Paper Type

ERF

Description

A recurring theme during transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 has been decentralization. Prioritization of decentralized governance has also been recurringly displayed in Web 3.0 based play-to-earn games. Play-to-earn games position themselves as differentiators from legacy games, operationalizing this decentralized governance to its participants. We assess and discern how this decentralization is dissipated to its players. By taking three cases of play-to-earn games, we discern mechanisms of their distribution, extent of applicability and implementation around Ostrom’s principles of decentralization. We find that even though decentralized governance is professed as one of their aims, its complete implementation is initially held back. While the implementation and degree of change varies, each one encourages longevity of participation through staking. However, with decentralization only still “tokenized”, there exists a possibility of authority concentration, instead of decentralization, on play-to-earn gaming platforms.

Paper Number

1176

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Aug 10th, 12:00 AM

Decentralization and governance in web 3.0 based play-to-earn games

A recurring theme during transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 has been decentralization. Prioritization of decentralized governance has also been recurringly displayed in Web 3.0 based play-to-earn games. Play-to-earn games position themselves as differentiators from legacy games, operationalizing this decentralized governance to its participants. We assess and discern how this decentralization is dissipated to its players. By taking three cases of play-to-earn games, we discern mechanisms of their distribution, extent of applicability and implementation around Ostrom’s principles of decentralization. We find that even though decentralized governance is professed as one of their aims, its complete implementation is initially held back. While the implementation and degree of change varies, each one encourages longevity of participation through staking. However, with decentralization only still “tokenized”, there exists a possibility of authority concentration, instead of decentralization, on play-to-earn gaming platforms.

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