For the average person, the idea of ‘virtual assets’ is completely foreign. Yet, for the average gamer, it’s not only normal, but expected. There is an entire economy of high value items that exist only within video games – based on rarity, cosmetic appearance or in-universe strength. Most games have their own currencies, and almost all have gray market sites where users can trade their in game currency for real world fiat currency.
It’s this questionable trading practice that created a need for a universal currency between games. Gray market virtual item sites are often shady at best and outright scams at the worst. Players are subject to the complete loss of items during transactions. Enjin intends to partner with major game developers to create a virtual exchange ecosystem that will eliminate the environment that fosters this type of fraud. Their Enjin Coin platform uses the power of blockchain smart contracts to secure transactions across games – providing a safe way to trade these virtual assets.
A Cryptocurrency for Gamers
Although the market has existed for decades now, World of Warcraft truly monetized virtual currency. In game gold was farmed on such an industrial scale that it became an industry unto itself. Blizzard, the company behind World of Warcraft, tried to capitalize on this in their more recent game Diablo III. They created their own real world currency auction house for virtual items, but players found this method distasteful – and it was eventually removed from the game entirely.
Enjin Coin allows users to monetize their virtual items in a much more organic way. Users entrust Enjin with their virtual items or real world currency, allowing the platform to act as a mediator. Smart contracts ensure that both payments are made simultaneously and prevent scam transactions. Enjin itself is a well known entity in the gaming community, having provided tools to build guild websites for many years. Through this, they have also built relationships with most major game developers. These two facts make them the perfect candidate to offer this service.
Enjin Partners with the Minecraft, NRG and the Unity Game Engine
Despite the prototype status of Enjin Coin, their parent company has no trouble finding willing partners. NRG eSports, one of the largest team organizations for competitive gaming, already signed on to use ENJ as a means of rewarding their fans. More recently, Minecraft officially started work on integrating the ENJ token into their hyper-popular world building game. Finally, popular gaming engine Unity is working with Enjin to create a software development kit that will allow developers to integrate ENJ payments directly into their new projects.
While the Enjin Coin platform is still in development, Enjin’s previous track record is a good sign. The continued integration of ENJ’s prototype system into multiple layers of the gaming industry furthers this positive outlook. Ultimately, while there may be other virtual item based cryptocurrencies, none have even approached the level of adoption that Enjin Coin currently enjoys.
Article By: Adam Stone
