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How are animation and NFT already tied up? Five most popular NFT gaming platforms The animation styles in NFT games Summary22 min read
Imagine you’re playing your favorite video game. It could be anything from something extremely simple to a complex virtual universe, full of sophisticated details. Every step in the game features a new roster of imagery, adventures, characters, maybe new ammunition or some artifacts for the battles and so on. All of those things belong to the company that launched and designed the game.
At this point, many of us might have a question: who the heck could it belong to? But…imagine this: what if some of the items that constitute this animated world, some of the things that characters wear were actually owned by some of the players? Or maybe you? That actually raises a lot of questions.
In recent years, the video game industry has started to change. So much that its changes are still hard to comprehend. In comparison to just 10 years ago, the world of virtual experience provided with games expanded. The sphere these days is constantly growing, including more unique possibilities.
However, the only benefit – broadly speaking – that has been available for gamers was the pleasure from inspecting and learning what the games have to offer. Speaking about material benefits is possible only in relation to game development studios. Or big companies that hire development studios. You get it.
Seems like it had to change one way or another.
On the peripherals of the gaming world, there were talks about putting the gamers in the center. In the center of something more than the experience of playing the games. But the possibilities to make that happen were rather limited.
The video game industry has been divided into three directions – mobile, PC, and gaming consoles. So, the players can have virtual money that is possible to use in the virtual world of the games. But once they stop playing a game, they can’t use that money in the world outside of that game.
A big change has come with the expansion of decentralized space. A different ecosystem provides new rules: the video games that use cross-platform non-fungible tokens (NFTs) allow the exchange of artifacts from the game into cash. Or even create those artifacts and exchange them.
While there are more possibilities for gamers to completely change their experience and to earn by playing favorite games, it is easy to overlook the incredibly important aspect of the gaming experience that may be simply unnoticed or taken for granted – how different styles of animation affect, changing and giving the glamour to HFT games.
We want to take a deep look at two matters: how the whole idea behind NFT gaming changed the way it is perceived by people and how it crosses with animation in general.
In the previous articles, we mulled over the NFT more broadly, but right now we aim to comprehend its connection to animation and to see what opinions experts have. There are plenty of animation styles that have been used in NFT games ever since it became such a big hype.
Shall we start?
“Game companies said their NFT plans were not motivated by profit. Instead, they said, NFTs give fans something fun to collect and a new way for them to make money by selling the assets.
“It really is all about community,” said Matt Wolf, an executive at the mobile game maker Zynga, who is leading a foray into blockchain games. “We believe in giving people the opportunity to play to earn.”
The rush to embrace crypto in games has gathered steam over the past few years. Some developers began building games on the blockchain, making it easy for players to collect digital assets and prove they own them. One such game was CryptoKitties, a 2017 hit where players collected digital cats, some of which sold for more than $100,000. In the pandemic, blockchain-based games like Axie Infinity, where players make money by earning and selling NFTs, also became popular.”
The New York Times
How are animation and NFT already tied up?
NFT initially started with pictures, gifs and avatars, but it was quite obvious to go the way it went in the end – from “just” pictures to videos. It went well with iconic live events that were successfully sold and traded as NFTs.
We learned about several insanely high prices on some videos that by their content hardly have any value. But its origins – for instance, the first video ever published on YouTube – were the reason for the boom.
Another reason for the boom was completely technical. The format of NFT can revolutionize the way we store video storage. But what is more interesting is what possibilities are open for those who are involved in the animation industry.
Even though the animation is growing in popularity, the creators still don’t have a stable system in which they can share animated content and get paid directly.
NFT is changing that, offering new possibilities.
For example, the creator of the popular cartoon series Rick and Morty, Dan Harmon planned to create the first-ever animated series curated entirely on the Blockchain. But that’s just a part of the whole tendency that goes beyond the way it started.
Let me surprise you: the whole NFT gaming industry (therefore, animation) is not something new that suddenly came out in the times of big crypto hype (nowadays).
NFT-centric games, animated in a specific way, have existed ever since 2017. Somehow people learn about NFTs only now when the big hype showed everyone around how it can change everything we used to. Besides, only now have people got into the whole “ let’s bring favorite gaming assets to life” kind of mood.
Some gamers weren’t really happy about the idea of having their rewards and assets converted into real-world assets – money. But the majority found that possibility a real booster. Which is true.
