The differences between Web2 and Web3 games in three dimensions

Source: GMG Labs

The birth of Gamefi is a revolutionary change, moving from traditional Web2 games to the innovative Web3 gaming world. This change is not just a technological upgrade, but also a reshaping of the way gamers interact with digital entertainment.

In the Web2 gaming era, games run on centralized servers controlled by developers and publishers. Under this architecture, in-game assets (such as skins, weapons, or character enhancements) are completely developed and managed by game creators, and are basically impossible to transfer or trade outside the game ecosystem, greatly limiting players' ownership and asset value. In addition, the currency model in Web2 games usually relies on micro-transactions, subscription fees, or advertising revenue, which gives game companies asymmetric benefits.

Web3 games have brought a paradigm shift to the gaming industry through the decentralized nature of blockchain technology. One of the core features of Web3 games is to give players digital ownership of in-game assets through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Unlike traditional Web2 game assets, the emergence of NFTs allows players to truly own these assets, allowing users to trade freely across different games and platforms, and converting invested time and resources into real-world value.

Web3 games also leverage the decentralized capabilities of blockchain to improve the transparency and security of games, eliminate intermediaries, and reduce the risk of fraud. At the same time, Web3 games generally adopt the "Play-to-Earn" model, allowing players to earn digital assets by participating in games, thus democratizing the game economy. This model allows players to receive direct economic rewards for their participation and contributions, and the combined financial attributes open up new sources of income for players.

These profound differences between Web2 and Web3 games are of great significance. By advocating decentralization, introducing NFTs to achieve true ownership of digital assets, and innovative monetization models, Web3 games are expected to completely change the gaming experience, making it more fair and transparent for gamers around the world.

Business Model

From the perspective of business model, Web3 games can be regarded as a form of Web2 games moving towards the future. Web2 creates economies of scale through centralized capabilities, reducing the marginal costs of production and consumption, and can serve a large user base with extremely high cost-effectiveness. Therefore, while users enjoy the convenience in Web2, they also pay the value of production and consumption - the platform, as an intermediary, controls the traffic business by setting rules, and users must obey these rules to participate.

In contrast, Web3 games, based on the centralization of Web2, try to realize the return of asset ownership through transparent and open servers. In Web3, the production and consumption behaviors of users are associated with their identity, that is, wallets. Not only funds, but also other related values ​​of users belong to users. The platform only provides a fair and transparent choice, and users selectively participate in it by recognizing the rules of the platform. This model can be said to be fundamentally different from Web2.

User Value Dimension

From the perspective of user value, Web2 games or platforms, in addition to providing financial services, focus more on meeting users' social needs, respect needs, and self-realization needs. In other words, most services provided by Web2 are not limited to monetary benefits, but are more centered around users' psychological needs. In Web3, users' main motivation is often to make a profit, and they first focus on whether there is an opportunity to gain benefits, and then consider other factors. Of course, as the number of users increases, the added value of the Web3 platform will gradually exceed the pure economic benefits, thereby achieving a true return of user property rights, similar to the user experience of Web2.

Another contrasting example is that Web2 games can provide users with a sense of superiority in product use and meet their needs in their spare time, which is relatively scarce in Web3. Superiority usually comes from sharing similar ideologies and commonly recognized behaviors in a wider user group. However, although Web3 products can provide a similar sense of superiority in a specific niche, it is still relatively difficult to achieve this in a wider group of Internet users.

You can see the difference between Web2 and Web3 in their current form from a simple product formula:

Product value = functional value + emotional value + asset value

Web3 is naturally suitable for providing liquidity due to the transparency of its blockchain, and the financial field is the product form that needs liquidity the most. Therefore, the financial attributes of Web3 will be developed first, mainly providing asset value. In the future, Web3 will also gradually increase the supply of functional value and emotional value, which means that Web3 will gradually evolve into an evolved version of Web2, just as digital currency is the evolution of the traditional financial system. With the expansion of the user group and the diversification of needs, Web3 will continue to grow and be able to meet a wider range of user needs.

Product design dimension

In Web2 games, business models, product functions and operating strategies are actually relatively fixed. The most commonly used model is to "buy volume with money" as the core, attracting user traffic and then converting it into platform revenue. In this model, the distance between the platform and the user is relatively far, the user is often in a relatively passive position, and the platform is in a dominant position.

As time goes by, the business model and operation mode of Web3 are still being explored and changed. Almost every once in a while, new concepts and gameplay emerge, such as Serverfi, which has been highly discussed recently (players can be allowed to combine their in-game assets to obtain server autonomy; continue to reward high-retention players, provide targeted rewards for high-retention players, and maintain the vitality of digital currency and the health of the game ecosystem. Compared with P2E's game-playing to make money, the concept of ServerFi is more like the game itself can make money). In the process of constant change, we strive to find stability and certainty. Compared with Web2 games, Web3 pays more attention to the operation of users and communities. It is necessary to deeply understand user needs and even put yourself in the position of users. This has become the key to creating successful products and gaining a good reputation. Only with the deep participation of users and communities can Web3 games achieve better development.

The differences between Web2 and Web3 games are not only reflected in the technical level, but also show completely different concepts in multiple dimensions such as business model, user value and product design. The centralized nature of Web2 games allows the platform to control the game rules and user relationships, while Web3 gives users greater rights and participation through decentralized blockchain technology, allowing players to truly own and control their assets and value in the game.