Welcome to the March edition of BlockchainGamer.biz’s regular Mavens group.
Given the current market volatility, do you think protocols like Limit Break’s Apptokens could have a major impact in changing the outlook for web3 games by giving developers more control?
Sam Barberie – Head of strategy and partnerships, Sequence
Apptokens, like Limit Break’s 721C standard, propose some interesting ideas but are a bandaid on fundamental industry issues that need other solutions or can already be solved without limiting future user or developer flexibility.
I think it’s important to go back to look at 721C, a standard that is ostensibly supposed to make it difficult for users or platforms to wrap tokens and avoid creator royalty payouts. In theory, this is great: one of the core tenets of web3 technology is that creators should be entitled to perpetual royalties. But this “solution” ignores the real problem: the industry’s reliance on third party marketplaces who have sole control over whether royalties should be enforced has created not only poor user experience (why would I ever have a user leave my app or game to go to another platform?) but also taught degens that creators are not worth rewarding.
I’d prefer to see more momentum behind addressing these issues. In practice, 721C is a standard with severe limitations, including the fact that most of its security standards don’t work with the industry best practice of smart contract wallets, forcing developers to choose between better acquisition and user experiences or enforcing royalties. There’s not much to enforce if users can’t easily onboard and buy things in the first place.
If developers are so keen to have a closed box ecosystem, there’s something called web2 available to them.
With 721C, there are other solutions already live, namely in-game marketplaces that improve retention and user experiences and enforce royalties by default. Smart contract wallets can also blacklist or gatekeep access to marketplaces and platforms if developers want (more on this as we discuss Apptokens later). Sure, users could go through intense efforts to transfer tokens or wrap them for royalty-free trading, but we know that, when given the option, 90%+ of gamers trade on in-game marketplaces like Sequence’s anyway, where royalties are protected by default. If we’re forcing standards based on the current audience of ~10k web3 native speculators, most games are already in trouble.
Now let’s look at Apptokens. Apptokens as an idea (nothing is live in practice) aim to provide even more developer controls over game assets, limiting tradability, the opportunity for users to take them out of more closed ecosystems, etc. Like 721C, this sounds like a patch on developers not taking the time to use other extant tools or hone in on better game design, which can solve for market volatility.
Apptokens also beg the question of whether developers know what should be put onchain and what shouldn’t (most don’t). We know the blockchain is great for handling a lot of game logistics, but if developers are so keen to have a closed box ecosystem, there’s something called web2 available to them. Smart contract wallets and other mechanisms already allow developers to fine-tune their controls over what users can do with in-game assets with dynamic flexibility, without requiring the adoption of new standards that could limit what developers or players can do with assets down the road.
I applaud Limit Break for trying to address some of the complexities of the market, but feel like the results may artificially limit web3’s greatest benefits, while distracting developers from more sustainable solutions to core industry problems.
Quinn Kwon – Head of web3 strategy, Delabs Games
Web3 gaming has gone through many experimental phases. In a market as unpredictable as crypto, developers are constantly searching for models that offer stability and long-term sustainability. Limit Break’s Apptokens present an intriguing approach: programmable tokens that give developers more control over how in-game assets are earned, used, and traded.
One of the most appealing aspects is the ability to create insular economies – tokens that aren’t freely tradable on external markets. This can reduce abuse, curb speculation-driven volatility, and foster healthier gameplay loops. In this model, tokens are less about flipping but about utility – tied to achievements, progress, and meaningful in-game actions. It reflects a broader industry shift: less hype, but more utility. That’s a positive as players and developers alike are weary of unsustainable pump-and-dump dynamics.
Speculation, for all its flaws, can also drive discovery, community, and growth.
But on the flip side, crypto has always been about open economies, free exchange, and decentralization. Removing those aspects by a great degree, or locking tokens too tightly within closed systems, risks cutting off one of the things that makes web3 exciting in the first place. Speculation, for all its flaws, can also drive discovery, community, and growth. Clamping down too hard in the name of “safety” risks limiting its potential upside.
It’s a tough balance. Giving developers tools to stabilize and personalize their economies is a big step forward, but eliminating market forces altogether could be an overcorrection.
Apptokens show real promise – if designed and integrated thoughtfully. They give developers real power to design smarter economies. However, the goal shouldn’t be to kill speculation, but to channel it, align it with utility, and let both coexist in a way that benefits everyone.
Robby Yung – CEO, Animoca Brands
While I love to see new innovations in the space, and I think Limit Break’s work on enforcing creator royalties through its ERC-721C standard has been great, I think for me, the jury is still out on Apptokens.
I see the rationale, and I understand the challenges and frustrations that have led to this proposal. However, from my point of view, I feel like this is a way of applying web2 thinking to web3 tools, potentially to the detriment of the latter. While I appreciate the desire to have more granular control, particularly in how tokens are earned and used inside games, ultimately this can be a slippery slope to walling the garden again in a web2 fashion. Allowing open and permissionless token usage in games is important, and I think the job (albeit a very challenging one) of web3 game developers is to design new economy models that allow for the peaceful co-existence of hard core players, token farmers, and financial enthusiasts.
These constituencies may all have different motivations, but that’s not dissimilar to gaming cohorts – it’s just more complicated. All this having been said – as I mentioned at the beginning, I really appreciate this proposal and love to see people trying new things in the space, even if it’s not exactly my cup of tea.
Find out more about Apptokens here.