Worldopoly - a novel AR mobile gaming experience
Author's bitcointalk: OceanWind33
Video games are many people's way to relax and have some fun after a day of hard work. The population of gamers in 2018 is closing in on 3 billion, and is on a sure path to become one of the most prevalent recreational activities. According to recent statistics, at least half of those are social gamers, only engaging in games that let them communicate and interact with other people.
No wonder that when Pokemon Go launched in 2016, it was one of the biggest gaming events to date. It captivated younger and older minds alike, made people leave their houses in search of digital monsters. With over seven hundred million downloads worldwide, it was a complete financial and cultural success. All that with a fundamentally flawed game.
The majority of players got disillusioned with Pokemon Go in just a few days. There are many reasons, but most glaring of the issues were lag, latency, cheaters and above all - no real interaction between players in the game's ecosystem. What Pokemon Go's developers did - was amazing from a technical standpoint. They pioneered the augmented reality games on mobile devices with their revolutionary tracking systems, but unfortunately weren't ready for such an enormous amount of players, who each had extremely high expectations.
In more recent years there were more attempts at augmented reality mobile games, but all of them were still very limited. It is clear that there is a missing piece to the puzzle. There needs to be a system in place that will make sure such a global game is reliable, hack proof and built on a robust foundation.
That's why a group of Swiss and German software developers have been working on Worldopoly – an augmented reality multiplayer strategy game that is built on blockchain. They hope to eliminate the afflictions of modern multiplayer gaming and bring a new level of interaction to the table.
The premise is as follows: players can buy real life streets and territories, then build different types of buildings on them. The buildings generate revenue, can be upgraded, sold or even attacked by other users. The players will be able to band together, in order to finance big construction projects or purchase popular streets, personally influencing the economic state of Worldopoly.
Another exciting feature is, of course, the augmented reality. Through the camera of your phone you will be able to see your own and other players' buildings, as they look in-game.
WPT (or Worldopoly Token) is a cryptocurrency designed specifically for ease of use inside the game. WPT tokens can be used to purchase real estate, streets, participate in auctions and events, purchase exclusive items and even place advertisements on buildings. Through a hybrid system that includes both off-chain and on-chain transactions, most transactions will be handled without delay or gas fee. Only the large scale deals will be handled on-chain and will be subject to Ethereum platform commission.
The existence of WPT token in the ecosystem entails the possibility of extracting real world value out of the game. Worldopoly is not only aiming to attract people with the fun gameplay and trustworthy platform, but also with the prospect of literally earning money while playing the game. Without blockchain the risk for malicious behavior and potential cheating would be too high to ever consider developing such a game, but today it is a reality.
There have been other cryptocurrency games in the past, namely the most famous one – Cryptocat. These games only attracted attention of people already versed in blockchain and cryptoccurency world, while Worldopoly offers engaging gameplay for RTS (real time strategy) fans and blockchain enthusiasts alike. At the same time it raises awareness and understanding of blockchain technology among the general masses.
Worldopoly developers have stated that they are aiming to realease the game for both Android and iOS before the end of 2018. For more details, you can find the links to their social media pages and website below. If you would like to check out the game in action, I advise you visit their youtube channel or simply download a working prototype of Worldopoly from the App Store or the Google Play Store.
Gaming is definitely an industry that blockchain is capable of revolutionizing. There will be many other games based on similar technology popping up very soon, as the potential profits of mobile gaming are enormous. In 2017 alone, mobile gaming revenue worldwide was over forty billion USD.
Have you played multiplayer augmented reality games before? Did you enjoy them? Will you give Worldopoly a try? Please tell me in the comments below.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Worldopoly
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldopoly
Telegram: https://t.me/worldopoly
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Worldopoly.de
Whitepaper: https://worldopoly.io/Worldopoly-Whitepaper-ICO.pdf
Website: https://ico.worldopoly.io
Author's bitcointalk: OceanWind33