Is Star Atlas the next evolution in blockchain gaming?

Love him or hate him, Mark Zuckerberg’s rebranding of Facebook to Meta could be the single most significant market validation for the metaverse revolution. With growing market validation of the metaverse and the recent success of blockchain play-to-earn games, this article investigates the current state of Star Atlas and its positioning within the blockchain gaming ecosystem.

Source: Star Atlas

The Play-To-Earn Phenomenon

Before we dive into Star Atlas, let’s first unpack how blockchain technology has considerably impacted the gaming industry, enabling a fundamental change in the way players interact with their favorite games and think about the value and utility of their in-game items.

Traditionally with many free-to-play games (i.e. Fortnite, Roblox), the in-game assets and currencies have become one of the primary ways many games are monetized and derive most of their revenue from the sale of these assets. Games like Fortnite pioneered the free-to-play model and generated substantial revenue mainly from in-app purchases of cosmetic items (items with little in-game utility).

However, while the developers and publishers of these games are generating significant revenue from the volume of in-game items they sell, this value is not shared with the users/players. The in-game items possess a monetary value that is locked since these items generally cannot be sold or traded within or outside of the game.