UpOnly | Research #35 — GameFi set for huge boost as big players enter the market
The GameFi explosion has sparked a storm of activity from traditional gaming companies prepping for a leap into the next generation of gaming technology. Amidst the wave of development, a guild of Japanese gaming giants has come together to collectively enter the market through a new blockchain named Oasys.
In this edition of UpOnly | Research, we will discuss the launch of Oasys as well as future plans for the big companies backing it. We will then dig deeper to explore how this will impact innovation and onboarding, and the global GameFi market as a whole.
Big developers coming to GameFi
Money has been flowing into GameFi since the start of the play-to-earn boom. Blockchain gaming received a stunning $4 billion worth of investment in 2021 and this figure has skyrocketed to $7 billion in the first nine months of 2022.
Investment has remained strong despite the bear market, indicating that industry experts and venture capitalists remain confident that the nascent sector will flourish as time goes on. Japan has always been a stronghold of the gaming market so it was only a matter of time before a promising project like Oasys emerged.
(Source: Dapp Radar)
Oasys is a Japan and Singapore-based blockchain developed to serve the needs of the gaming community. The blockchain raised $20 million in a private token sale back in July, receiving the backing of industry leaders like Crypto.com, Huobi, Kucoin, and Jump Crypto.
Less than a year from its inception, Oasys’ mainnet launch marks the final step before a public token listing. The platform officially launched phase one of its activations on the 25th of October 2022. Validators have now begun communicating to nodes and testing the main functions of the chain.
In total there are 21 validators including huge names in the Japanese gaming sector, which is the third-largest gaming market worldwide. Long-standing industry giants including Sega, Bandai Namco, Ubisoft, and Square Enix are all assisting to ensure the layer-1 infrastructure is stable during the initial testing period.
(Source: Statista)
The second phase of the launch is set for the 8th of November with the integration of Oasys layer 2, building on top of the layer 1 framework. On the 22nd of November, the third and final phase will commence, integrating essential components such as Oasys Hub, a user-friendly interface to navigate the blockchain.
Following this, a variety of new games will debut on the chain from big-name players on the market. SEGA was the first to plant its web3 flag, announcing its inaugural blockchain game on Oasys in September of this year. This new release will be a digital collectible card game inspired by SANGOKUSHI TAISEN — a wildly popular SEGA franchise in Asia.
The game will be licensed by SEGA and developed by Double Jump Tokyo, another Oasys validator that specializes in NFT solutions and Web3 gaming. SEGA expressed interest in the NFT and blockchain space earlier this year, trademarking ‘Sega NFT’ in January.
Creators of the immensely popular Final Fantasy franchise Square Enix have also thrown their name into the hat by joining forces with Oasys in September of this year. Square Enix sold the Tomb Raider franchise in May for $300 million and has made intentions known that they plan to expand NFTs into more products as part of their 2022 reinvestment strategy.
The consensus among developers is to initially release independent Web3 games instead of integrating NFTs and play-to-earn elements into existing games. The first batch of Web3 gaming releases is expected as soon as next year and may change the way the traditional gaming world views Web3 innovations.
Could Oasys spark GameFi innovations?
These Japanese gaming leviathans are poised to dive into the GameFi market, first as validators and then as developers. Although Oasys’ main selling points are low-cost fees, quick transactions, and reduced environmental impact, there are larger benefits to the industry that this collaboration will likely produce.
The first of which relates to onboarding traditional gamers, of which there are 3.2 billion globally. It is difficult to persuade non-crypto gamers to part ways with both their favorite games and the community they’ve become attached to.
These companies have been around for generations, rolling out blockbuster franchises and gathering loyal communities full of avid gamers. This year alone, net sales for Ubisoft, Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and SEGA totaled $16 billion, representing a huge audience of gamers worldwide.
Once players hear that their favorite developers have entered GameFi, many will be open to the concept, and more likely to experiment. If GameFi can capture even a fraction of the audience of the companies listed above, the industry will experience huge growth.
It is this loyalty that will also benefit in-game economics. The size of the brands and the trust they have built with their following create accountability for them to do right by their fan base.
This should result in sustainable and thoroughly researched economic models within the game. This has been noted by the CEO of Square Enix, Yosuke Matsuda.
‘’With advances in token economies, users will be provided with explicit incentives, thereby resulting not only in greater consistency in their motivation but also creating a tangible upside to their creative efforts”
Finally, a large criticism aimed at play-to-earn is the emphasis on profitability over playability. The new collaboration is full of gaming industry veterans, delivering game after game of addictive and immersive titles without the need to reward players. Oasys director Ryo Matsubara emphasized the need for developers to create a ‘’fun first game’’ in a recent interview with Chaindebrief.
The market capital of SEGA, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and Bandai Namco totals approximately $26 billion. They have the ability to raise considerable funds for new projects. That means better teams, research, graphics, advertising, etc. Thus, all contribute to an improved gaming experience for players.
The future of GameFi is in good hands
Although there is a significant investment in GameFi globally, there appears to be something special incubating in Japan right now. The who’s who of Japanese gaming companies have now arrived through a collaborative effort under the new blockchain Oasys.
Oasys has united some of the largest companies in the world to usher in a new era of Japanese gaming. Through various press releases and interviews, it appears they are aware of the current limitations of blockchain gaming and are planning to address them.
Collectively, they are bringing large budgets, combined experience of over 100 years, and loyal web2 gaming communities totaling millions to the blockchain gaming world. This can only be a positive step for GameFi and Metaverse technology, helping to both enhance and further legitimize the industry. All in all, Oasys’ arrival should expand both the user base and game quality in the play-to-earn market.
UpOnly offers comprehensive data for GameFi investors
The emergence of Oasys is yet another milestone in a global movement toward blockchain gaming adoption. With so much promise on the horizon, it is a great time for investors to get into the game and start backing promising projects in the market. UpOnly offers investors actionable statistics from token price movement, to social media engagement, to daily transaction volume.
Investors can use the data provided to make educated decisions to maximize yields and profits. Additionally, gamers can use the UpOnly website to track the best platforms for them to begin earning great play-to-earn rewards. GameFi is still in its embryonic stages but a large investment in the market is a testament to the future potential of the sector.
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