The first NFT-game was Cryptokitties. Then axie infinity was released. Still no hype. Meaning: the time has not come yet. But it was going to change very soon. Just one week into July, Axie Infinity surpassed the $12 million in revenue the game made in the entire month of June. According to data from Token Terminal, the game has earned $102 million in revenue over the last 30 days, which is higher than every DeFi protocol combined.
However, quite soon, Axie Infinity and Cryptokittens became an insanely popular topic. The main reasons were the possibility to earn and the hype, of course.
Just one week into July, Axie Infinity surpassed the $12 million in revenue the game made the month before. In just a month, the game has earned $102 million in revenue, which is higher than every DeFi protocol combined.
Along with this, we observed how more and more creators – especially the creators of animation – were “moving” to the world of NFT, having created non-fungible tokens of their works. But let’s get back to games.
Five most popular NFT gaming platforms
1/ Axie Infinity is currently the most popular platform for play-to-earn gaming. Its animation style refers to “simple” plots in cartoons, but a variety of beautifully 3D objects scattered across this game’s universe is enchanting.
Here’s how game creators define Axie infinity:
“Axie Infinity is a game universe filled with fascinating creatures, Axies, that players can collect as pets. Players aim to battle, breed, collect, raise, and build kingdoms for their Axies. The universe has a player-owned economy where players can truly own, buy, sell, and trade resources they earn in the game through skilled-gameplay and contributions to the ecosystem.
There are and will be many varied games experiences for Axies. Many of them will have players compete with each other using complex strategies and tactics to attain top rankings or be rewarded with coveted resources. Others will have them complete quests, defeat bosses, and unlock in-depth storylines.”
2. Sandbox is a blockchain-based ecosystem where gamers can converge to design and virtualize artifacts. It is mostly about 3d cubic pixels and animated objects.
The main dish in this game is how sandbox’s P2E model allows players to monetize their metaverse time.
3. Sorare is a fantasy football/soccer gaming platform launched in 2018. Here you are dealing entirely with digital playing cards virtually. As you understand, each card is a NFT. The cards include rarity, experience points, and a score.
4. Evolution Land has a bit of a different approach, but it shows how different NFT games as a concept could be. This game is more of a city builder: the players can buy land, build buildings, and generally play in order to get more “physical” space. What is interesting here is how different continents in the game are divided on a different blockchain. Another Pokémon styled game that uses NFTs.
5. Illuvium is an open-world RPG game set in a fantasy realm. The animation here stands out among other games we already mentioned due to its incredible
The title is going to use NFT Illuvials which fit into different classes. Each class was given strengths and weaknesses. Based on that, the player can customize the gameplay.
“In some ways, it’s great. Take FIFA as an example. Right now, you can purchase certain kits from the in-game marketplace and they’re only available for a limited time. If somebody starts playing in March, they can’t get those kits. If those things were NFTs, people would be able to jump onto a marketplace and buy them from somebody who isn’t using them anymore. The same goes for limited-time Fortnite skins or Destiny emotes. With that said, if you didn’t care about cosmetics before, then NFTs aren’t going to change your mind right now.
Ownership and the transferability of content are key things for me, but it could lead to entirely new career paths being forged, for some. Many would be tempted if they were told they could use their skills to level up a character, build a team, or earn some sort of in-game reward, and then be able to sell it on for actual cash. Not only that, but as consumers, we should expect to be able to do something as simple as passing our in-game content on to a sibling or a friend when we’re done with a game. With NFTs, that would be entirely possible.”
Kenneth Barnes, “Pure Xbox” editor
The animation styles in NFT games
What is interesting to reflect is how animated effects in these games are the main point of interest that leads to the benefit of exchanging gaming artifacts. Yes, obviously for most players the final reward is a leading dopamine booster. But what gives us the pleasure of playing is animation styles. Let’s take a look at those.
Axie infinity – yeah, just like the Pokémon Go of NFT world, this gaming ecosystem made people fall in love with it by the simplicity of animation and its so-called “cuteness”.
The game was pretty new in the gaming block. GemGuardian is an NFT-based card game that runs on the BSC network featuring a set of characters that take part in the battles.
This is a “fun-first, device-agnostic dungeon crawler blockchain MMORPG inspired by your favourite childhood games. In a modern take on the pixel perfect art style of nostalgic adventure games, players and their friends embark on an epic journey into ragnarok.” Pixel animation is quite often a choice of rather “simpler” NFT games, but this is actually a perfect shape.
PC and VR blended together in order to bring a metaverse kind of experience wrapped up in Blockchain cover.
