GameCredits, a blockchain company focused on the gaming industry, has announced a partnership with game developer Unity Technologies to accelerate blockchain adoption and digital asset integration across games. The collaboration aims to make GameCredits’ blockchain-based assets accessible to millions of mobile gamers using Unity-built apps and titles.
Targeting mobile gaming and eSports—the fastest-growing segments of the global gaming market—GameCredits and Unity will work together to expand blockchain utility within the broader $100 billion gaming industry.
As part of the agreement, GameCredits’ mobile store, GPlay, will be integrated into Unity’s development tools. This integration will let developers publish games directly to GPlay through a one-click workflow. To encourage uptake, developers publishing on GPlay will receive 90 percent of gross revenue—well above the industry norm of roughly 70 percent—and significantly faster payouts, within 60 hours compared to the typical 60-day cycle.
Hubert Larenaudie, president of Asia Pacific at Unity Technologies, noted that Unity has a track record of adopting technologies that democratize game development, address difficult technical problems, and enable developer success.
“With GameCredits, we intend to bring about a paradigm shift in the gaming industry,” he said. “Blockchain solutions will help disintermediate game publishing and give better returns to creators.”
Modern gaming has evolved far beyond simple entertainment. Mobile gaming in particular creates an ecosystem where players customize experiences and remain engaged and monetarily active for longer periods. Market research firm App Annie reported that in 2016 mobile games accounted for 75 percent of iOS App Store revenue and 90 percent of Google Play revenue, underscoring the platform’s commercial dominance.
Alex Migitko, COO at GameCredits, emphasized that partnering with Unity will help bring blockchain technology into the mainstream. Unity’s widespread presence—its engine powers hundreds of millions of titles and is used to build a large share of leading mobile games—gives the partnership substantial reach. Currently, Unity tools are used to develop roughly one-third of the top 1,000 free mobile games and powered high-profile titles such as Pokémon Go.
“Unity has always been at the forefront of innovation in gaming, and it’s by far the most popular game-development engine. With this partnership we are introducing digital assets and blockchain to every third person on earth,” Migitko said.
The collaboration could significantly influence the mobile gaming market. Industry forecasts at the time projected mobile gaming revenue rising to tens of billions of dollars; one report estimated mobile would generate about $46.1 billion in 2017, representing roughly 42 percent of the total games market—up from $38.6 billion the prior year.
Other blockchain-driven initiatives are also pursuing transformation of the gaming economy. For example, decentralized marketplaces such as DMarket.io aim to enable global trading of in-game items, offering platforms where gamers can trade virtual goods across different games and ecosystems.