Portal, a unified blockchain gaming platform, has introduced its PortalPay service. The service aims to lower barriers to entry for blockchain gaming by providing users with an interoperability solution to pay for and cash out of in-game assets using any of the 5,000 digital assets supported.

To access the onchain features of a blockchain game, users must typically connect a MetaMask wallet or another service that allows them to interact with decentralized applications and purchase assets or non-fungible tokens (NFTs) required to play that game. Many gaming tokens are also blockchain-specific and have yet to migrate to other chains.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Ezra Strauss, the head of partnerships at Portal, highlighted the issue of ecosystem fragmentation in the blockchain gaming sector:

“I think the big problems that we’ve seen are that there are all these different chains, different wallets, and sort of like separate ecosystems that have sprung up. Users, tokens and assets are stuck in all these different pockets of the Web3 ecosystem. It makes new user adoption very difficult.”

Currently, Web3 gamers can solve these issues by bridging or converting digital assets to the required currency to play a particular game. However, the network costs of bridging and converting can be prohibitive.

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Benefits to users and developers

Aside from increasing user adoption, PortalPay takes on the burden of providing onchain solutions so developers can focus on creating blockchain games emphasizing gameplay quality, not onchain commerce.

Moreover, Portal seeks to solidify user retention by abstracting away the technical aspects of Web3 onboarding and providing a streamlined user interface. “The level of value that we create are the things that make it so that you don’t have to think about the infrastructure level,” Strauss told Cointelegraph.

Some of the problems posed by a fragmented gaming ecosystem. Source: Portal

The state of blockchain gaming 

Although the sector is growing, blockchain gaming is still far from achieving mainstream adoption. A recent survey from OnePoll found that 52% of the 2,000 adults surveyed  were completely unaware of the Web3 gaming sector. An additional 32% indicated they knew what blockchain games were but had never played one.

Regulatory challenges are also an issue, with the financial aspect of gaming tokens coming under the scrutiny of financial regulators. In September 2023, the developers of Shrapnel announced that players in the United States would not be able to cash out of the game due to fear of regulatory reprisals from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Officials in Uzbekistan took a similar stance toward the popular Hamster Kombat game on The Open Network. They explained that the country  would not ban the game but warned users against withdrawing and trading the in-game currency.

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