Video Game Testing In The Era Of Blockchain Technology

People in the gaming industry have been constantly moving ahead with new technologies and one of the most talked-about technologies is blockchain gaming. Now the thing is why and how blockchain technology is going to overcome a lot of consequences faced by the game industry. The Gaming industry is potentially strong to adopt blockchain technology in games that can take it to the next level. 

Now imagine you own an asset that comes under no right of the developer or any legal authority and how about financing your game by letting people play it?

In this blog, we are going to see what is blockchain for games, some of its features and how game companies can be benefitted from the adoption of blockchain technology, and its major difference as compared to typical game testing.

WHAT IS MEANT BY BLOCKCHAIN?

If you have a banking, investment, or cryptocurrency background, you might be very well aware of the term “Blockchain”. Let us understand it in simple terms. Blockchain can be defined as a special type of database that is used to store data in the form of blocks and once the block is filled it is chained with the previous blocks and the process continues. It is most commonly used as a ledger for transactions. There is no single entity that controls this entire system. It is open for anyone who is on the network and once any information is stored it is very difficult to alter or change it. Now let us understand what blockchain is for games.

BLOCKCHAIN FOR GAMES

Blockchain can be termed as a database of details. It is a secure log of the transactions that are made. It is secured that ensures trust for users. Blockchain for games can be used for a lot of different purposes but the main purpose can be a payment mechanism for game purchases. During the game any player, if clears different rounds, levels and stages are rewarded with game points, coins, and gems which indicates the performance of the players and blockchain can be used for these backbone functions of a game.

ISSUES FACED BY VIDEO GAMES.

The Gaming industry is a fascinating world comprising stories, games, and provides a path to enter into a virtual world but a lot of spam and fraud can be seen in the gaming industry but here we are about to discuss major issues faced by the industry.  These issues can be faced by gamers and developers but these can be overcome by implementing and adapting blockchain in your video games.

1. Account Takeover: In this, you may receive a link to promising fake assets, rewards, or coins and then your username and password can be stolen by any fraudster. This can also cause your account suspension and can be sold for huge money if you are a great player. This can be frustrating at times due to the lack of transparency and security.
2. Insecure Trading: People can exchange game items for real money due to an insecure trading environment. This can also occur due to the lack of certified video game companies
3. Loss of Digital Assets: Many people spend time and money to buy assets in games but there could be chances you might lose these. So you can lose your valuable digital assets. 

WAYS IN WHICH BLOCKCHAIN VIDEO GAMES ARE DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL VIDEO GAMES:

As blockchain grows rapidly and is getting popular amongst different industries, it is important to know the difference between blockchain games and traditional video games. Despite being different internally and operationally one should know the benefits and leverage one can get after adopting blockchain in their video games.

1. YOU ARE THE OWNER OF YOUR GAME ASSETS

Blockchain games allow you to own your assets, items won, or purchased and keep them in your own digital space, unlike traditional games. This can be helpful in case your game is crashed or has an internet connectivity issue or in other cases your account is suspended. You still own your assets and can trade out your items. BlockChain also enables you to maintain a transaction record for all your purchases.

DECENTRALIZED SYSTEM UNLIKE TRADITIONAL GAMES:

Unlike traditional video games, with a decentralized network, players can easily track and analyze their activities and moves made by other players. This feature of decentralization increases security and freedom and gamers can freely exchange items and can be confident that the items they are receiving are authentic and pure.

2. PERMANENT STORAGE :

There could be possibilities of losing all your assets and actions in a centralized platform with traditional video games. But due to the decentralized nature of blockchain, it becomes easy for players to check on their past played games and learn from their mistakes this allows games to be stored permanently.

3. TRANSPARENT SYSTEM:

As discussed before, blockchain provides a decentralized network and permanent storage space to help you sneak-peak into your game activities going on behind the games. With video games, it is not possible to know the backend process after you have played the game and the actions taken by developers and games. This transparency helps to generate confidence and trust amongst players and helps them to improve their gaming experience.

TESTING BLOCKCHAIN GAMES:

The games that run on blockchain technology require special tools & skills for testing. Below is the list of different types of testing involved to check the quality of blockchain games.

1. Functional Tests: This is very important to check the overall functioning of blockchain-based applications and games to evaluate requirements, processes, etc. Block size, chain size, block addition, data transmissions are parts of functional testing for blockchain.
2. Integration Tests:  This test helps testers and developers to check the interconnection between different software components since blockchain applications work on different components.
3. UI Testing:  User Interface testing ensures all the workflow and functionality of the game is working properly. It is important to check for all the elements like graphics, colors, fonts, look & feel of the game to ensure a great user experience.
4. Application Programming Interface Testing:  API testing is to check the connection of software components with external API. This can help the testers to generate API requests and verify whether the response and request are handled correctly by the system or not. Within the blockchain, there is similar technology to API testing known as smart contracts.
5. Security Testing: To ensure blockchain applications are tested thoroughly and to check if there are any threats to the system or blockchain ecosystem.

SKILLS REQUIRED FOR TESTING BLOCKCHAIN GAMES:

Some of the skills that are good for a tester to have while testing games based on blockchain technology are listed below.

1. Critical Thinking: Critical Thinking isn’t something that can be taught. A tester should be capable enough to counter tricky questions while testing blockchain games like what can happen in case of multiple transactions? Will the player get feedback on the pending transaction or not. Testers must be able to analyze critically and think around a different set of questions around In-App Purchases(IAPs), final transactional values, and the uniqueness of the item being traded.
2. Test Design Methods: Testers might know about different test design methods that can check input-output of the games better such as what is going to happen if the input limit is increased? Is there going to be any duplication?
3. Automation: High-level unit tests, integration, or API tests will require proper testing of blockchain games. It will help to find glitches before the final launch of the product. Especially when it is about executing a huge list of transactions in a shorter time frame.
4. Manual UI Testing: In video games, there are many aspects of UI Testing that largely require manual testing efforts. More importantly, in many cases, developing an automation script in video games testing is more time-consuming and expensive than directly executing the test manually. That’s right, with the help of expert manual QA testers, game developers can conclude many critical checks. There could be certain errors that automation can miss out on. It requires human brains and manual testing to explore more bugs and defects to deliver a great product.
5. Quick Learner: There is a lot more development going on in the game industry and new technology tools can come up anytime in the market. It is essential to be able to learn the tools quickly to grow further in the industry. Blockchain technology is one of them.

BENEFITS OF BLOCKCHAIN TO DEVELOPERS

1. There can be different ways of monetizing games.
2. Due to extra financial help now developers can involve more and more games.
3. Can cut down on unwanted digital spaces.

BENEFITS OF BLOCKCHAIN TO PLAYERS

1. Players can have benefits as they can win rewards in the games and can sell across their virtual assets in the decentralized exchange system.
2. They experience an enhancement and increase in the game quality.

CONCLUSION

Blockchain Technology can prove to have many benefits for the developers as well as the players. Now players don’t have to think about losing their valuable digital assets and can also take over the assets from one game to another. This also provides safety to the players. Implementing blockchain technology will bring a new revolution to the gaming industry and having a professional QA team to test the security as well as functional aspects around blockchain tech in games is equally important.