Blockchain gaming will become so big it will be bigger than the economy of Japan. That’s the prediction Hironao Kunimitsu, founder of social gaming company Gumi and director at Double.Jump Tokyo, did in a panel hosted by CoinTelegraph. He said that blockchain-based trading of non-fungible tokens will grow to become more valuable than Japan’s entire economy.
Non-fungible tokens bring economic value and activity to the world of video games. These are unique tokens that represent a certain in-game asset. It’s a proof of ownership, and has real scarcity.
Kunimitsu points to games like Fortnite and Minecraft, which are both played by approximately 150 million players every month. That’s a lot. As a country Japan has 126 million citizens. As soon as people start adopting blockchain technology, the value of digital assets will surge.
The Japanese businessman also expects that people’s perception of games will change. Playing games will no longer be considered a waste of time, but instead it could become a valuable business investment. Imagine ‘playing Minecraft for an unlimited amount of time to build a magnificent house, and sell it to the people who are good at making money in the real world’, Kunimitsu explained. “There will be lots of elementary school students who earn a lot”.
Adding perspective to blockchain gaming growth
It’s always nice to read something about a bullish sentiment. But Kunimitsu is already making blockchain games, and he clearly has a stake in seeing his vision unfold. However, the Japanese GDP is 4.9 trillion dollars per year. The 100 million that NFT trading is approaching according to Nonfungible.com is nothing in comparison. Therefore it’s unlikely that the value of blockchain gaming will surpass that amount any time soon.
However, in Japan approximately 67 million people are working. If we look at the popularity of games like Minecraft and Fortnite, then there are twice as many gamers in each of these games than in the entire workforce of Japan. If such a game would be powered by a blockchain economy, then there’s a whole lot of space for economic growth.
Of course, economic growth in the blockchain gaming space can’t exist without an economy in the real world. Especially considering than we can’t buy food (yet) with our virtual currencies and small love potions. But when 100 million people are building, creating resources, and buying virtual items, then suddenly virtual currencies get a lot of traction. Supermarkets will adjust if there’s serious demand.
Will the blockchain gaming economy become bigger than the economy of Japan? Probably not any time soon. However, it is very likely that the number of players in the blockchain gaming space will surpass the amount of workers in Japan in the coming five years. Last year there was a growth of 162 percent.
