The Casino

Money and winning are a powerful incentives. That’s why companies are obsessed with finding ways to pay players to keep playing.

Casinos were first to master the art. They understood that the price of admission is nothing compared to the drive to win. The problem is that casinos are expensive and relegated to physical spaces. Video games are the opposite—cheap, fun, and available everywhere. So games became the new casinos…and players hated it.

Earning points and unlocking boxes was one thing, but straight up gatekeeping content was infuriating. Diablo Immortal, Battlefront, and infinite microtransactions pissed players off so much that corporate strategy actually changed in response. Yet developers had sipped from the accursed fountain and its allure was too strong to resist. Since then, the race has been on to find the perfect balance between gaming and gambling, and blockchain has emerged as an unlikely force both players and developers can agree on.

Web2 virtual currencies feel completely arbitrary. Gold earned in WoW isn’t worth any real money unless you’re willing to risk getting banned. On the other hand…

Web3 currencies feel closer to cash. Maybe it’s the $ symbol next to the token name. Maybe it’s the lofty promises of cross-chain bridging. Maybe it’s that $BTC and $ETH are so legitimized as mediums of exchange that brand new tokens no longer seem preposterous.

Whatever the reason, players holding on-chain tokens have greater faith that their stash is worth something real. Combined with in-game reward mechanisms, players are more ready than ever to pour hours and dollars into accumulating victories and riches.

Especially if they enter the casino unwittingly.