Since 2020, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been experiencing an enormous increase in popularity in a variety of sectors: music, art, collectibles, etc.
But one of the most notable sectors that NFTs are revolutionizing is the video game industry with the Enjin (ENJ) platform taking the lead in innovation in this arena.
Enjin, a platform that allows users to create their own NFTs, has become a leader in the video game industry, focusing on “evolving” the gaming industry through tokenization.
But what does this mean for gamers, crypto investors, and the video game industry as a whole?
Let’s take a closer look at Enjin Coin to see how The Future of Gaming and NFTs could possibly benefit gamers, crypto investors, and enhance the video gaming industry insha’Allah.
Why NFTs are the future of gaming?
When we talk about blockchain games, we mean games in which the ownership and storage of the in-game items are decentralized.
Some triple-A games like Counter Strike or World of Warcraft have parallel marketplaces where players can buy and sell items within the game.
Let’s say you get an extremely rare skin for your weapon that has a great demand in the market, so this makes it worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
You want to sell it and make some money, but you run into a problem: the skin is not really yours, but actually belongs to the developers of the game, so selling the skin can be a legal problem for you. In addition, the developers could decide at any time to remove your skin or simply delete it from the game.
In blockchain games that doesn’t happen; players own the game assets, so they can sell them without infringing copyright or anyone’s “property” rights.
The ability to tokenize game assets and convert them into NFTs is one of the innovations that are establishing a new way of playing video games.
Transforming game items into NFTs helps solve several situations that were previously unavoidable problems for players:
- Players now actually own items within games
- These objects cannot be deleted or modified by third parties
- Being digital objects, these items can evolve and acquire new properties
- Players can sell them on virtual markets and earn money from it
- Thanks to cross-playing, the same NFT could be used in different video games on different platforms
- Players can “move” their objects from one place to another, store them, exchange them, etc., with total freedom
NFTs represent a new way of playing in which games can evolve according to the wishes of their communities. At the same time, they provide a new incentive for players, both veterans, and beginners, to monetize the time they spend playing.
Enjin coin and gaming
Enjin is both a platform and an ecosystem of software tools designed to enable the creation, distribution, storage, trade, and integration of digital assets in the form of NFTs. Enjin is also a cryptocurrency created on the Ethereum blockchain that was brought to life through an ICO that raised $18.9 million in late 2017.
At Enjin, users are primarily interested in video games and business use cases, using the platform to create ENJ-backed digital assets for creative use, from artistic NFTs to digital vouchers, to objects that can be used in different video games. Millions of users have already used the platform’s management tools to strengthen communities around their favorite games.
Taking this user-centric approach and applying it to the blockchain realm, they set out to create the ultimate all-in-one tokenization platform.
The idea behind the Enjin project is to offer an ecosystem and a tokenization platform, combined with a powerful set of tools for anyone to enter the world of blockchain, even being a total neophyte.
How does Enjin work?
Enjin Coin is an ERC20 token developed on the Ethereum network, so, in addition to being able to execute transactions, it can also execute smart contracts.
The platform offers a set of functions through its public API and its software development kits (SDK) so that users can make use of its features with great ease.
The main feature of Enjin is the creation and management of virtual assets; developers can create their own cryptocurrencies within Enjin and add them to their games later.
For this, developers must acquire and block certain amounts of ENJ tokens, which are locked within the assets they create, generating cryptocurrency scarcity, which in turn gives ENJ value and at the same time, increases its price in the market.
With software development kits for Unity, Java, Godot, etc., Enjin provides millions of developers with an easy way to integrate their new or existing projects. Creatives can subsequently enter an online marketplace with more than 10 million digital items where users can discover, buy, and sell rare and unique blockchain assets.
In addition to this, Enjin also has additional tools to make life easier for developers and users, such as Enjin Beam, a digital asset distribution system using QR codes, or the Smart Wallet, an asset wallet on the blockchain that easily syncs with games and apps.
Why is Enjin unique?
