Is PUBG Coming to the Blockchain?
UpOnly | Research #3: PUBG creator and Meta push blockchain gaming and Metaverse boundaries
The blockchain gaming industry recently welcomed a traditional gaming heavyweight. Krafton, the company behind one of the world’s most popular gaming franchises, Player Unknown Battleground (PUBG), announced a new partnership focused on the development of blockchain-based games. Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms has also been stepping up its quest to lead the Metaverse revolution, filing several metaverse-related patents this month.
The latest edition of UpOnly | Research brings you a roundup of these developments. We will also review how the increased involvement of established game developers and traditional media companies will prove pivotal in pushing the boundaries of this emerging new world.
Is a blockchain-based PUBG version in the works?
Player Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) is one of the most successful video games ever released. The exciting player vs player shooter game brings together up to 100 players in a battle royale, with the goal of finding the last man standing. Since launching four years ago, PUBG mobile has seen over 1 billion downloads and continues to record 500,000 concurrent players regularly.
(Source: Steam)
PUBG Creator Krafton announced a new partnership agreement with blockchain startup Solana Labs this week. The new partners will reportedly collaborate “in the marketing and design of blockchain games and various blockchain technologies, as well as jointly cooperate on investment opportunities.”
Krafton’s Web 3.0 lead, Hyungchul Park, noted the increase in the number of players seeking “on-chain games,” and confirmed the company’s move is designed to respond quickly to this growing demand and set the tone for future success.
At this time, industry observers can only speculate on the scope of Krafton’s push into blockchain gaming. Will the game developer launch a blockchain-based version of PUBG or will it release exclusive gaming options specifically for blockchain gamers? Only time will tell.
Meta Platforms files 8 new patents for Metaverse-related services
Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook took the world by storm when it rebranded to Meta and announced a broad push to dominate the Metaverse. In recent times, the company has been busy with filings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office as part of its current mission.
According to licensed trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis, Meta Platforms filed 8 new patent applications for its logo. The filings reveal the company’s ambitions to expand its business venture to offer crypto-related services in the Metaverse. The patents permit the use of the Meta logo for ventures such as blockchain software, crypto tokens, as well as currency exchange and trading in the Metaverse.
Kondoudis reiterated that the filings show that “Meta clearly has significant plans for the virtual economy that will drive it.” As in Krafton’s case, only time will tell if and how Meta will potentially utilize the trademarks as part of its Metaverse expansion.
Mainstream involvement to boost blockchain gaming and Metaverse adoption
The play-to-earn gaming and Metaverse space is still significantly smaller than the traditional gaming world despite the tremendous growth in the past few years. For instance, although there are over 3.2 billion video gamers worldwide, the top three blockchain games attracted less than 2.5 million users in January 2022.
(Source: Statista)
Industry experts anticipate that the entrance of mainstream developers like Krafton and established media companies like Meta could play a key role in expanding the user base for play-to-earn and Metaverse games. Meta’s social media platforms reach over 3.6 billion users while Krafton’s 1 billion downloads is a leading figure in the traditional gaming world. The prospect of attracting even a small percentage of these users to the blockchain gaming and Metaverse world is one that big players can unlock.
Additionally, more mainstream involvement notably legitimizes the industry and helps reinforce public confidence in the massive benefits that these new technologies bring to society. It also creates a domino effect as more traditional gaming ventures will unveil Web 3.0 ambitions for fear of losing players to competitors.
How UpOnly fosters mainstream adoption of play-to-earn and Metaverse gaming
The involvement of traditional gaming ventures has the potential to vastly increase the number of players and spectators tapping into play-to-earn and Metaverse environments. At the same time, these prospective gamers, developers, and investors require actionable data to determine the most profitable opportunities in the space.
UpOnly solves this pressing demand by building the industry's first comprehensive data directory for play-to-earn and Metaverse creations. The platform delivers unique insights and real-time news coverage of tracked projects to help users make result-driven investment choices. UpOnly will also provide a monetization opportunity for spectators through the release of a predictions platform that rewards users for predicting the outcome of play-to-earn gaming events.