The current climate appears to be favorable for the growth of digital items based on blockchain technology, also known as NFTs. While the mainstream digital item market has reached sales of around $17 billion, the global in-game item industry is projected to spend an estimated $77 billion on in-game purchases by 2025. The virtual goods market may reach $294 billion by the end of the decade, with 20% annual growth.
However, owning digital items has its challenges. Players have experienced disasters such as stolen skins or digital items that become obsolete in new game versions. This has led to a demand for safe and guaranteed ownership of valuable items.
NFT technology aims to address this issue by providing a transparent marketplace for digital items. Unlike the informal and unregulated market for skins in mainstream games, the NFT market offers clear ownership history and easily accessible price information. This transparency has attracted the attention of mainstream gaming studios, some of which have introduced NFTs as optional or experimental features.
The success of NFT trading has influenced the trading practices of mainstream markets. Projects like White Market have adopted NFT trading models, allowing users to swap Counter Strike 2 skins and pay with digital currency. Similarly, the game Shrapnel allows direct card purchases of its in-game token, expanding its player base.
Blockchain startups are also tokenizing existing digital assets to provide an additional layer of security. Metazero, for example, allows users with existing Steam accounts to secure their skins, weapons, or items through tokenization on the blockchain. Additionally, game items from Counter Strike 2 can be tokenized as NFTs and traded based on their rarity, similar to real-world asset tokenization.
While some game companies have been skeptical of NFTs and have banned their use, others have embraced similar models by assigning transparent rarity levels to their weapon skins. The collision or partnership between the NFT market and the game skin industry is yet to be determined, but both technologies offer fair and transparent markets that tap into rarity, visual appeal, and player preferences.