Games are the most representative industries to which blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies can be applied. Lots of games are already creating their own economic ecosystems. Gamers are used to obtaining items and buying and selling them. Because all actions are carried out online, it’s okay if you have intriguing games, well-organized token economies and algorithm that would put them into practice.

Still, however, there have been few cases in which token economies are embedded into games familiar to gamers. Instead, gambling games are taking possession of the place. “Gambling” abounds in top-ranked decentralized applications (DApps) of such leading blockchain platforms as Ethereum, EOS and Tron. “If you look at coin- and blockchain-based gaming services, most are related to gambling or betting. In the blockchain gaming market in the future, ordinary games will take a greater share,” said Lee Ho-woong, head of HanbitSoft’s Bryllite Business.

HanbitSoft, established in 1999, is a fixture in Korea’s gaming industry along with Nexon and NCsoft. HanbitSoft, which made great strides thanks to Starcraft, Diablo and War Craft III, has also developed Audition gaining worldwide popularity.

Bryllite is basically a blockchain-based gaming service. Lee explained what Bryllite is aming for, saying, “Cryptocurrencies will be given in compensation for assets and delight gamers obtain while playing games so gamers can enjoy diverse games.” “Furthermore, developers that offer games as well as gamers will receive opportunities for reasonable reward and participation and based on this, we will build a sound gaming ecosystem,” he said. So far, developers have been excluded from earning profits when gamers use service companies engaging in item transactions.

Bryllite’s mainnet (main network) will be launched in June. HanbitSoft plans to unveil PC games, HTML5 games and APK games one by one in time for this. Lee said, “We look at Southeast Asia as a key position. Games with a big user base are included.” With regard to HanbitSoft’s Audition, he stated, “We are carrying out tests that will be applied to Audition’s global services and continue to discuss business models and contents with our partner Asia Soft.” “It’s important to create an ecosystem firmly while analyzing games’ performance data.”

Preparations to establish a sound ecosystem are in the works. HanbitSoft signed memoranda of understanding with numerous game developers. Aside from games, the company also formed partnerships with e-commerce, payment and digital content service providers. HanbitSoft is seeking collaboration to let users look for other pleasures through cryptocurrencies they receive while playing games.

The Bryllite project started in early 2018. “We began this project to join forces with middle-grade developers with high growth potential to create a sound ecosystem and achieve win-win although the gaming industry has waned and the gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger,” Lee said.

He emphasized that lots of obstacles would lie ahead. In-depth discussion is essential to tune up interests of developers and connect games having different characteristics and contents. There are also such problems as intellectual property and trademark rights. Lee said, “Much time is needed before token economy-embedded games become popular.” “We have to make games ordinary people ignorant of blockchain and cryptocurrency can enjoy without any difficulty,” said Lee, adding that tokens should be one of intriguing factors. “It would miss the point if one plays games to obtain cryptocurrency.”

Established in 1999, HanbitSoft had provided PC games like Starcraft and such services as Pangya at home and abroad. Then the company unveiled such games as Granada Espado (2006) and FCManager (2011). HanbitSoft chalked up sales of 39.8 billion won and operating profit of 700 million won last year in terms of consolidated financial statement. T3 Entertainment has a controlling stake of 27.35% in HanbitSoft. Kim Ki-young, head of HanbitSoft’s board of directors, and CEO Kim Yoo-ra retain 46.81% and 2.68% in T3 Entertainment, respectively. /shim@decenter.kr

사동석 기자

sahds@dcenter.kr