MetaMask Is Bullish on Web3 Gaming

Ethereum crypto wallet developer MetaMask has inked a partnership with gaming developer Game7 to introduce HyperPlay, a Web3 native game launcher.

The arrangement this week between MetaMask and Game7, a blockchain-based gaming DAO, aims to encourage developers to build crypto-native games on HyperPlay. 

Users on any HyperPlay game would be able to carry in-game NFTs, tokens and achievements in their MetaMask wallets, enabling interoperability between different titles.

“Players can take assets between games, use them in DeFi, and follow their friends’ wallets,” said jacobc.eth, a pseudonymous HyperPlay founder and Game7 core contributor.

Developers will also be able to benefit from the latest game launcher, jacobc.eth added in a statement. 

HyperPlay is open sourced, which means the copyright holder permits anyone to use, study, change and distribute the code. It also provides basic application programming interfaces (API) to request transactions and signatures — intended to make truly permissionless game economies possible. 

Is gaming the bridge to Web3?

Blockchain gaming has received attention in Web3 as of late, pulling in almost $750 million from venture capitalists in the first nine months of 2022 — more than 50% of the total funding that has gone into crypto this year, according to DappRadar.

Taylor Monahan, global product lead at MetaMask, told Blockworks that gaming is one of the most popular use cases on the wallet and has been since 2020. 

“With the pandemic, MetaMask has seen exponential growth in play-and-earn gaming, especially in the APAC [Asia-Pacific] region,” Monahan said. 

Even so, a recent study by CodaLabs revealed that traditional gamers, on the whole, aren’t fans of crypto or NFTs — and rated their feelings toward the industry at an average of 4.4 out of 10. Only 15% of gamers who haven’t played a Web3 title showed interest in blockchain-based games.

The biggest hesitation around crypto gaming came from concerns around scams and the cost of Web3 gaming. 

Monahan is still bullish, though, saying the partnership ought to enable an “even smoother user experience” designed to make possible “full interoperability for Web3 games.”

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