What is GameCredits and Is It a Good Investment?
The crypto asset investment universe has grown into a $330 billion asset class that is composed of a wide range of different digital currencies and tokens. The variety of digital assets is one of the most alluring factors of this new digital asset class. There is indeed something for everyone in the crypto asset space. For the online gaming industry, for example, there are a number of different cryptocurrencies.
In this guide, you will be introduced to GameCredits, which aims to become the go-to digital currency for the 2.6 billion gamers worldwide.
What is GameCredits?
The cryptocurrency project GameCredits was launched in 2014 with the aim to become the universal payment solution for the online gaming community. The project was funded through traditional investments and not through a token sale.
GameCredits wants to create an ecosystem where gamers and game developers reap the benefits in the online gaming industry, which is currently dominated by distributors, vendors, and other intermediaries who take their share of gaming revenues.
To do this, the Serbia-based blockchain startup has launched the digital token GAME. This token looks to help even out the playing field when it comes to profit distribution among other products and solutions for gamers and game developers.
The GameCredits Ecosystem
GameCredits has not only issued a digital currency but has also developed several blockchain-based solutions for its broader ecosystem. GameCredits’ array of products includes GShare, GNation, GPlay, GWallet, PIxelWars, and MobileGo.
GShare is a desktop application that enables users to earn GAME tokens by renting out unused CPU and GPU cycles on their PCs.
GNation is GameCredits’ community that aims to gather people in an ecosystem that will empower gamers and developers to get as much out of gaming as possible.
GPlay is GameCredits’ very own games store powered by Gnation, which rewards game developers with a 90 percent payout per sale, more than any other gaming store.
GWallet is the GAME token wallet, which enables gamers to make game and in-game purchases and use it for e-sports.
PixelWars is one of the first games that GameCredits has launched. It is an online multiplayer role-playing game for Android and iOS and supports GAME tokens as an in-game currency.
The MobileGo ICO
In April and May 2017, GameCredits launched an initial coin offering (ICO) for sister token MobileGo (MGO) during which it managed to raise $53 million for its “decentralized mobile gaming platform and store for in-game purchases.”
The dual-blockchain token issuance, which utilized both the Ethereum blockchain and the Waves blockchain become the second largest token sale in history up to that point in time.
The highly successful MobileGo token sale has not only helped GameCredits with its mobile gaming store marketing efforts but will also provide its platform with smart contract functionalities. This advent will enable gamers to compete with one another in a decentralized fashion, allow them to earn rewards and buy, sell, and trade in-game content.
“The MobileGO token will be used to provide many important features to the GameCredits store based on smart contracts. In this store, there will be two tokens: one for processing Gamecredits, and another for tournaments, betting, and the virtual marketplace MGO,” said GameCredits CEO Ivica Simatovic.
The success of its ICO showed the strong demand for new solutions for the fast-growing gaming industry.
The GAME Token
GAME has been designed for in-game payments and for payouts to gamers and game developers.
The GAME token enables players to conduct anonymous payments within the global online gaming ecosystem, which is an improvement to the current model of centralized in-game virtual currencies that are generally not interoperable with other games or gaming platforms. According to the project’s website, the GAME token provides high processing speeds, scalability, advanced fraud protection, increased payment security, no possibility of chargeback fraud, higher deposit limits, and cross-promotion possibilities.
The GAME token as launched in 2014 and is based on bitcoin. It uses the Scrypt algorithm and proof-of-work (PoW) as its consensus mechanism. The maximum supply for GAME tokens is 85 million and, to date, 64,355,352 tokens have been mined.
At the time of writing, the GAME token was trading at $0.77. The token reached its all-time high of $6.77 during the crypto market’s highs in early January 2018.
GameCredits and Hyperledger
In September 2017, GameCredits joined Hyperledger, a collaborative effort spearheaded by the Linux Foundation, which aims to shape the distributed ledger ecosystem of tomorrow.
This move by GameCredits not only shows to GAME token investors that it is a serious blockchain venture with big ambitions, but it also enables the startup to gain access to enterprise-grade distributed ledger solutions and collaborate with the likes of IBM, Cisco, and Intel. In its press release, GameCredits stated:
“GameCredits is currently the only Hyperledger member that’s addressing the gaming industry. We strongly believe that the solutions we intend to provide can be utilized beyond our use case. Our team will actively contribute to the alliance and distribute many of our solutions through Hyperledger. At the same time, joining Hyperledger will strengthen our relationship with industry leaders and help us keep pace with the latest innovations in blockchain.”
“Many of the solutions GameCredits is developing will be applicable to adjacent industries. We intend to contribute to HyperLedger projects to participate in the advancement of blockchain technologies in general. On the flipside, HyperLedger will also allow us to keep in touch with latest blockchain innovations because we will be in the company of leaders from across industries,” GameCredits COO Alex Migitko added.
New Partnership with Unity
In a push to fulfill its mission to become the go-to blockchain solutions provider for the gaming industry, GameCredits entered into a partnership with Unity Technologies, a market-leading game development tools provider, in October 2017.
According to the press release, “[this] partnership will make GameCredits’ digital assets potentially accessible on three billion unique mobile devices running Unity-made games.”
Initially, game developers who use Unity development tools will be able to publish their games on GameCredits’ mobile gaming store GPlay. In the future, Unity and GameCredits “plan to use blockchain solutions to introduce novel forms of competitive gameplay, content sharing and gamer-audience participation. Their initial focus will be on mobile gaming and eSports.”
“Unity has always been on the forefront at innovation in gaming, and it’s by far the most popular game-development engine. With this partnership, we are introducing digital assets and blockchain to every third person on earth. The technology will become mainstream,” Alex Migitko, COO of GameCredits, said.
This partnership has the potential to position GameCredits into the forefront of the online gaming world, which, in turn, could lead to a significant increase in the value of its digital token in the future.
Should You Add GAME to Your Digital Asset Portfolio?
According to a study, which surveyed 1,000 U.S.-based gamers who have previously bought, sold, or traded virtual in-game line, established that three out of four gamers wish that they could convert their virtual goods for a digital currency that could be bought and sold on other platforms.
Furthermore, 55 percent of online gamers have already used decentralized digital currencies in the past, which highlights the substantial overlap between the cryptocurrency community and the online gaming community.
Therefore, should the GameCredits team manage to complete their mission of becoming the universal digital currency for gamers, the value of the GAME token will likely skyrocket.
However, this will not be an easy task. Not only are there other gaming cryptocurrency projects with similar plans but more importantly, while gaming cryptocurrencies make perfect sense for gamers, that is not necessarily the case for game development companies. The high volatility of cryptocurrencies could negatively affect revenues for game developers who rely on in-game purchases. Also, game developers want gamers to spend their in-game virtual currency in their games as opposed to cashing it out for fiat currency or other digital currencies outside the gaming ecosystem.
GameCredits has a 100-person strong team working on developing blockchain-based solutions for esports, esports betting, game development, and mobile gaming. Once their work bears fruit, investors can accept to be rewarded with an increase in the price of their GAME tokens. If you are an avid gamer or someone who understands the online gaming industry and see the value in GAME tokens, you should consider adding them to your crypto asset holdings. If you have very little understanding of this market, however, it is probably better to stay clear as you should never invest in something you do not understand.
