Dota 2, Rocket League pros ‘want to explore’ Web3 and blockchain gaming

cointelegraph.com:

While game developers seem to hate the idea of Web3 coming into games, players who compete in gaming tournaments for a living are more open to trying out blockchain gaming.

Professional Dota 2 player Erik Engel for Gaimin Gladiators, more commonly known by his gamer tag “Tofu,” expressed his thoughts on Web3 and how it can help gamers in a statement sent to Cointelegraph.

Engel, who has won over $400,000from various major tournaments in the Dota 2 competitive gaming scene, said it’s refreshing to see companies make “more out of games than just games.” He explained:

In addition, Engel believes that Web3 has features that “genuinely feel beneficial to the player” and expressed that he’s excited to see what companies come up with in the future.

Rocket League professional gamer Max Ng, known by his gamer tag “Maxeew,” also echoed Engel’s sentiments. According to Ng, he really liked the idea of games being developed differently. He said: 

Ng said that while he’s already looked into blockchain-based games, he has never tried them personally. However, the gamer said that he’ll start to get into it once the busy competitive gaming season ends.

Meanwhile, Joseph Turner, the co-founder of Gaimin Gladiators — the organization to which Engel and Ng belong — said that the initial advent of Web3 games built within the decentralized finance space “spooked many major publishers.”

In 2021, Valve Corporation — the developers of popular video game titles like Dota 2 and Half-Life — removed blockchain-based games from its gaming marketplace, Steam. The company updated its guidelines to disallow games that issue cryptocurrencies or nonfungible tokens.

Turner described Valve as an “extremely traditional” gaming company and said the firm would