China is cracking down on ICOs and exchanges, which has led the total market cap to drop. Whenever that happens, some traders panic and jump ship. Others just redouble their efforts to find cryptocurrencies that have a good reason to exist.
GameCredits is among a handful of altcoins that has a strong use case and is building a track record to show it.
It first drew attention last year when it was integrated as a payment gateway for Fragoria, a mobile game with eight million players.
The company behind it, also called GameCredits, is developing a suite of blockchain-based products designed for the gaming industry. These products will increase the income of game developers, give gamers more purchasing power, and provide eSports competitors and organizers with a steady income stream, so they no longer have to rely on sponsorships.
Gaming is a $100 billion industry, but many game developers still struggle. They are dependent on storefronts and payment processing companies who take a large cut of their revenues without providing enough security or convenience.
Google Play makes more than 90% of its revenue from games, around $30 billion in 2016. That’s from a company that does not produce games, but takes a 30% cut of each sale from developers.
And while storefronts skim off the top, developers also need to cope with fraudsters who chip away at their revenues from the bottom. This is possible because of the many security loopholes inherent in existing payment-processing technologies. In China, the world’s largest gaming market (comprising a quarter of global revenues), 50–99% of all virtual purchases are fraudulent.
In the end, what’s left of a developer’s revenue takes up to two months to reach their accounts. By that time, smaller studios can run out of business.
To address these issues, GameCredits has created GStore. This mobile gaming store allows developers to retain 90% of their revenues and get their money in as little as 60 hours. And thanks to GStore’s underlying blockchain infrastructure, it’s impenetrable to commonly used fraud techniques.
Under such improved conditions, game developers will become less dependent on in-game advertising to monetize their products (a particular problem in developing markets such as India, where a population of 120 million gamers spends a hundred times less money than in the USA).
Also, since game developers will have more room for taking creative risks, they will be able to create a wider selection of titles to serve previously unrecognized gaming niches.
Gamers will also feel those benefits, and GameCredits is working on additional incentives to encourage them to join its ecosystem.
eSports is another interesting use case for GameCredits. This fast growing industry still relies on old business models — most of its revenues come from brand sponsorships. GameCredits is working to change that by giving new opportunities to organizers, participants and audiences. Details are scarce at the moment, so you might want to join the GameCredits Slack group to keep track of developments.
Gamecredits has a pipeline full of exciting products that address real needs shared by a massive audience. And that’s a recipe to look for when making your next altcoin investment.