A future already past? The promises and pitfalls of cryptogames, blockchain, and speculative play

Hans-Joachim Backe

doi:10.7557/23.7131

Authors

Hans-Joachim Backe IT University of Copenhagen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0091-2574

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/23.7131

Keywords:

cryptogames, play-to-earn, Huizinga, Caillois, gambling, speculation

Abstract

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 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. 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. 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 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 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 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. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93780-5_5

Herian, R. (2019). Regulating blockchain: Critical perspectives in law and technology. London: Routledge. 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 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 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. 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 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 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 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. 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 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 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 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 https://doi.org/10.4337/ielr.2021.01.02