<h2>Introduction</h2>Web3 games painted a tempting vision: use a sword in one game and use that sword in other games. Wear a t-shirt in one environment and a t-shirt with a similar look in another environment. Carry your character with achievements across games. The holy grail of blockchain gaming would be for games to be fully interoperable. This vision has not materialized to any great extent five years later. Art NFTs might be found in <a href="https://www.lbank.com/price/decentraland/what-is" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Decentraland</a> and <a href="https://www.lbank.com/price/the-sandbox/what-is" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Sandbox</a>. Some games establish standards for avatars. Whitepapers often propose seamless use of assets across games. This does not often occur. Axie Infinity does not integrate well with Gods Unchained. A Somnium wearable cannot be used with a Decentraland item. They are separate environments even with a similar blockchain framework. Various engines, mechanics, and art designs establish tech hurdles. A more profound issue remains economical: no practical incentive exists to facilitate interoperation where such action negatively affects revenue generation and competitive advantage. While blockchain ensures interoperation theoretically, economics within games function as a strong force in the opposite direction.<h2>Tech Reality</h2>Interoperability is effective in niche scenarios. The Sandbox welcomes good avatars and products from other platforms. Cards in Gods Unchained can be traded on other platforms and occasionally used in other games based on NFTs. Players of Decentraland use art NFTs sourced from KnownOrigin, Rarible, and other Ethereum platforms irrespective of a particular game. Blockchains enable ownership verification across platforms, smart contracts facilitate transactions, while ERC 721 &amp; ERC 1155 provide common standards. The infrastructure is available. Programmers can search wallets for a particular NFT and assign permissions. However, static art assets, trading in-game commodities, and faithful avatar imports would be effective. Game functions for progression, character development, and mechanics would be ineffectual. A sword in a fantasy RPG would not be applicable for a space shooter game because of differences in engines that necessitate human intervention for mechanics translation. The level of interoperability is shallow. You can check ownership and make it look pretty. Without game developers who are going to build connectors, games with varying rule structures and physics designs wouldn’t be possible. This requires cooperation that current game economies hinder.<h2>Aversion to Interoperability among Developers</h2>The studio sells skins, characters, weapons, and cosmetics. If players are allowed to import things from other games, then this means that the studio does not earn money. A studio would never allow a player to use a sword from another game because then it would be losing money when it could be making money. Brand control is also important. Creators go out of their way to design aesthetics. Random imports of NFTs in the world could end up reducing the carefully crafted atmosphere. This would involve approval and quality standards. But then enabling coordination adds a further level of complexity. Variosity requires a series of studios to come to a consensus on standards and mechanics translation/value. How does one decide how a Game A sword converts to a Game B item? What about when devs have differing opinions about item rarity/power? How does one balance for multiple progression paths? Blockchain makes such coordination problems apparent and recalcitrant, instead of solved. A committee of rival studios figuring out asset compatibility would be subject to analogous political and economic difficulties as any other committee, but would be inscribed on the blockchain instead.<h2>The Real World Examples</h2>This level of interoperability does extend only to user content. Sandbox imposes a degree of intentional limitations when players create their own NFTs that operate solely within those parameters for use with Sandbox's own tools and parameters. They’re for use within experiences of assets in a Sandbox environment, assets for experiences, not games so this ‘interoperability’ is more hype. Static 2D pictures require no integration, and therefore art NFTs can be shown in Decentraland. A wallet check, a display of a picture, and simple verification cosmetic only and unimportant for gameplay function, therefore low interoperability. Cards for Gods Unchained in external markets represent interactivity in terms of ecosystem-wide ownership transfers. However, using such cards requires a presence of Gods Unchained or a handful of games integrated. This cross-game ownership does not affect a card's in-game role. The trend continues: superficial, shallow, and revenue-neutral interoperability can certainly exist. Where this vision begins to break down starts with competing game studios requiring mechanic integration, collaboration, and economics.<h2>What Interoperability</h2>"The original dream: obtain a rare commodity in Game A and use that commodity fully in games B, C, and D. Or ‘prove ownership of assets from Game A, then showcase those assets in Game B if devs added that feature." But this isn’t pointless. There are uses for carrying reputation and achievement credits. Picture this: gaming credentials that reward access to new games in various titles. How about loyalty cards where purchases in Game A give discounts in Game B? Additive use cases Game B recognizing Game A achievements tend to be more successful than substitution use cases Game B accepting Game A items instead of its own. Where economics match up well, Game B prospers with more experienced players, and Game A gets a more lively environment. Web3 promised permissionless interoperability; instead, we have a curated, partnering-focused, and controlled model not unlike traditional games' loyalty programs but made explicitly verifiable via blockchain.<h2>Hardware &amp; Security Barriers</h2>An immersive metaverse requires costly equipment: VR headsets, haptic gloves, and motion tracking. As for cross-compatibility, this feature primarily benefits those with deep pockets who jumped in first. The average user gets left out whether they own NFTs or not. Security imposes friction. The use of asset transfer cross-blockchains adds smart contract risks of transfer tampering and theft. Attackers target bridges for exploits because successful hacks have shown. This adds to a broken blockchain ecosystem. Ethereum games rely on Ethereum assets only. Web3 faces interoperability problems with other blockchains' assets. The largest metaverse blockchains operate with Ethereum. This gives a clear interoperability advantage but does not include other blockchains.<h2>A Difficult Question</h2>Which other communities might be interested in interoperability beyond blockchain communities? For most players, using one sword in several games does not matter. They want games that are entertaining and involve good design. Adding a random outside factor such as NFTs may affect this. Players see investment opportunities in NFTs and use them beyond games. They seek inter-game utility. However, designers focus more on gameability than on investment. This conflicts. Also looming are complications with IP. Large IP franchises would never allow a rival to use their character names or objects. You wouldn’t see a Mario character in a Call of Duty game blockchain or no blockchain. This would be determined by business structures and legal systems, and not by technology.<h2>What Might Work</h2>A degree of interoperability for particular use cases might be legitimate. Linked games include achievements. Game A NFTs unlock Game B content; loyalty bridges payoffs. Names and reputations might be tied across platforms. This gets achieved because such implementations are mutually beneficial, well-designed, and do not disrupt the economics of games. The concept of games has used achievements for a platform and accounts for a while now for similar purposes. Blockchain only brings transparency to verification. A cross-metaverse mobility of assets between radically different environments might always be years off. This time, economic policies stand in the way. This time, publishers want power. This time, players want equity. Unfettered asset imports have no place in a carefully balanced environment. They help no one. The developers would pursue interoperability via partnerships, marketing collaborations, and integrations when it makes business sense. Nobody needs permissionless blockchain magic to make arbitrary assets go everywhere. Interoperability for everything would affect one too many economic interests to be scaled. Freedom and mobility were promised. What has come about: carefully crafted environments with access protected. While blockchain technology provides transparent verification and transactions, this has not abolished access restrictions.

NFT gaming’s dream of cross-game items failed: technical limits, studio economics, and brand control keep interoperability shallow, leaving only cosmetic displays, loyalty perks, and basic achievement

A Hope Bruised: How a Non-Functional NFT Sword Fails to Meet Expectations


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