Liberate Gaming and Fashion — from Walled Gardens, Hidden Capital, and Wasted Creative Potential

Every organization has systems in place that they consider ideal for operational efficiency, productivity, and earning a profit. The problem, however, is that a lot of companies have legacy systems that are still in use.

And therein lies the problem. As the name suggests, legacy systems are outdated and in urgent need of replacing.

Both gaming and fashion are massive industries with a global reach. Whether in first-world nations or the developing world, video games and fashion generate a huge following. Especially with technological advances enabling businesses to redefine how games and fashion are developed and marketed.

Although all of this transformation is occurring around us constantly, some entities are not on board with embracing change. The Epic versus Apple situation is one such instance that highlights part of what is going on in this sector. Whatever the end result will be in this particular scenario, we cannot deny that the current business model is already undergoing some degree of transformation.

Leading The Charge For Change

The kind of change that the gaming and fashion industries are calling for will need leaders who are willing to go against the grain. Enterprises and individuals that are determined to break new ground. This is where DIGITALAX and its CEO Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee find themselves. In a position where they can utilize mod culture to liberate gaming and fashion.

Modding has been massive to gaming in the last few decades. And modders have taken the opportunity to showcase their developer skills. In doing so, they have enhanced the gaming experience by offering players more expansive content for their favorite games. By unleashing their creativity, modders have been responsible for the creation of today’s biggest and most popular esports.

Modders are very much developers in their own right, as was affirmed by Bethesda game director Todd Howard. Their seemingly unlimited creative potential has been invaluable to gamers and developers alike.

DIGITALAX has modding at heart, and this practice can be a key driver of growth in fashion and gaming. As CEO Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee has stated, at DIGITALAX, they are looking to be the game makers that knock down the walled gardens in the environments where people connect and communicate.

Doing away with walls can allow for the creation of cross channels of interaction that bypass the limitations of place and time. Because of the untold potential that comes with the modding culture, the actuality of a metaverse becomes just that much more achievable.

Challenges Facing the Gaming Industry

One of the hottest topics in the gaming industry right now is the issue of walled gardens. Challenges against this business model are being raised, with some viewing it as an unfair practice. And now Epic has taken Apple to court to try and prove that the way the iOS AppStore operates is unfavorable to developers. In particular, the 30% commission that developers have to pay Apple.

The ongoing trial may also be partly explained by the growing need to enable intellectual property to spread across all gaming formats. Epic has tried to back up its beliefs with action. For instance, it is attempting to break the conventional revenue share model through its own PC storefront.

Another problem that developers can experience when working on projects is a creative disconnect. Several things may be at the root of this, such as the pressure to get a game out as quickly as possible or the lack of adequate software. Additionally, as in a lot of businesses, sometimes marketing strategies tend to sideline creatives, so this may only compound matters. As a result, the industry as a whole will suffer because of wasted creative potential.

Employment challenges for developers, including short-term working spells where they are brought in to perform a particular task and then terminated soon after, also present a huge problem. But with Unreal Engine 5, for example, Epic wants to enable smaller teams to work on high-quality projects without the need for massive budgets. Solutions like this can lead to the empowerment of developers while simultaneously addressing some of the vicious employment cycles they often face.

The Fashion Industry is Not Exempt

The fashion industry has been hard-hit by the global pandemic over the last year. However, this crisis has served to bring greater focus on issues that have long been plaguing this sector.

Issues such as the impact of fast fashion on the environment. With statistics showing that the industry is responsible for 20% of wastewater and 10% of global carbon emissions, the potential effects on climate change are obvious. Excessive consumerism coupled with extremely cheap products on the marketplace is fuelling this problem.

All of this is before one even looks at the ethical side of the equation. Reports of workers in third-world countries slaving away in inhumane conditions while not even earning a living wage are cause for concern. These kinds of practices cannot be allowed to continue and big luxury brands, in particular, have a huge responsibility on their shoulders.

Solutions are there, though, with all the modern technology available. The rise in popularity of digital fashion is one area that could really help to provide a solution to this dilemma.

Digital Fashion Explained

So, what is digital fashion, one may ask?

The transition of the fashion industry from analog to digital has been greatly accelerated over the last 18 months. In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, the need for sustainability has grown significantly. Climate change requires it, and increasing numbers of consumers are taking their business to eco-friendly companies.

Hence the importance of digital fashion. At its most basic, digital fashion refers to garments that don’t exist physically but are instead created digitally and remain in the virtual environment. This is where the digital version of yourself can ‘wear’ the clothes.

Needless to say, but this great innovation can have a huge role to play in creating a more sustainable fashion industry. Moreover, it allows the fashion industry to remain viable during these times of global restrictions. Virtual fashion shows can replace the actual shows that are not currently possible.

Also, digital fashion is a rapidly growing trend in the gaming industry. Players in various games can purchase outfits to wear on their various adventures, providing fashion companies with a good source of revenue.

Envision A New Reality

A lot of the existing systems do not allow for the growth of gaming or fashion. The gatekeepers of these systems want to keep innovation out so the rich can get even richer. But, DIGITALAX has grand designs on taking down this unfavorable way of operating. The creation of a digital fashion operating system is a fantastic way to break things down to low-level base principles and create an optimal architecture.

The idea is to have a decentralized commercial environment that takes down the walls that are keeping entities out — an environment where all players and creators can spin up a decentralized personal realm with dynamic access keys. And if humanity hopes to one day have an open and accessible metaverse, there needs to be an awareness of what the web2 and older legacy capital gatekeepers are striving for.

DIGITALAX has also created the very first NFT Native in-depth Metaverse Magazine to help usher in a new reality. This new magazine, named DIGIFIZZY, will introduce people to

top voices, unseen creators, interesting insights, must-read topics across the metaverse, fashion, gaming, art, music, crypto, web3, open-source, DeFi, NFTs — a highly concentrated, high-quality content platform. This will help veterans and newcomers get a more comprehensive picture of how progress is being made.

