2020 marked a remarkable year for the decentralized oracle network Chainlink, as both the decentralized finance space and Chainlink's engagement with it saw substantial growth.
However, a hidden gem in the recent Chainlink expansion is its foray into the emerging world of blockchain gaming, where its offerings have started to capture the industry's interest.
The Chainlink team is honing in on the gaming sector within the cryptoeconomy, showcasing their commitment and progress towards integrating their technology there. Here's a deeper dive into their efforts.
Time to Play
Over the past two years, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have witnessed a surge in popularity. Their application in gaming, specifically in asset ownership, is a domain where they've gained notable traction.
Traditionally, NFTs have been static entities anchored on the blockchain. However, Chainlink's framework, by supplementing smart contracts with off-chain data, is paving the way for NFTs in gaming to become more dynamic, linking them to variables like real-time sports scores.
Consider a scenario where players must achieve certain in-game targets to hold on to exclusive gaming items. The Chainlink team elaborated on this use case. first post a few months ago:
Imagining a game where players duel to maintain control over items for the longest period isn't far-fetched. Chainlink assists by sourcing off-chain performance metrics and integrating them into the smart contracts that oversee asset transfers.
Aside from enhancing dynamism, gaming NFTs stand to benefit immensely from Chainlink's core specialty: reliable price feeds. Precise exchange rates for gaming and adjacent assets like ETH are crucial for effective in-game economies, and Chainlink’s solutions integrate seamlessly.
Furthermore, Chainlink’s secret weapon for gaming is its VRF, or verifiable randomness function. Traditional randomness methods pose challenges and security gaps for blockchain games, but Chainlink VRF empowers developers to ensure fair randomness on-chain, impacting factors like asset drops and gameplay outcomes.
The potential of blockchain-based games to revolutionize the gaming landscape, potentially driving the market into trillions, particularly through rewards enabled by randomness, is noteworthy, as emphasized by Chainlink.
Randomness is a cornerstone in many blockchain gaming decentralized apps (dApps). #ChainlinkVRF Chainlink VRF presents game creators with the distinct advantage of incorporating an on-chain verified randomness source, enhancing user trust. Delve into the documentation for further insights. https://t.co/0KMCuH46nm pic.twitter.com/B6nZ9URi11
— Chainlink (@chainlink) July 28, 2020
In this vein, lotteries Lottery systems are another avenue where Chainlink VRF demonstrates its versatility. Earlier this month, the GameJam Hackathon with the Colorado Lottery spotlighted Chainlink’s lotto and VRF advancements.
Partner Projects Growing
Chainlink has secured an array of partnerships in the NFT gaming sphere, actively powering projects or preparing to, offering solutions such as:
- Bullionix’s “coin flip” mechanism
- Readable name features in the expansive War Riders MMO
- BLOCKLORDS' incentivization and rewards structure
- Enjin’s ENJ/ETH price feed
- Polyient Games’s rewards system
- Randomization in FaceGold
Blockchain-Agnostic Progress
Being a middleware solution, Chainlink caters to the oracle requisites of diverse blockchain ecosystems.
Ethereum currently serves as the centerpiece for much of cryptoeconomy's gaming activities, and Chainlink is poised to capitalize as gaming ascends within other networks.
Chainlink’s reach includes platforms like Binance Smart Chain, NEAR Protocol, Blockchain Services Network, and WAX, setting it up to benefit from their respective growths. Recently, a notable adoption was made by a WAX-based EarnBet casino choosing Chainlink's data feeds and VRF. Anticipate more projects from the cryptoworld to follow this trend.