Every token minted within the Enjin platform is directly backed by ENJ, the platform’s currency. This gives real liquidity to game items, allowing real-world games and gaming platforms to be powered by the crypto ecosystem. When players obtain these items, they can use them within the game, but also sell or trade them for ENJ.
In addition, Enjin has a limited supply of coins of just 1 billion, of which there are about 800 million tokens in circulation, increasing their value over time.
Enjin, NFTs, and the future
In a previous section, we touched on some of the problems that Enjin is trying to solve in the gaming world, but let’s now dive a little deeper into this topic.
We already mentioned that thanks to Enjin and NFTs, players can now truly own these special items within their favorite games. At first, this may not seem like something of importance, but when you take a closer look at the current video game industry, you quickly realize how players are at a disadvantage and how video game companies hold all the keys.
Large companies develop triple-A games that millions of gamers play every day for hours, in many cases striving to progress or “level-up” in their favorite game or, as in the case of competitive games, they simply strive to be the best.
In many cases, having a rare weapon, armor, or power-up can make the difference between victory and defeat.
How many times have we heard or read about players whose accounts were unfairly banned by the companies behind these games?
When this happens, players feel as if they have wasted their effort, time, and money they’ve invested in their passion in addition to losing their treasured items.
Thanks to NFTs, players would have full control over these objects, and even over their progress in the game, since in the blockchain the records are unalterable.
Also, in most traditional games, special items lose value when a game becomes obsolete and players lose interest in it.
Enjin proposes to change this by creating an ecosystem in which different “worlds” – or games – interconnect, in which these special items don’t lose value and can continue to be used, or that these items can even be resold to make some money.
How people and organizations are using Enjin coin today
Although the main use of Enjin revolves around the gaming market to tokenize the value of in-game assets, the platform is also offering applications in other sectors, such as loyalty rewards and real estate.
Several major companies are partnering with Enjin to offer their customers and users an enhanced experience and the opportunity to earn incentives to help build loyalty from new and old customers.
For example, BMW is converting loyalty points that can be used to pay for fuel, tolls, and parking fees, into Enjin tokens that users can then exchange on the platform.
Also, the giant, Microsoft, is using Enjin’s technology for its social rewards program called Azure Heroes.
The company Unity wants to launch an SDK to facilitate the 4.5 million developers of its ecosystem, the integration of their apps and games with blockchain.
Also, some companies related to cryptocurrencies such as Binance, Changelly, or Swissborg, are using Enjin for their blockchain-based marketing campaigns, gamifying the user experience through the creation and distribution of digital assets.
On top of that, Enjin itself has been incorporating different app and game developers into its official Enjin Adopter program for some time, allowing them to build, finance, monetize, distribute, and earn money with their blockchain-based games.
The use of NFTs in the video games industry is an activity that is providing greater meaning to this new technology since in addition to solving real problems of users of real services and products in the digital world, they provide a different way of approaching games as players can earn money on the go.
Naturally, not everyone will make significant amounts of money this way, but for users who take it much more seriously, the ability to see their playtime significantly monetized, in addition to their contribution when creating content on certain types of games, the idea that Enjin proposes in combination with the NFTs should be more than exciting.
Is Enjin Coin halal?
Is Enjin Coin halal? Yes. Enjin Coin is halal. So long as the Enjin NFT that is created does not have characteristics that promote or convey what is haram, then creating, using, or earning income from Enjin coin is permissible.
Scholars who hold the opinion that cryptocurrency is halal would view Enjin coin as a utility token and would classify it as an asset and not a currency.
Conclusion
Insha’Allah (God willing) there is a bright future with numerous possibilities, especially if we take into account the direction that the video game industry is taking with Enjin and NFTs thanks to developments such as virtual reality, augmented reality, AI, 5G Internet, eSports, and the next big thing, the metaverse.
Some people say that all this, combined with blockchain and cryptocurrencies, is about to create a parallel “universe” in which everything will be possible. Have you seen the Steven Spielberg movie, “Ready Player One”? Prediction of the future? What do you think?
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