Robots may soon be taking over the video game industry.
This in the form of Robot Cache, a gaming release platform that promises to disrupt the gaming industry with claims of reducing fees that publishers pay by 80%, allowing users to resell their digital games, and utilizing their own cryptocurrency, Iron.
Created by Brian Fargo, the person behind game franchises like Steam. However, as much as they are both platforms in which games can be published and purchased on, Robot Cache’s existence is very much a reaction to Steam’s policies.
According to their website the creators of Robot Cache were not happy with the high percentage point that Steam takes on games featured on their platform. (Steam take 30% of all profits from publishers) And have implemented a proposed fee of 5% on the sale of each game.
Robot Cache see themselves as a disruptor to the Video Game industry and stress their unique, decentralized approach that they believe can and will change the way games are distributed.
They plan to launch this new service in Q2 of 2018, at the same time as they hold a token generation event.
Which leads into Iron, the cryptocurrency that they are using in their marketplace. Robot Cache hopes that people will sell their games for Iron and then buy more games using the Iron they make from their sale, creating a cohesive and sustainable ecosystem.
There are a number of ways to get Iron. You can buy it straight up as you would any cryptocurrency, mine for it, trade in games that you’ve bought on the service for it as well as purchasing gift cards that will give you Iron.
Gamers who want to trade in their games will receive 25% of what they payed for them, a figure that isn’t out of line with the return on physical games at places like Gamestop.
It’s also important to note that Gamestop made an estimated $9.3 billion in 2016 from the selling of used games and that none of that money went to game publishers. With Robot Cache, the publishers would in theory receive a percentage of profit from the used games sold on the platform, making it even more enticing for them.
In addition to Iron, customers can use regular currency to buy their games, but it seems like they can only trade in their games for Iron.
Its safe to say that Robot Cache’s plans are ambitious and whether or not they manage to achieve their lofty goals remains to be seen. That being said, with the rise of cryptocurrency, and the excitement that they are currently generating, Robot Cache is definitely a company to keep an eye on.
