If you've kept abreast of happenings in the blockchain world, then you've probably seen a couple of headlines about NFTs and the millions of dollars people are paying for them. Non-fungible tokens or NFTs as they are commonly called, are the latest sub-industry of blockchain that has seen everything from content to art immortalized and is currently having a moment of popularity. From digital art by the musician Grimes to the first-ever tweet sent by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, NFTs seem to be the hottest new thing. 

Despite all this immense popularity, a lot of people don't actually understand what NFTs are and how they work. Simply put, NFTs represent ownership of a specific asset, usually a digital one, and acts as a permanent record through its blockchain of the ownership transfer of that asset. 

A number of resources have popped up to explain the idea of NFTs but one demographic of the population that already has experience with trading digital assets is gamers. For decades, the idea of buying and selling assets in a digital universe has been the norm within the gaming community and thus, the average gamer would have no problem understanding the concept of NFTs. 

One company that is working to bridge the fast-emerging world of NFTs and the already established gaming sector is CryptoBlades. CryptoBlades is a blockchain-powered role-play game that features players competing against each other in a virtual universe and collecting NFTs as they do so as well as the platform’s native SKILL token.

While crypto and NFT-based games have existed in the past, this specific game taps into a subset of the gaming sector which is role-play gaming and fantasy which are two of the most beloved types of games, and putting a crypto spin on it. 

How NFTs are Making a Gaming Splash

On the surface, CryptoBlades offers a lot of the same features as typical role-playing games. Players take part in raids, defeat enemies and earn points for doing so. The rewards, in this case, are in the native SKILL token that governs the ecosystem and as players defeat enemies, they earn tokens that can be used for weapons crafting and can be used to make purchases in the games marketplace or can even be redeemed for fiat currency.

To earn NFTs, players can collaborate to defeat powerful enemies, and depending on how much power each player contributes to a raid, they will receive an NFT in return. Cryptoblades, like many virtual universes, allows players to consistently interact with others and earn rewards as they go and spend these rewards as they deem fit. The difference is, however, unlike popular games like raid shadow Legends, the rewards can be redeemed in real life and for tangible benefits. 

There is also the option of staking which refers to the locking away of Tokens for a fixed amount of time to earn rewards. Users don't even need to participate in the game to stake tokens but can earn passive rewards. Depending on the quality of the weapons that players craft, they can also be sold in the marketplace for rewards.

NFTs and the Future of Gaming

The CryptoBlades universe is very much geared towards NFTs in that every character has its own unique NFT that keeps records of its activities, ownership, special skills, and battles with enemies. This is, at its core, the basis of NFTs in that the ownership of the digital assets, in this case, a character, can be traced and its activities recorded at any given time. 

Ultimately, what the game achieves is allowing players to enjoy a typical gaming experience while interacting with NFTs and normalizing its use. With the growing popularity of both cryptocurrency and NFTs, it is only natural that the gaming industry would get in on the action and CryptoBlades is working ahead of the curve.

The game, which is due to be launched on May 31st, is open to the general public and features a fantasy-themed universe that is expected to expand as time goes on.

The idea behind the game was not just a desire to infuse NFTs and cryptos into the gaming industry but a natural evolution of gaming itself. Over time, the team expects that even more games will infuse these into its offerings. 

"NFTs provide the only guaranteed ownership model in the world, placing blockchain gaming at the forefront of digital ownership.  Moreso, with Utility NFTs, their data can be manipulated over time, giving them many different uses over their lifetime. Players can invest in their games and earn while they play, on top of owning their data and investment,” said Philip Devine, the Founder of CryptoBlades.