Gamification… This term has been in vogue ever since the middle of the previous decade. Mundane and boring processes that offer nothing more than pure utility are not being accepted by people anymore… Because there were a million others who offered the same experience. It, therefore, became mandatory for organizations to create experiences that were engaging, exciting, and intriguing.
Some of the most monotonous processes like customer support and e-commerce also went through this transformation of gamification. It had almost become a pattern for processes to be boring at first, and when the market landscape changes (or in other words, when competitors emerge), gamification was introduced, so your unique selling point becomes the experience that you offer rather than the simple utility.
NFTs are going through the same phase right now. We are sure none of us can forget the profile picture of NFTs that made the news… And parallel to the news, also made people wonder why some pixelated images and images of primates were sold for millions of dollars.
While we cannot deny that aspects like rarity, the prospect of being mentioned along with celebrities, and a ton of other factors contributed to the prices of these NFTs, the NFT consumption crowd has come to the stage where they look for something more than just the monetary value.
On a note of digression, does it mean that it is all over for profile picture NFTs?! Definitely not! Profile picture NFTs still have a market because NFTs, at the end of the day, are investments as much as they are collectibles. Therefore, any person who buys NFTs will want to look at the increase in their value, and the NFT flipping crowd is bound to purchase profile picture NFTs.
It is this gamification that has been a principal point of focus for the next generation of NFTs. It is no longer considered fashionable to follow a naming template that reads “some emotion – some primate – some seafaring vessel – club”. People expect their NFT to have some utility other than the fact that it is rare and unique. What is the reason for this transformation and why is it that people have undergone this paradigm shift for NFTs?
Too Many “rare” NFTs Don’t Make It Special!
Let us make it straight and clear. Yes, there is an NFT that is the rarest Correction… And there are so many other collections. Therefore, the number of rare NFTs is not that rare after all! Therefore, the value of your NFT comes down to perception or some other external factor like some celebrity holding a particular NFT from a collection… Or something like that. Rarity almost becomes an obsolete attribute to measure the awesomeness of an NFT.
It Becomes Boring After A Point In Time!
The only story you can tell with NFTs that do not offer any utility is “Hey! Do you know what? I bought the for X dollars and I sold it for 200 X dollars! Isn’t it awesome?!” After a certain point in time, the story becomes monotonous. The NFT becomes nothing more than an asset that appreciates its value. While it is definitely a great thing, it does not have to be the only thing about NFT.
People Expect Excitement!
Let us illustrate this with a simple example. The iPhone might have been a great innovation for mobile phones but the biggest flaunt factor for the iPhone in its early days was that you could pinch-zoom end it had a gyroscopic sensor that would switch from portrait to landscape upon turning the phone. This is precisely what people expect from anything… And NFTs are not an exception.
Rather than just having an NFT that sits in your wallet increasing its value, it would be better to see your NFT spring into action inside a game or at least become a skin for a game character.
Meta Cricket League… The Gamification Initiative By Jump.trade
It was one of her endeavors to create NFT experiences complete with gamification. The signed bat NFTs are collectibles because they have been signed by the legends of the game like Sachin Tendulkar and Don Bradman. However, they also have a utility in the MCL game, and the holder of the NFT not only gets to have the collectible but also gets to use the
The Future Of NFTs
NFTs have indeed opened up a lot of use cases where they could come in handy to be tangible and irrefutable solutions. NFTs also have a very valid use case when it comes to collectible art… the “collectibility” of the art is intrinsic to the art itself… Like the artist.
However, when it comes to profile pictures or any other form of art, gamification will be the biggest factor that drives NFTs of the next generation.
It would not be surprising to see even NFTs released by brands have some utility value, equating it to gamification. Even those NFTs would be featured as visual elements in a game or the metaverse.