Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney recently described a long-term plan for Unreal Games and Fortnite that could finally create the kind of game-agnostic digital assets marketplace Web3 gamers have been dreaming of since the advent of the metaverse.
In a recent interview with The Verge, Sweeney discussed the companyâs upcoming Unreal Engine 6.
Unreal is among the most popular game engines in the world. Itâs used by developers around the world to make titles such as Epicâs own Fortnite as well as the Mass Effect series and dozens of other AAA gaming franchises and titles.Â
Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine 5 was released in 2022. In the gaming industry, this means itâs relatively new and most gamers have only seen a handful of titles showcasing its capabilities. On Oct. 6, for example, Halo developer 343 Industries announced it had multiple Unreal Engine 5 games in development.
The typical lifespan of a gaming engine ranges from around seven to ten years. Thus, itâs unlikely weâll see Unreal Engine 6 before 2030.Â
But, according to the companyâs CEO, it appears that Epic already has ambitious goals for its flagship software. Sweeny also appears to believe thereâs a paradigm shift coming with the next generation of multiplayer gaming development.Â
âThe whole thesis here is that players are gravitating towards games which they can play together with all their friends,â said Sweeney, in the interview, adding that âplayers are spending more on digital items in games that they trust theyâre going to play for a long time.âÂ
Itâs likely Sweeney was referencing his own companyâs successful game, Fortnite. But titles such as Grand Theft Auto Online have also demonstrated the point that, when it comes to AAA games that operate on in-game purchases for revenue, a handful have managed to crack the formula for turning digital assets into company profits.Â
Per Sweeney, however, the ecosystem needs to expand beyond walled gardens and into an actual metaverse for gamers:
âIf youâre just dabbling in a game, why would you spend money to buy an item that youâre never going to use again? If we have an interoperable economy, then that will increase player trust that todayâs spending on buying digital goods results in things that theyâre going to own for a long period of time, and it will work in all the places they go.â
Interoperability
In the past 24 months, the gaming industry has experienced a period of mass layoffs that have left a few AAA gaming firms unscathed. Even Epic Games laid off 830 employees â about 16% of its staff â in September 2023.Â
Part of the downturn, according to analysts, can be attributed to the industryâs boom during the COVID-19 lockdowns. With much of the worldâs population stuck indoors, the gaming sector saw unprecedented adoption. Years later, however, many of the jobs created during this period have been lost as studios reorganized or shuttered altogether.Â
The path forward, according to Epic Games, is one the cryptocurrency, blockchain, and Web3 communities know well: the commoditization of digital assets.Â
Epic Gamesâ executive vice president Saxs Persson, speaking to The Verge, explained that the companyâs vision for the future of gaming is one where interoperability keeps gamers engaged no matter what platform they choose:
âThereâs no reason why we couldnât have a federated way to flow between Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite. From our perspective, that would be amazing, because it keeps people together and lets the best ecosystem win.â
Despite the fact that Minecraft was originally created in Java and Roblox was developed using a proprietary engine, the potential for interoperability is evidently being baked into Unreal Engine 6.Â
Ostensibly, this would require blockchain technology to ensure trustless verification between systems without compromising company privacy.Â
Cointelegraph reached out to Epic Games for comment but didnât receive an immediate response.Â
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