It is no secret that the blockchain gaming market is poised for continued growth in the near to mid-term, with a recent study noting that the sector is set to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 70.3% over the next five-year haul. Numerically speaking, the industry's spending value is projected to increase from $4.6 billion in 2022 to $65.7 billion by the end of 2027. The primary drivers of this growth include a rise in investments in blockchain games and a shift from traditional gaming titles to blockchain-based ones.

To elaborate, most traditional video games are centralized, meaning all in-game items - including characters, skins, weapons, and experience gained while playing - cannot be used across other projects. On the contrary, blockchain gaming enables players to own their in-game digital assets. As a result, players are able to deploy their rewards and assets across different crypto-gaming projects. 

Blockchain is disrupting the traditional multiplayer gaming paradigm

Most of today's popular multiplayer strategy games primarily focus on combat and basic alliances, with very few facilitating intricate, multilateral social interactions among players. However, the advent of blockchain-based smart contracts and other similar infrastructures have revolutionized this aspect completely. 

To this point, Curio, an on-chain gaming lab building the next generation of crypto Web3 games, recently released a title called 'Treaty,' a blockchain-based game designed with the goal of fostering extensive and meaningful social interactions. It leverages the flexibility of cryptocurrency and the robustness of smart contracts to provide a unique gaming experience. The game is set in an on-chain environment where players have the liberty to establish new nations and governance structures, essentially creating their own utopian societies. 

The design of Treaty is centered around empowering players, encouraging them to innovate and construct in more advanced ways. The game offers a platform for players to unleash their creativity and form profound social bonds. Moreover, as part of the game, players can create and uphold any agreements they make with each other in the virtual world thanks to the composability of smart contracts. As per Modeo (Yanfu) Cheng, a student at UC Berkeley and founding game designer of the highly touted game developer Curio Research:

"Our mission is to develop innovative strategy games that emphasize these enhanced player interactions, aiming to replicate the authentic multiplayer experiences found in real-life social dynamics."

Curio is making waves, globally

From the onset, Curio has piqued several notable investors' interest. In February, Curio Research raised a sizable $2.9 million as part of its seed funding round. The fundraiser was spearheaded by Bain Capital Crypto, TCG Crypto, Formless Capital, Smrti Labs, and Robot Ventures, with the capital being used to expedite Curio's mission - i.e. to develop a new generation of crypto games that emphasize composable user-generated content.

In recent interviews, the Curio team has stated that they are fully aware that the success of on-chain games hinges on overcoming significant technical hurdles that exist within the blockchain industry. For example, traditional game engineering architectures, such as game tick, parallel processing patterns, and heavy data pipelines, are incompatible with blockchains. 

As a result, the Curio team is looking to resolve these bottlenecks and innovate at the most fundamental level. To start with, they released Keystone, custom chain software specifically designed for on-chain games. This software boasts a wider range of capabilities than standard EVM chains, setting Curio apart from other game developers in the sector. 

Looking ahead

From the outside looking in, Cheng and the Curio team are pioneering a new path in the blockchain gaming industry with Treaty, a game that underscores the importance of social dynamics and player interactions. As the market matures and expands, innovative concepts like Treaty have the potential to reshape the gaming industry and lay the foundation for a fresh wave of blockchain-integrated games.