Can blockchain and gaming exist in the same space?

Phil Ingram, CEO of Lepricon

This is the question I pose to the new CEO of Lepricon Phil Ingram, can blockchain and gaming exist in the same space? Lepricon is celebrating its first birthday and Ingram takes on the CEO mantle with a hill to climb.

“We’ve achieved a lot in the first year but now we need to tackle the elephant in the room – if gaming is going to be the first killer to on ramp people for mass adoption, then we have to make blockchain gaming more like video gaming,” says Ingram.

“Blockchain is all about owning assets and that they can’t be taken away from you unless you leave your private keys at a bus stop. This is the point that enables a subtle shift from publisher first economies to player first.”

Ingram makes a distinction between Play2Earn (P2E) and blockchain gaming. It’s not the same according to him.

“P2E risks focusing on grinding in video gaming – the place where you need to kill multiple monsters or repeat actions to move up to the next level. It’s very different and no one plays video games just to grind.”

But the fact that rewards or assets earned or won in the game actually belong to the player is what is moving blockchain gaming in the right direction.

“The problem is that blockchain is dictating the gaming and not the other way around. Indeed, many blockchain games seem to be glorified ways to sell NFTs. And what about those limited NFT runs – how does the 10,001st player get to play?”

Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author