No More ‘Game Over’ Why is On-Chain Modification Rising?

On-Chain Modification Rising No More 'Game Over

Author: SerenaTaN5, Gaming Analyst at Smrti Lab

Translation: Jack, BlockBeats

Editor’s Note: Modifying the game may be one of the most important elements that determine the gaming experience for many veteran players. In my own gaming career, the most memorable thing is pouring various cool vehicles and weapon mods into the world of “GTA San Andreas” all day long. Game modification, abbreviated as “MOD” in English, refers to the modification of the original electronic game in terms of functionality by game developers or enthusiastic players. Any part of the game, such as props, characters, modes, and storylines, may fall into the category of modification. Famous examples of modded games include “Red Alert,” “Minecraft,” “The Elder Scrolls,” and the classic “Grand Theft Auto” series.

Because I can often get free game mods on the internet, I always take it for granted to enjoy various mods made by fans. However, the development and maintenance of these mods require various costs in different aspects and degrees. And because most mods do not have legal copyright, mod developers find it difficult to gain the motivation for continuous creation in terms of economics, which is also an important reason for modding fatigue. Today, there is increasing discussion about blockchain-based gaming. Can the open and financial attributes of blockchain provide a reliable solution for modding fatigue?

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Games are a medium of expression

As a game designer, creating games is a way to express oneself, which is not possible through any other form (such as writing poems or novels).

Today’s gaming landscape is dominated by gaming giants. However, most of their game works are no longer used as forms of artistic expression. Instead, they overly commercialize online experiences, and game design and content become increasingly interchangeable. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

So where is the problem? The problem is not that game designers themselves do not know how to design games. In fact, many of them do. The problem lies in the fact that as game companies grow in size, they become less willing to take risks and instead focus on creating safe and predictable revenue streams. For example, if the cost of making an AAA game exceeds $200 million, the company may choose to make a game similar to an existing successful game with some minor adjustments, because they believe that this approach can at least ensure equal financial success.

But what if the development team tries a different path? They would have to take the risk of the entire $200 million just for a tiny chance of getting $2 billion. On the other hand, due to lower production costs, independent scenes are more willing to take risks, thus being able to discover elements that have never been seen before. It’s like randomly opening a door, you never know what’s hidden behind it.

Independent Scene and Modding Scene

Independent game developers are those who develop games either independently or in smaller groups, and they have more creative freedom compared to large AAA studios. They are usually not involved in the indie scene nor the modding scene. The indie scene refers to independently built games that are usually simpler in terms of art but more creative in game design. The modding scene is the process of replacing existing official game content. Most mods are free and give a sense of community similar to open-source communities. Modding is more fun and easier compared to independent development – you don’t feel the pressure of releasing a game and you don’t need to build from source code. However, modding is more difficult and complex than it seems, leading to two main reasons for modder burnout.

Two Reasons for Modder Burnout

Firstly, the cost of modding lacks compensation, making it economically unsustainable.

Companies or organizations do not pay mod creators. No matter how popular mods are, they are created by passionate fans without any financial benefits. However, maintaining mods requires long-term effort and time, especially when you start accumulating a large community. If lucky enough, some people may get some economic support through platforms like LianGuaitreon. Although a donation-based model may work for smaller mods, it cannot compensate for all the costs for larger mods. Then, arguments arise when these larger mod developers want to gain more from it – are they benefiting from the development prior to the “official developers”?

Unfortunately, accepting any form of payment other than donations is illegal. Most of the games they build are protected by the company’s intellectual property and licensing agreements, and if mod creators profit from it, they will face legal consequences. Therefore, it is regrettable that most mod creators are in an awkward position where the independence and ownership of their contributions are not fully recognized.

Secondly, changes in the base game rules can cause disruptions, resulting in additional work for mod creators who have to rewrite their mods with every change in game mechanics.

As explained by Tslat, the head of the development team for AdventOfAscension (one of the largest Minecraft mods), changes in the base game can lead to exponentially more rework for large mods compared to smaller mods.

“When something does go wrong, we need more time to fix it than an equivalent small mod, due to the scale of content and additional template files (see proactive technical debt above), and you can see how much it impacts us as a large mod.” – Tslat

Module creators often find themselves in a passive position, having to unconditionally adapt to each update of the base game. Since these games were not designed with modules in mind, developers rarely consider maintaining compatibility with each update. Every time game developers make significant changes to the source code, modules can be rendered useless due to incompatibility. Even in mod-friendly games like Stardew Valley and Minecraft, which attempt to use APIs built on the source code, such as SMAPI and Forge, mod fatigue can still occur.

This chart shows the trend of SMAPI mod compatibility with Stardew Valley over time.

So, what are the possible solutions?

Transitioning to the realm of blockchain games, blockchain communities encourage more extensive experimental modding. At the same time, they provide an economically sustainable and persistent environment for modded scenes in a trustless manner. In a permissionless environment, module creators become not just participants, but powerful influencers and changemakers in the game. This is the power of permissionless innovation; module creators become an indispensable force in co-creating the blockchain ecosystem, while sustaining themselves in various ways on the fully on-chain platform.

Firstly, module creators have more flexible profit distribution methods.

They now have the governance rights to autonomously decide profit rates. Open-source blockchain projects are not protected by licenses. Instead, their protection comes from liquidity, which acts as a moat. Modules can profit based on the on-chain activity outlined in their smart contract. They can turn their creations into public goods and achieve positive-sum outcomes through staking and liquidity. The liquidity they capture helps them avoid unnecessary forks. Therefore, only innovative and beneficial creations have the ability to profit on the blockchain.

Secondly, blockchain games are immutable, transforming modules from mere extensions to essential components of the game and gradually becoming part of the game’s structure.

Module players will no longer have to worry about being marginalized or fatigued by constant updates to the base game. Due to the inherent immutability, module creators can build modules based on underlying physical principles without worrying about maintenance issues. Once deployed, they no longer need to be maintained. Most importantly, the public real-time data on the blockchain opens up possibilities for a new type of game, as described by Ronan as “meta-meta games,” mod games running on real-time data of another infinite game. In this case, the stacking module mechanism can be imagined not just as a prediction market, but a tactical game module running on the real-time data of existing games/modules. This further enriches the ecosystem.

Conclusion

Once the modified scene becomes economically feasible and permanent through blockchain, we expect a large amount of rich and extensive mod content created from the original game version to flood in, transforming the on-chain gaming ecosystem into a hyper-structured space. However, we still have a long way to go before witnessing large-scale modifications and co-creation within the on-chain ecosystem. Nevertheless, we are ready and excited to foster open-source public products, surpassing technical and design barriers on this adventurous journey.

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