Pay-to-Play Gaming Is Flawed, Blockchain-Based Platform Says

A blockchain-based entertainment platform is vowing to transform gaming by tackling flaws in the pay-to-play model.

Digital Entertainment Asset, or DEA, says the current marketplace relies on gamers who continuously purchase in-app items that quickly become worthless. Many players are left regretting how much money they’ve spent.

The company’s new concept changes the status quo by rewarding players instead of charging them, meaning loyal users get something tangible in return for the time they spend playing online social games.

Known as PlayMining, the platform has three elements. According to the team, points earned through games and reading manga can be exchanged for digital currency, and this is managed through the DEA Bank. Through the digital art auction, these assets can also be traded and distributed — and the company plans to make this site “a highly entertaining and intuitively usable platform.”

All of the games and manga on offer are going to be free, and at no point will players be charged. As a result, the most dedicated gamers and readers have the chance to reap the most rewards.

It is hoped that all three of these aspects will “influence each other and encourage the distribution of digital assets.”

Unique assets

DEA says the digital assets that are going to be circulated through its platform are nonfungible tokens. Otherwise known as ERC-721 tokens, each of the assets offer unique characteristics that make them different and digitally scarce. In DEA’s case, each asset will initially offer an illustration by famous Japanese manga artists. Over time, it’s hoped that audio, image and video data will be added — increasing the variety of assets on offer.

According to DEA’s white paper, a plethora of renowned manga artists and creators have already announced that they plan to support the project’s mission — providing new, original illustrations that will be released as digital assets. They include Hiro Mashima, Etsushi Ogawa, Ryoji Minagawa, Haruhiko Mikimoto and Tony Valente.

The company doesn’t plan to stop here. By the time the digital art auction is launched for public consumption, DEA has the target of recruiting 100 well-known cartoon and manga artists from around the world. Given the fact that 39 artists from China, Taiwan, France and Italy have already gotten on board as of February 2020, it seems the platform is well on its way to reaching this goal.

This digital art can be purchased using DEAPcoins, a cryptocurrency that has been specially created for the DEA platform. “PlayMiners” — the term for the gamers and readers who use the service — have the opportunity to sell their illustrations through an auction or buy pieces of artwork that aren’t in their collection. Ownership data is stored using the blockchain.

Upcoming launches

The digital art auction service is scheduled to launch on April 15, and the goal is to create a new market that’s worth over $10 million a year. Prior to this, DEAPcoins are being listed on OKEx, one of the largest exchanges in the world.

Two engaging games have already been unveiled by DEA. A closed beta version of JobTribes launched on April 9, in which gamers battle in a fantasy world on the theme of occupation.

In a nod to the Tokyo Olympics, which are now set to take place in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese team behind DEA has also created World Flags. This project aims to blend education and entertainment by introducing national flags, their meanings and their origins.

DEA was established in August 2018, and it is headquartered in Singapore.