the Web2 era to the same extent, given the open and transparent nature of these public ledgers,” Sanders says. “It allows players to not only be players, but extends far beyond that. They can be creators, contributors, and Web3 enthusiasts. Web3 enables an economy where anyone can participate. They can grow and help inform and evolve digital economies in entirely new ways. They can even build third-party tools that contribute to the game loop or the ecosystem in which they participate, which deepens the entire experience.”
At the same time, Web3 games don’t require complex new economies. Data shows these titles see increased LTV, consumer spend, and conversion rate, even when the game design looks and feels very similar to existing titles or free-to-play mechanics.
Overcoming the hurdles to building Web3 games
When Horizon started building Skyweaver six years ago, the Web3 ecosystem was nascent, fragmented, and difficult to wield. With the intent of making it fully accessible to any gamer, the team had to overcome several blockchain infrastructure pain points. That included user onboarding, wallet setups, and account creation, as well as making payments and fees frictionless and intuitive. It was a challenge to find simple ways to buy and trade Web3 items, whether digital items or NFTs.
On the developer side, it was about finding painless ways to monetize an in-game or in-app marketplace, choosing which blockchain to deploy on, and finally, making it easier to work with blockchain data, for functions like displaying player balances and inventory, as well as the metadata associated with them.
Previously, game developers were forced to use many different resources for onboarding, transactions, and marketplaces. But, as Sanders points out, that puts a tremendous onus on internal teams and builders with respect to Web3, and usually results in clunky experiences.
That’s where Sequence comes in – Horizon’s all-in-one developer platform for building Web3 games. The comprehensiveness of Sequence is unique. The platform offers a complete stack that gives builders everything they need to incorporate Web3 into their game, both for new or existing titles, whether game developers are building with Unreal Engine, Unity, mobile, or web. Sequence has everything needed to ensure a seamless experience across the entire player journey.
“We’ve talked about how Web3 can unlock limitless creative opportunities for developers, flexibility for gamers, and opens new revenue possibilities, but we really want the technology to disappear into the background,” Sanders says. “Sequence enables builders to create a game that looks and feels as great as the titles that players are used to, and it allows them to future-proof their ability to leverage this growing Web3 ecosystem where media, games, and consumer brands are all innovating.”
Onboarding and account creation: Hurdles like onboarding and account creation are eliminated with Sequence’s wallet infrastructure which makes creating a wallet and signing into a game seamless and secure, while simplifying and abstracting away gas fees by allowing developers to sponsor transactions. Sequence’s smart contract wallets are the gold standard in account creation, letting players set up their wallet in two clicks, using email or social login, or a game’s existing authentication system.
In-game transactions: Sequence makes buying game items simple with built-in checkouts and payment rails for debit or credit cards, exactly as it would happen in any game. This allows developers to welcome more inflows into their titles and makes purchasing these items more intuitive for players. And, to make it easy for players to trade, the Sequence Marketplace Engine lets developers build a white-labeled marketplace that’s tailored to their brand and audience and allows players to trade game items instantly, easily and securely.
Accessing blockchain data: As for blockchain data, the Sequence Indexer makes it fast and easy for games to query the data and serve it to their players in real time so that they know what they own, what they can play with and what they can trade.
Building for live ops games: The Sequence Node Gateway ensures Web3 games are always up and running by aggregating various node providers, including some internally managed nodes. In the event that one node goes down, it automatically switches to ensure the game is always up and running for both developers and players. In conjunction with the Indexer, Sequence ensures that developers can serve real-time data and assets as they would with any AAA live ops game. It also works with any EVM-compatible chain, which means that if anything happens to the chain the developer is on, they can port over to another with the flip of a toggle, without interrupting their Sequence integration.
The future of Web3 adoption
Today, most of Skyweaver’s large, international cohort of players are new to Web3 – and that’s because it’s a strategy title targeted at gamers, rather than Web3 folks, Sanders says.
“Skyweaver demonstrates that you can make a great video game and have all the Web3 complexity abstracted from players,” he says. “It’s a game that leverages Web3 to deepen player engagement and offer new experiences, and it delivers good unit economics in terms of player spend. It’s a strong example of how successful Web3 games can be made.”
Gaming, in fact, will be a massive driver of Web3 adoption, as well as interactive experiences developed by consumer brands, sports teams, fashion, retail, and more. But ultimately, mass adoption will be driven by amazing content.
“Great content is king for driving adoption,” Sanders says. “Players just want great games. As players enjoy enhanced gaming experiences and game studios monetize better, we’ll see Web3 titles become the norm over time. It represents an incredible opportunity for studios eager to dive in.”
Dig deeper: If you’re a game developer and want to find out more about the Sequence stack or get started with your Web3 journey, visit the Sequence website.
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