Whether you have spent hours in a magical digital realm in pursuit of a rare, sacred weapon or simply killed five spare minutes chasing a “bonus” pretzel within Ms. Pac-Man, you instinctively understand the concept of game-related blockchain technology. Many digital objects within video games have an inherent value. The value of those objects is enhanced by each object’s relative scarcity. In a maze full of dangerous ghosts, why would you risk your digital life to pursue one unless it was useful and rare? Blockchain technology can enable true ownership and scarcity of those game items. Provenance Technologies, Inc. (“PTI”) is a new company — but also a new concept — in that we provide an easy way for game players to buy digital objects that have an assurance of rarity and “provenance,” while also offering a seamless, safe, and regulated way for game developers to expand their economies.
Some game players are (and have been) far ahead of this phenomenon. They understand that the value of some game objects extends beyond the digital borders of their game of choice. In the absence of sanctioned marketplaces, those game players buy and sell these objects in “gray markets”, ecommerce web sites that exist in a hazy offshore limbo. While those “gray markets” provide a means of exchange that otherwise wouldn’t exist, they are also rife with opportunists and provide few if any consumer protections. Transactions within these marketplaces can result in the compromise of a game’s integrity due to the unfair distribution of game objects. Game players who purchase objects from these gray markets often lose money, risk getting banned from a game, and may unwittingly be supporting criminal activity.
Forte’s mission is to solve that problem by allowing game developers to fully realize the potential of their economies via token and blockchain technology. PTI’s role in that effort is to help preserve the integrity of those transactions by allowing game players to buy, sell, and hold game objects with the protection of a regulated financial institution. Not only is PTI responsible to game players and game developers, but to their local financial regulators.
The effort to introduce that technology to existing game ecosystems and provide the requisite protections has been methodical. We realize that there is not a single type of solution that will work best for all games and game players. We recognize that the mechanics of a tower defense game like “Plants Versus Zombies” are very different from the economic activity we would expect to see in real-time strategy (“RTS”) game like “World of Warcraftt”. Further, even within different types of RTS games, the particular economies may warrant the creation of different types of marketplaces or the support of different types of transactions.
From PTI’s perspective, there are no “blockchain games”, only games that have taken the next, logical step in their evolution. Follow PTI on Twitter (X) (@ThePTISolution), Threads and LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on the future of secure game economies.
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1. Forte (https://www.forte.io/#company)