The Rise And Implications Of High-Stakes Gaming

Looking at the world of gaming, it’s impossible not to notice how the medium has grown up with the player base. Generation X and millennials are the first generations that stuck with the hobby, with large populations of gamers getting even deeper into the hobby as they get the disposable income to keep playing, as well. As such, the motives behind gaming change as well. Not only do people play for fun, but they play to win, and the stakes go further than a KD ratio or a victory royale. Here, we’re going to look at how real stakes have found their way into the gaming space in a wide range of ways, and what it means for the ongoing growth of the medium.

How Money Shaped Early Game Design

While it might seem like things such as loot boxes, real-money game economies, and casino sites are a relatively recent development, the line has been blurrier right from the beginning. The arcade developed out of coin-operated machines such as pinball and one-armed bandits (aka manual slot machines). Those games were teaching designers how to trigger emotional highs and keep gamers coming back time and time again. That same design has come through to the modern day, with Vampire Survivors, one of the most innovative games of 2022, being one of the clearest examples. Its developer, Luca Galante, has spoken plainly on how his previous history in the gambling industry created the famously addictive game.

The History Of Real Money In Virtual Worlds

When we talk about real stakes in games, however, we’re typically looking beyond money’s influence on development and looking closer at money’s influence on the players. MMOs were some of the first pioneers (and cautionary tales) about the effect of real money. World of Warcraft saw a lot of players selling accounts, despite Blizzard’s attempts to crack down on it. However, it may have been EVE Online that truly pioneered the growth of a virtual economy in gaming. The player-driven economy of mining, trading, warfare, and corporate competition drove the acquisition of ships, which have historically been sold in real money exchanges. Again, the real money sales have typically been against the terms of service of the game, but that hasn’t stopped people from finding a way to do it.

The Rise Of Gacha Games

Practically every gaming space has been affected by the rise of gacha mechanics, originating in Japan, where people spend money (or resources earned in-game) for a chance to unlock rare items or characters. Games like Genshin Impact and Fate/Grand Order are typically considered the leaders in this market, but Overwatch’s loot boxes are effectively a gacha mechanic, as well. Although account selling is still something of a market for these games, more people have noted gacha’s impact on the in-game progression, with many of them being considered “pay-to-win.” Gacha games exemplify how modern gaming can transform emotional investment into financial commitment, making gameplay a high-stakes financial experience.

Counter-Strike’s Cosmetics Market

One of the developments of gacha mechanics in games is that people tend to tie real monetary value to the items that they earn. After all, it costs money to get the chance to earn these items, so the rarer the items, the more money typically has to be spent to earn them. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive saw this trend explode in a real-money market for its cosmetics, which are typically earned from loot boxes. These items have sold for hundreds and even thousands of dollars, typically traded on third-party markets. Although the developers do not explicitly endorse this practice, they have rarely done anything to enforce against it, which has seen the practice become much more widespread.

Casino Games See International Growth

Real-money gaming sites, emulating casino experiences such as slots, poker, and blackjack, have been a part of the online gaming landscape for decades. Some of the earliest dedicated multiplayer experiences were poker websites. The globalization of these platforms has seen them growing in whole new markets, with standouts like Korea’s own MTGAL (or 먹튀검증) leading to more money flowing into the market, and more players discovering the thrill of immediate wins. As these sites blend entertainment and high-stakes risk, they blur the lines between gaming and gambling, and casino ecosystems become a pillar of the online gaming landscape.

E-Sports Has Become A Real Opportunity

Competitive gaming, or esports, has grown from grassroots LAN parties and Street Fighter II arcade tournaments into an industry that earns billions of dollars and awards millions to its players. Major tournaments, such as DOTA 2’s The International, the Fortnite World Cup, and the fighting game tournament EVO,  offer opportunities for players at the top of the game to win serious cash prizes. Smaller tournaments make for a thriving competitive space of smaller cash prizes. This influx of money seems to be on the rise, as well, with big names taking an interest, like Sony’s acquisition of EVO, and game developers and publishers setting up their own tournaments. As the prize pools grow, so does the infrastructure around them: sponsorships, trainers, and team contracts leading to more opportunities for players to get paid. Of course, this kind of success isn’t easily attained, but it’s a possibility for every gamer to aspire to.

Streaming As A Real Career Path

The gaming landscape has grown into a fandom that enjoys gaming content even when they’re not playing. From the early days of Let’s Plays, streaming has become a real means of making some money for a wide range of gamers. Platforms, including Twitch, YouTube, and the like, have allowed even mid-level creators to manage a consistent revenue. It’s not always a full-time job’s worth of money, but combining it with other money-making streams like producing videos for YouTube, selling merch, and launching Patreon accounts can help it contribute to a sustainable income. But streaming is also a grind: long hours, constant content creation, and parasocial fan dynamics, and typically, it’s only those who can combine their gaming with personality, humour, or commentary that stand out from the crowd.

Play-To-Earn

Although a smaller market than what we’ve looked at so far, a new niche of games and apps is offering real cash, tokens, coupons, and other awards simply for playing games. Known as play-to-earn (P2E) or reward gaming models, these are most popular in the mobile market. Apps will offer some form of currency in exchange for playing a host of games, often with the purpose of exposing players to ads. In more specific cases, Axie Infinity was one game that was paying players in the Philippines more than minimum wage just from collecting, breeding, and battling its digital critters. It’s not clear if there’s going to be another opportunity quite as lucrative as that, but it’s a space that developers are certainly going to probe further in the future.

Blurring The Line Between Fun And Finance

Real money stakes and games have shared a space since the very early days, from coin-op arcade games offering prizes and online poker sites to real money economies for online games and a global casino game landscape. However, as high-stakes gaming spreads, thoughtful oversight needs to follow. There are rising voices calling for the closer regulation of skin gambling, crypto-integrated games, and reward-based apps. But innovation is racing ahead, with blockchain, AI< and real-time payment technologies poised to contribute to the explosion of this real-stakes economy.

Money and gaming have always had their ties. However, there’s no denying that real stakes have a bigger place in gaming than ever before, and it may continue to have an influence for years to come.