Digital currencies and assets are something that has long been attached to gaming, from MMORPG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) to trading skins for Counter Strike Global Offensive. In-game economies remind me of the emerging cryptocurrency market. This is the reason why I envision a future where cryptocurrencies and gaming go hand in hand.
The following are some of my ideas of what cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology could accomplish in the gaming industry.
Streaming
I could imagine a streaming website like Twitch.tv operating in a blockchain network, where users can donate using cryptocurrencies and projects like Oyster Pearl where the people use a tiny fraction of their CPU and/or GPU power to essentially run the blockchain, thus streamers can now earn revenue from this and not have their viewers plagued with annoying pop up ads thus increasing the quality of their streams. Also why not get donations in cryptocurrency? TRON has recently integrated their token into the Peiwo streaming app.
Real In-game Economies
We could have new MMORPG's in the future that integrate cryptocurrencies into the in-game economy, the same way Steemit has their coin integrated in the website. How about a game that becomes as big as World of Warcraft with a strong in-game economy that translates into cryptocurrency. A game where gamers can earn actual cryptocurrencies but for a trade-off of let's say; use of their GPU/CPU power to maintain the blockchain while in-game.
Conclusion
It's the early days. We are getting close to real world use of cryptocurrencies but it is still new technology and there is a whole lot of work to be done to achieve this. The state of this industry to me is compared to that of a baby; crawling on all fours and trying to stand up. Once we stand up we'll fall a few times and it will be shaky but we will begin taking steps, and hopefully soon we will begin walking and running.