NEO is the 15th most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap. It’s a smart contract platform with an innovative consensus mechanism (delegated byzantine fault tolerance, DBFT), a superfast blockchain (1000 transactions per second), and easy methods for developers of all kinds. So why is the NEO blockchain moving from a general focus on the “smart economy” to video game development?
NEO is the 15th most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap. It’s a smart contract platform with an innovative consensus mechanism (delegated byzantine fault tolerance, DBFT), a superfast blockchain (1000 transactions per second), and easy methods for developers of all kinds. So why is the NEO blockchain moving from a general focus on the “smart economy” to video game development?
In a recent interview with 8BTC, Da Hongfei explains that the current regulatory environment in most parts of the world greatly restricts blockchain companies. For example, a blockchain might be restricted from taking part in any number of financial use cases, not because it’s not useful for these purposes, but because in doing so the blockchain would be performing like a security. This means that blockchains get “starved out”, waiting for governments to create new regulations that let them do what they’re best at.
NEO anticipates that these regulations will change, but it can’t simply rest on its laurels in the meantime. While NEO waits for the world to catch up, it’s turning its attention to video games, a massive and growing industry for which there are no restrictive financial regulations preventing them from doing as they please.
Developing video games on NEO has many advantages for developers. For one, a game released this way will have instant distribution around the world, not being tied to a console, a server farm, or any traditional distribution method. Furthermore, in-game sales are a multi-billion dollar industry all their own, and blockchain tokens can facilitate this kind of financial activity perfectly – a perfect reason for someone to buy NEO.
NEO recently held a competition that saw dozens of developers bring forward games being developed on the NEO blockchain. Gaming could prove to be an important holding pattern for NEO, while it waits for regulations to change, allowing it to focus once more on its primary smart economy goals.
Competitors like Ethereum are seeing the same pinch. Vitalik Buterin has said in certain interviews that video games are the best immediate application for smart contract blockchains like Ethereum.
It’s unlikely that NEO, Ethereum, or any other smart contract blockchain can thrive as a video game company alone. After all, these are fintech companies that are retrofitting themselves to get a small piece of an industry with other, larger, better-established players. However, Da Hongfei is also optimistic that this situation will not be the end of the story for NEO.
NEO continues to make it easier than ever for developers to create on the platform. They’re seeking the best talent from the worlds of computer science, they’re decentralising the NEO node structure, and advocating for new regulatory standards. When the time comes, NEO will be ready to grow faster and better than ever before.
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