Cryptocurrency has undoubtedly risen to greater prominence within mainstream society since the launch of Bitcoin. This is easy to see when you consider how popular digital currency now is with investors and how people increasingly use crypto to purchase goods within daily life. One area where it is still struggling to make headway though is the gaming market. This often comes as a surprise to people, as playing with cryptocurrencies seems to be a natural fit for gaming.
Crypto in the gaming sector
The struggle for crypto to establish a foothold in gaming remains despite efforts within the industry to include popular coins as accepted payment choices. For instance, there are now dedicated online crypto casinos that enable people to play with digital cash.
It’s not just online casino play where crypto has become more noticeable in recent years. Some video games have now begun to allow players to make in-game purchase with well-known coins or even incorporate crypto-backed NFTs into their game design.
Although the above shows how cryptocurrencies have started to make their presence felt in the gaming segment, things have not progressed quite as quickly as expected. But why is this the case?
Lack of demand from players
Lack of demand is certainly one major reason why crypto has not yet established a stronger presence in the gaming market worldwide. Although there are a hardcore group of players who use popular coins to game with online, the majority still prefer to use more familiar payment options.
For instance, Boku is a popular payment choice globally and allows players to make deposits and withdrawals safely via mobile. If you combine this with the best Boku casinos as shown on www.newcasinos.com/, such as MrQ or Jackpot Village Casino, players can enjoy outstanding security when gaming online.
The appetite for familiar payment choices in the gaming industry is also clear when you consider how popular debit cards, credit cards and e-wallets remain with players. While crypto has come a long way in recent years in becoming more familiar within mainstream society, many gamers still do not feel confident enough to choose it as their main payment method. Some gamers also find the whole process of acquiring crypto to game with and setting up a crypto wallet to use to be more hassle than it’s worth.
Technical challenges to overcome
Crypto’s struggle to really make inroads into the gaming industry can also be explained in terms of technical issues. Scalability is a good place to start and can become a real problem for popular games. As some blockchain networks that coins run on can have difficulty handling high transaction volumes, it can make digital cash less suitable for an industry like gaming, which attracts huge numbers of players.
Gaming is also a fast-paced hobby, and modern players expect to make in-game transactions or deposits and withdrawals at online casinos without any delays. Blockchain transactions can be slower at times than more traditional payment options, meaning that players are still more likely to shy away from crypto payments.
Crypto remains a volatile market
There is no getting away from the volatile nature of crypto and the price swings which coins can be subject to. Bitcoin’s price history from 2009 to 2024 is a classic example and shows how this coin itself has been prone to high volatility over its lifetime. This can deter both players and developers from using crypto, making it harder for digital currencies to become established in the industry.
For example, online casino players might be reluctant to use what they see as an unstable payment option due to fears of prices dropping by the time they cash out. Game developers across the sector might worry about using a highly volatile currency for in-game purchases as it could negatively impact the game’s economy.
Crypto’s reputation within gaming
Overall, cryptocurrencies now enjoy a much more positive reputation with the public and are better understood in general. However, when it comes to the gaming industry, it seems that digital currencies might still have an image problem with more traditional players.
As a result, gamers worldwide are cautious of using it to play with due to negative topics it may have been previously linked to, such as speculative trading or being used for illegal activities. Crypto’s reputation with traditional gamers can affect how many are confident enough to use it and how strong a foothold it has established in the industry.
The somewhat uncertain nature of regulation within the crypto sector overall also ties in with this and means players are more likely to choose a payment option for gaming which is regulated in a more defined way.
Crypto accessibility within gaming
Perhaps the last major reason cryptocurrencies are still struggling to carve out a firm presence in gaming is accessibility. This simply means that crypto is not a valid payment option at enough online casinos, online gaming platforms or within games themselves.
Due to this, coins like Bitcoin and popular altcoins are just not an option for players to game with — even if they would like too! This is holding back the wider adoption of crypto by gamers and making it hard for digital cash to become a bigger part of worldwide gaming. Until more developers, online casinos and online gaming platforms start to adopt cryptocurrencies, this is unlikely to change.
Cryptocurrencies in gaming: Can they become more prominent in future?
Although crypto might not yet have quite the foothold it would like in the gaming market, there is no reason this cannot change moving ahead. If the above issues are addressed by both the gaming and cryptocurrency industries, then we should see digital currency really take off with players.
The increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies into daily life should also help as time moves on and lead to people being more likely to use crypto for a broader range of activities, including gaming. A brief look at the rise of cryptocurrencies in general over the last decade makes it clear that anything is possible.