Gabby Dizon, CEO and co-founder of Yield Guild Games, emphasizes the importance of free-to-play Web3 games for achieving widespread adoption. Dizon predicts that successful Web3 games in the coming year will shift their focus from play-to-earn (P2E) models, like Axie Infinity, to being completely free-to-play to attract more players.
According to Dizon, the key is to eliminate financial and technical barriers to entry, allowing millions of people to easily join the gaming ecosystem. The new trend involves starting games as free-to-play, with the option to mint NFTs or earn tokens during gameplay rather than requiring NFT ownership upfront.
This shift towards a free-to-play model aims to prioritize gameplay over tokenomics and address issues of over-financialization and lack of fun that plagued the Web3 gaming industry. Dizon believes that by creating engaging games, players will reinvest in the game, preventing the in-game economy from becoming solely profit-driven.
Dizon anticipates a positive change in the Web3 gaming landscape, especially after the decline in crypto prices and the downturn in blockchain games due to the collapse of Axie Infinity-related assets in late 2021. He expects the launch of high-quality Web3 games in Q4, such as the blockchain-based trading card game Parallel.
Furthermore, Dizon highlights the introduction of the ERC-6551 token standard, enabling “token bound” accounts in gaming. This innovation allows developers to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) behaviors into avatars, creating new possibilities for player interactions. Dizon envisions a future where players can instruct AI avatars to perform in-game tasks, reducing the need for tedious grinding and introducing a new genre where players interact with AI in the game world.
In summary, Dizon is optimistic about the evolution of Web3 games, anticipating a wave of high-quality titles, innovative tokenomics, and experimentation with earning models, driven by a renewed focus on free-to-play experiences and the integration of AI into gaming.