Wonderful 3D animation with bright cyber styling. The game defines itself in a next way: “bloktopia is a Skyscraper made up of 21 levels to pay recognition to 21 million Bitcoin. Token holders will be known as Bloktopians. It will act as a central hub and welcome all levels of the crypto experience.
For the first time ever, users will have access to crypto information and immersive content all in one place. Bloktopians will be able to earn revenue through real estate ownership, advertising revenue, play games, building networks and much more. By using the world’s most advanced real time 3D Creation Engine, Bloktopia will leverage this technology to create stunning visualizations and user experience.”
Complete different animation style from those we already seen.Using AI-Personalization technology, Warena allows for the creation of Personalized NFT characters, powered by AI. The players here get to immerse themselves in their character and engage in thrilling action-survival gameplay throughout two phases.
Phase 1 is entitled Survival and is a 2D game whereas Phase 2 is called the ‘Warena Metaverse’ and will be a 3D game. Extremely interesting approach of using altering of animation styles inside a game economy.
This is a fully immersive 3D Metaverse on the Moon, where each project is a virtual city, interconnected into an ecosystem. Come to Mech City, people can socialize, relax, join in various activities and enjoy life truly in the Mech Metaverse Ecosystem in a breathtaking 3D Universe.
The game that could’ve been created by Pixar. Here’s what they claim: “Dreams questions building the first-ever metaverse-based economy, a self-sustaining DreamsVerse where people will be able to participate in the decentralised play-to-earn RPG game using dynamic NFTs. Unknown factors will affect character attributes in-game, and post-game outcomes will dynamically change the NFT card attributes and write them on the blockchain (the ethereal scribes) to show game history for each card.” The stunning visuals and quite vague – at least at the first sight – description is making this game really interesting.
Highly artful, beautifully animated game with inches of Japanese cartoon style.
For those who like to wander on other planets this is the best choice in the world of NFTs. 3D animation prevails here.
What was the most interesting about these games – if you cared to click on each link in order to learn what’s inside – is how different were animation styles and how they intersect with the concept of NFT.
It’s a multiplayer strategy / roleplaying game with a vast universe powered by a growing digital economy built on blockchain technology. This is the last game in our chart and the animation style here ranges from 3D to hyperreality.
Players get to choose their own path using a vast collection of NFTs and impact every major event across the Galaxy.
“Axie is just the beginning. Axie sort of created this model, but I think it’s going to be extremely widely applied … If I can play a game, and have an equivalent amount of fun, and also make money — well obviously I’d rather do that, right? And so I think Axie is really just defining a new category, and this mechanism, in my mind, is going to be baked into the coming generations of games.”
Arianna Simpson, a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz where she invests in crypto
Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) have changed the gaming world forever – no one will forget this page in the history of video games.
The gamers now perceive the in-game assets with other eyes. NFT games have gotten developers and players alike interested, and we are, too, no less interested in anything related to animation.
Summary
Animation is more and more on the rise. We see how Netflix releases a series that ranges a variety of animation styles in two seasons, basically allowing people to experience what it means to perceive information through moving animated images. And we see that millions of people around the globe are actually enjoying it big time.
Animation also goes deeper into games, offering us a great variety of experiences from simple, like axis infinity to rather sophisticated and stylish as in the case of germguardian.
HFT remains a controversial topic in many respects, and many gamers, artists, entrepreneurs and the audience of consumers are not entirely happy with it.
On the other hand, it is hard to ignore what Kataoka, a Japanese artist said:
“I believe art has to act on an emotional, a philosophical, a cerebral level, and today, on a technological level it has been the dream of artists ever since the cave paintings in Lascaux to give people an immersive experience. Michelangelo was trying to do it when he painted the Sistine Chapel. I think that today, he’d certainly be working in virtual reality.”
The communities around those games are growing every day. More people become loyal brand supporters and help the NFT games to thrive.
It is definite that this trend is going to be a hype maker for a long time, evolving into something else. The role of animation as the surface and the very essence of these games won’t be lesser. As we saw in one of the cases altering.
Some people, gamers, leaders of opinion see NFTs as the new revolution in both art and gaming culture. Other people see it as some craze that appeared out of nothing. Many just hopped aboard without thinking it through.
Whatever happens, the trend will not cease and our prediction is quite that there will be more animation styles involved in the industry. Right now we can see that it ranges from 2D animation to VR effects. But… since the trend is on the rise, it will grab more interesting things. We just have to watch.
One more thing: if you are looking for an animated video that can be used as NFT, we are here to help you. Our team can create any type of animated video from simple animation to sophisticated styles. Just contact us!
