Move Slow And Build Things: Why The Culture Of Crypto Gaming Needs To Change

In a world of quantity-over-quality, builders need to prioritize long-term success over short-term gains. 

By Corey Wilton,co-founder of Pegaxy 

If crypto moves fast, crypto gaming moves faster. Investors and creators alike are pushing into the space as rapidly as they can. And as the money pours in, the pressure to “buidl” is real.

Just think: in January, a report by Modesta Massoit, finance director at DappRadar, found that there were 398 active blockchain games, a year-over-year increase of 92%. Another  of Massoit’s findings showed that the number of unique wallets interacting daily with game-related smart contracts grew from 28,000 at the end of 2020 to 1.3 million last year – a 46-fold increase. He also reported that VCs invested $4 billion to support the development and creation of blockchain-based games.

In other words, the money is coming in at eye-poppingly-high rates. The need for speed is palpable – such is the way of crypto, after all: move fast and break things. And to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with speed in and of itself. In fact, it’s a crucial part of the innovative process. But when it comes to blockchain gaming, there’s one thing that matters above all: the users. 

Users are the lifeblood of the blockchain gaming ecosystem. The money, the growth, the innovation – none of this happens without them. And people who create blockchain games have the unique opportunity to provide platforms and experiences that have positive tangible effects on peoples’ lives. Play-to-earn (P2E) games of all sorts have provided new streams of income for people everywhere, many of them in developing regions. 

So yes, speed is important – but as long as it doesn’t come at the cost of user experience. How fast a game is built doesn’t mean much if it will have  scaling issues, faulty infrastructure, and problematic tokenomics, and other problems further down the road. Instead, building P2E platforms to last is a matter of taking the necessary time to do things right. And I believe that instead of moving fast, we need to move slow – and instead of breaking things, we need to build them. 

The Pressure to Move Quickly 

Blockchain games don’t move on the same timescale that traditional games do. As Modesta Massoit said, “it takes time to build great games.” And for sure, the traditional gaming industry is rife with examples of this – the process of building a game can easily take years to complete. While there aren’t any specific statistics on how long it takes to build the average blockchain game, it’s fairly safe to say that the average time-to-market is just a few months. 

The distinction between these two creative paces becomes clear when we look at the backdrop of each. People who build traditional games place their focus on experience: stories, graphics, game mechanics, and other elements that keep players coming back to certain storylines for years. The Final Fantasy saga, for example, has been around for more than three decades. 

Blockchain games, on the other hand, are largely built by developers and visionaries who have backgrounds in the cryptocurrency industry. Traditionally, their focus is on creating platforms that attract capital from investors and traffic from users. As a result, it’s not unreasonable to think that developers can feel pressured to act on users’ and investors’ perceived timelines – because there’s so much money and attention flowing into the space, the fear of missing out is real. 

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I’d like to argue that it is the developers in the blockchain gaming community who hold the keys to the kingdom. They are the ones – not investors, and not users – who set the pace of growth. And with this power comes the responsibility to take the appropriate steps to ensure that platforms are as safe as possible for people to use. 

Therefore, P2E game creators who are building to last need to prioritize user experience – even if it means having  a slower time-to-market, a longer beta phase, or fewer users (for a while). And placing temporary, graduated limits on growth ensures that your system can scale without compromising user experience. 

This kind of intentionally slow growth prevents unforeseen catastrophes. Being in high-demand is a good feeling, and it can be tempting to open the floodgates and grow your ecosystem as fast as possible. But no matter what it is you’re creating, problems will arise. But by growing at a manageable pace, problems that could have been catastrophic can be easily resolved.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that blockchain games should take two to four years to build, or that their storylines need to continue for multiple decades. But it does mean that by intentionally managing intentional limits and boundaries, creators in the P2E space can create healthier, more resilient communities, and systems that benefit users for the long term. The hype and pressure to build fast is very real. But by taking the time we need to do things right, everyone will be better off. And eventually, your community will thank you for it. 

–

Corey Wilton is the co-founder of Pegaxy, a play-to-earn racing game with futuristic mythological styling. Pega (the horses) are descendants of the mighty Pegasus. In this game, players will participate in PvP format races to win rewards in the platforms native utility token, VIS (Vigorus). Pegaxy went live in 2021.