Ninja Syndicate’s New Era of GameFi: Earning a Living Wage Through Blockchain Games
Australian-based Web3 game studio Ninja Syndicate’s CEO and founder believe GameFi could usher in a new era where users can earn a living wage through blockchain games.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, founder John Nguyen and CEO Alex Dunmow said that traditional jobs are increasingly at risk through factors such as automation. According to the game developers, blockchain games can and are playing a vital role for people to earn a living in the digital world through play-to-earn and move-to-earn models.
The process often requires significant work, but Dunmow said many mainstream triple-A games already feature the concept of “grinding for hundreds of hours,” though the in-game assets “provide no value for the player.”
In GameFi titles, digital assets can come in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Users can take these NFTs to a marketplace and sell them for fiat currency or crypto, essentially earning a wage through gaming. Dunmow said:
“NFTs can give you the technical ability to take ownership of a game asset out of the control of the publisher of the game.”
One of the best examples Dunmow has seen of people making a living through GameFi is a report about a community in the Philippines that turned to NFT gaming during COVID-19. The pandemic triggered a shortage of workers in low-paying jobs, so people found a new outlet to earn wages through blockchain games instead.
“I saw the whole situation as a positive. A group of people who were likely being exploited in their low-paying day jobs have found a way to earn wages in the Metaverse,”
said Dunmow.
Despite the rising challenges and negativity surrounding NFTs and blockchain in gaming, the duo hopes to “subtly educate people about the benefits of NFTs” through their games.
Ninja Syndicate is developing a set of blockchain games under the Supremacy World ecosystem, which aims to blend building, fighting, and resource mining in a fictional dystopian world where factions battle for territory and dominance.
Supremacy will combine four games: a battle arena that is already out, a first-person shooter, a massively multiplayer online game, and a real-time grand strategy game. Through this series of interoperable games, the executives assert that players will have “sovereign ownership” over their digital assets, using them across different platforms. Nguyen explained:
“What interoperable boils down to is being able to share digital assets between games.”
Nguyen noted that they even had a chance to design a custom mech skin for a user based on his Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, demonstrating a fascinating cross-platform utility. Though custom designs may not be feasible for all users, it showcases the potential in the NFT landscape.
Ultimately, Dunmow emphasized that their core aim is to create a “fun game,” which he believes is crucial for the industry’s longevity. As he explained:
“Attracting players from outside the crypto space is crucial, especially in bear markets: You make a fun game that has blockchain elements and attracts mainstream players; you are now disconnected from market forces, and you’ll be able to survive any recession.”
On Oct. 5, Ninja Syndicate took a significant step forward by announcing a partnership with the NFT minting and trading platform Immutable X, allowing them to build on Immutable X’s layer-2 ecosystem, joining the ranks of projects like Illuvium, Gods Unchained, and GameStop.
