3 OG gaming giants who are getting into blockchain

If you’re a crypto enthusiast, you probably always saw a future where blockchain could be taken seriously by other industries. So when OG gaming giants are getting on the bandwagon, you know you were right. We’re at the stage of the crypto tech revolution where legacy industries are being forced to sit up and take notice. Banks, governments, internet companies, and yes, even gaming companies are starting to make plays.

NFTs and play-to-earn gaming models are taking off in the gaming world and OG gaming giants are setting up their strategies. Here are three examples of big players who are embracing blockchain.

Zynga

Website: zynga.com

Top games: FarmVille, Words with Friends, Mafia Wars, CityVille, Zynga Poker

If you haven’t heard of Zynga as a game developer, you’ve probably heard about its games. Back in 2009, it launched FarmVille which swept across Facebook at the time as a social gaming phenomenon. At the end of 2021, the company was clocking 184 million monthly active users, and now it’s primed and ready to bring NFTs and P2E into its wheelhouse of mobile and social gaming. Zynga has partnered with a blockchain infrastructure company, Forte, is developing NFT games, and is thinking about Web3 gaming as it keeps its eyes on the future.

Niantic Labs

Website: nianticlabs.com

Top games: Pokémon Go, Ingress, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Pikmin Bloom

Niantic Labs is known for its augmented reality (AR) games like Pokémon Go and Ingress. As far as gaming phenomena in the last decade are concerned, Pokémon Go was one of the big ones. Now Niantic is turning its attention to blockchain and crypto. It has already developed an AR game with the help of the financial company Fold, that lets players find and collect Bitcoin in the metaverse in a similar way to catching Pokémon. The company also has more big plans in the works for integrating NFTs into social and AR gaming.

EA Games

Website: ea.com

Top games: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, FIFA, The Sims, Battlefield, Madden, Plants vs. Zombies

We all know EA Games. If you haven’t played one of their sports games, maybe you’ve played one of their battle games. If not that, perhaps The Sims. If not that, some of their mobile games. It’s one of the OG gaming giants, and now it’s definitely not going to let blockchain pass it by. While EA may not be as far along as Zynga and Niantic in developing blockchain games or integrating NFTs and P2E into its catalog, it definitely has blockchain on the brain. EA CEO Andrew Wilson has made statements suggesting that P2E and NFTs are going to be important in the gaming space, and though it’s still early, EA is not sleeping on blockchain.

Conclusion

We’re still in the developmental stages of blockchain and P2E gaming. However, it’s already playing out that blockchain gaming will both develop on its own and get adopted by the existing industry. However it continues to evolve in the future, one thing is certain right now: OG gaming giants are paying attention. With all the money, time, and project development energy that’s going into crypto in ways that touch existing, legacy industries, companies are looking into the future and seeing blockchain.