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Blockchain Gaming Is Coming to the PS4 (sludgefeed.com)

Posted by msmash on from the of-course-that's-happening dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: The relatively new blockchain gaming industry is about to take a massive step forward as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are making their way onto the PlayStation 4. Arcade Distillery, a game developer that creates titles for PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, is gearing up to launch a new game for the PS4 built around the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. Plague Hunters is a single-player-focused, turn-based strategy RPG with some PvP elements and the sequel to the successful Plague Road.

The game, which will be free-to-play and feature a marketplace for P2P transactions, has passed the Sony review process, passing all of PlayStation's terms and conditions, despite containing numerous elements of blockchain tech. This marks the first time any blockchain game has been able to accomplish this feat. Similar to other blockchain games, it looks like Plague Hunter's in-game assets, including units, weapons and other items, will be pegged to NFTs.

6 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Peak buzzword achieved! by Kenja · · Score: 5, Funny

    So... are we done with blockchain yet? Or do we need to wait for the Blockchain Burger at McDonalds?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Peak buzzword achieved! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Interesting

      So... are we done with blockchain yet?

      No. Blockchains have legitimate uses. However the app described in TFA isn't one of them.

      A blockchain is basically distributed trust. If I don't trust you, you don't trust me, and there is no 3rd party that we mutually trust, then a blockchain is useful because it allows a publicly authenticated transaction.

      For the app described in TFA, a blockchain is pointless. There is already a centralized authority (the game publisher) who can just run a normal DB on their server to keep track of the tokens.

  2. Awful... or maybe not. by Sarten-X · · Score: 2

    I was going to make a snarky post about blockchain being utterly useless in an application where a game operator controls everything, then I realized it actually has a practical effect.

    Back in the bad old days of early online games, a common way to cheat was to attack the game server to tweak the game database. Sure, the admins would come in and correct things soon enough, but it was trivial to just inject a bit more SQL and ruin things again.

    In later games where trading became a part of the game, item duplication or other replication bugs skewed in-game economies in the cheater's favor, as it was possible to have your item and sell it, too.

    Having every item tied to a unique token (and having appropriate verification in the game code) would make such attacks far more difficult. You couldn't just create or duplicate an item... you'd have to also generate a new token for it, and inject it into the blockchain appropriately, which would be a significant amount of effort for an attack payload.

    It has an interesting parallel to multi-factor authentication. You might easily attack one channel, but having to launch a coordinated attack on a second channel makes the whole endeavor much more difficult.

    Of course, it does all hinge on the game code implementing such security properly. I have no idea whether this particular game would do so.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    1. Re:Awful... or maybe not. by shess · · Score: 2

      Of course, it does all hinge on the game code implementing such security properly. I have no idea whether this particular game would do so.

      Of course, all of those other problems are caused by the game code not implementing security properly, so I don't think you need precognition to figure out how well it will work in this case...

  3. Bitcoin crashed below $5000 today by xack · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And the Ethereum genesis block cashed out. There';s no more hype for blockchain in gaming, anymore than a fidget spinner mmo.

    1. Re:Bitcoin crashed below $5000 today by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      > There';s no more hype ... a fidget spinner mmo.

      I'll leave this here for you:

      https://www.kongregate.com/gam...