Smart contracts relate to an automated protocol based on the innovative Ethereum platform that executes certain commands or tasks based on pre-agreed logic. No other platform within the crypto arena at the moment has such a feature to offer. It is revolutionising many different sectors, industries, and businesses. It provides many different types of processes with a new angle of transparency and integrity.
It also provides an extra layer of security in the same manner that the legacy blockchain platform does. Smart contracts are already being practically used in a number of varied applications throughout the gaming industry.
Here is what you need to know.
From Triple-A To Online Casino: What Does It Look Like In Practice?
You may have even played some video games that have already integrated smart contracts into certain areas of the game without even noticing. Smart contracts are the lifeblood of the crypto gaming world since they are exactly what facilitate a decentralized approach to exchanging cryptocurrencies (and other collectibles like NFTs). While, as a player, you would not come face-to-face with one, you will be benefiting from their existence.
At a crypto casino, for instance, smart contracts enable brands to do business without the use of fiat currencies – and, accordingly, centralized ledgers. These contracts offer a huge benefit to game developers as they ensure that agreements between players and between the player and the game are executed autonomously. This removes the need for anyone to be a middle person or an intermediary. It also fills players with confidence within the game and with trust in the system.
This, for the developers of the Bitcoin casino games means that trust is built into their games and that people are more likely to either start playing the game or spend money within the game.
For Triple-A games, the story is very similar. Smart contracts are the alternative to the landscape we have existed in since gaming first became big, even if you have never knowingly played under one.
The Magic Of Decentralisation
So, there are systems out there that have been around for a while that will automate when something has been completed. So, what makes it different from smart contracts in gaming? Well, it is all down to decentralisation. For example, if you had a legacy system such as a vending machine that dispenses, say, a can of pop, once the conditions of the funds being there and the selection being pressed have been met, it would release the drink; however, who says the data could not be manipulated to make the machine think the funds had been there? Well, that is not possible with smart contracts. Because they are decentralized, it guarantees that nobody has the ability to tamper with the information. And so, in gaming, people can have the confidence that if someone has earned a reward for an achievement, they have, without a shadow of a doubt, accrued all of the prerequisites for that particular reward.
What Does The Future Hold?
Although smart contracts are already being used in games for many different purposes, they are still in their infancy.
And although they have demonstrated huge usefulness and potential so far, there is still a long way to go. There are many more different aspects of gaming that can prove fruitful and productive. And a lot of the big game developers already have dedicated teams to research what future applications they could have in their specific catalog of games and how they can be integrated. And so the future for gaming and smart contracts looks very exciting indeed.
In Summary
To bring everything to a close today, let us just go back to the Ethereum platform. It is what conceived the feature and technology of smart contracts – the thing that makes Ethereum substantially different to Bitcoin. Which has been one of the biggest innovations within the crypto world since its inception. Their uses and benefits are not just limited to gaming either. When you think about the foundational benefits of smart contracts, it is very difficult to think of one single industry that would not benefit from the implementation of smart contract technology.
