Published on: 16/08/2022

NFT games have ‘natural edge’ over traditional games, Polygon’s Urvit Goel says

Urvit Goel, vice president of global business development at Polygon, has said that games that employ non-fungible tokens have a significant advantage over traditional ones that don’t allow users to sell their items.

According to Goel in an interview with Cointelegraph, the traditional “money in, no money out” model is not ideal for gamers. He said gamers should instead be able to take some of the dollar value they invested in the game, adding that allowing users to own the content they buy makes it easier for them to sell their items — a feature that most GameFi games offer.

“We just want to give users the ability to own the content they’re buying. And if they choose to sell it, great if they choose to keep it, great […] But even if you get a penny back out, it’s better than nothing, right?” said Goel.

Goel also noted the increasing number of game publishers entering the GameFi space, which indicates that there would be a significant advancement in terms of game selection for GameFi. For instance, Nexon, the owner of the popular MapleStory game, announced in June that it would release an on-chain version of its flagship title called MapleStory N.

The importance of digital ownership was also reflected during a panel discussion at Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul last week. Kyu Lee, Com2uS’ president, revealed that the company is working on a blockchain that will allow it to create its version of Web3, allowing users to own items digitally and play freely.

For Lee, blockchain was the ideal next step in the gaming evolution. He noted that the increasing number of gamers would demand digital world ownership, which was a no-brainer for the company to develop a blockchain.

Polygon and Neowiz’s partnership

In June, Polygon partnered with Neowiz to bring new and existing titles on-chain. Polygon’s VP also said that the entrance of these companies is creating a “little bit of a domino effect” in the industry to show innovation.

Goel also noted that the executives of these companies must have a lot of confidence in the technology and be able to use it effectively. He reiterated that game developers don’t need to use blockchain technology to have successful businesses.

“These developers don’t have to come on blockchain to have successful businesses. They’re already generating hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars of revenue in traditional web teaming,” said the VP.

Goel’s views on blockchain and gaming align with those of Anthony Yoon of ROK Capital. Yoon said that the gaming and blockchain industries are a natural fit for publishers.

The VP also noted that the positive feedback the communities are giving GameFi, and NFT gaming clearly indicates that they expect more from the industry in the future, adding that many are excited about the new products being brought to their platforms.

“So to me, that data speaks a lot louder than an article written by a journalist about why ‘X’ NFT’s will be good,” Goel said.