NFTs Could Change the Game

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been making headlines of late. Unsurprisingly, when one considers multimillion-dollar NFT sales involving individuals like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and digital artist Beeple. With the potential revenues to be made, it was only a matter of time before music corporations, fashion brands, and gaming companies started venturing into the NFT market.

This new way to buy and sell collectibles using blockchain tokens presents an opportunity for greater collaboration between these two industries.

Because of the prevailing situation, businesses need to utilize creative strategies to remain relevant. Solutions such as what digital fashion offers can bring together the fashion and gaming industries. For example, individuals can purchase NFT-backed clothing that they can show off on all virtual platforms. Moreover, gamers can also then wear their digital fashion in video games.

There is a lot to be made in the virtual clothing industry. Case in point being design studio Rtfkt and digital artist Fewocious selling 621 pairs of digital shoes for a net sale of $3.1 million. Transactions like this highlight the vast potential that is in the virtual clothing industry and just how lucrative it can be for businesses. NFTs can help open up a world of new possibilities for fashion businesses, and gaming may just be the start of it.

Non-fungible tokens are being increasingly viewed as reputable digital assets. Undoubtedly the popularity of bitcoin and the acceptance of cryptocurrency has been significant to the rise of NFTs.

Taking Graphics to the Next Level

The key to taking both these industries forward may involve utilizing next-gen graphics to boost appeal. Over the last couple of decades, rendering technology has come on in leaps and bounds. And this has allowed creative potential to reach the level it is today because of rendering capabilities approaching photorealism.

The gaming experience is bound to improve because game engines like Unreal Engine, Unity, and Godot, among others, have massively improved their products in recent years. This gives creators a better platform for producing higher-quality games. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says that there are two problems in game development that Unreal Engine 5 tries to address:

1. the features needed to achieve complete realism,

2. the cost and time it takes for artists to create a major, new piece of content for a next-generation game.

So what the new technology tries to do is to empower developers by enabling them to produce high-quality, realistic products economically and practically. Coupled with what Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee and the team are doing at DIGATALAX by pushing for a truly decentralized model, then there is a reason to get excited. Rethinking this ecosystem should work wonders for gaming as well as digital fashion.

Unlocking Hidden Value

Blockchain technology is enabling creators to seek out other applications for this technology. By finding such opportunities, creators can get in their way, growing an economy for creators by creators. And decentralized finance (DeFi) can provide the pathway to that.

Although DeFi is a largely crypto-centric affair, dozens of blockchain-enabled games are either in development or already launched. This may be the bridge needed to go beyond the crypto crowd and reach the masses. Figures alone can testify that DeFi is booming, with decentralized exchanges skyrocketing from just $39.5 million in January 2019 to $45.2 billion in January 2021.

The possibilities are almost endless, with DeFi capable of offering over 2 billion gamers worldwide a novel method of compensation. This would work through blockchain-based tokens and other rewards driven by decentralized mechanics. Add to that the possibility of players earning passive income on collectibles or other assets they’ve already accumulated in the game by staking them to liquidity pools. And it becomes apparent, as Mark Cuban puts it, that this is an industry ready to explode.

Making a Case for Transparency

Many industries face a transparency problem that can threaten the growth of businesses. For instance, a gaming economy controlled entirely by developers has led to a lack of trust between gamers and developers. This unhealthy scenario can be an insurmountable obstacle that keeps the industry from maximizing its potential.

This is where blockchain technology can play a key role. By providing an environment where two strangers can perform immutable transactions, accountability is instantly created. As a result, players can be certain of greater security over their digital assets and worry less about developers potentially rigging games. Not to mention how the illumination of mediators can make the bets on esports disciplines more effective and transparent.

Fashion businesses can also leverage blockchain in their fight against counterfeits. The use of features such as smart labels and the recording of details on the blockchain will mean that the origin of a product can be traced back to its sources. With counterfeits being such a huge problem for fashion businesses, this can be a great way to prevent financial and reputational losses.

Accessibility Increases in The Virtual World

One of the things that digital fashion has done is to enable fashion designers to avail their garments to a wider clientele base. In the physical realm, clothing from big-name luxury brands is usually beyond the reach of many.

But, the virtual environment has created a marketplace that gives fashion designers and game players, for example, the opportunity to do business. One such instance was the collaboration between Moschino and The Sims that enabled millions of players to access luxury fashion for their avatars. Yet, in a demonstration of how The Sims ‘democratizes’ fashion, players didn’t have to fork out the hundreds of dollars they would have to in the physical world.

A few years ago, the evolving collaboration between fashion and gaming would have been nothing more than a fantasy, at the scale that we are witnessing, at least. However, the coronavirus pandemic has called on creators to be more innovative because the available technology can offer so much.

Embracing the abundant opportunities for monetization that exist in the virtual world can allow for the removal of shackles from businesses. Legacy systems have played their part, but new solutions to tackle the future are needed sooner rather than later.

Conclusion

No one could have predicted the events that have taken place across the globe over the last 18 months. And it is safe to say that all industries have been affected, without exception.

Despite all the challenges, however, life needs to go on. Businesses need to keep operating, and so new ways of operating are key. Embracing digital solutions on a larger scale than before is what businesses are having to do, primarily gaming and fashion companies. Plenty of business is still going on, and several million-dollar NFT transactions are testament to that.

Utilizing the available technologies can help to unlock untapped creative potential. Businesses need only allow creatives to produce. Although gaming and fashion are already hugely successful sectors, platforms like blockchain can make them thrive even more.

All it may require is a little liberty.

What do you think of the current state of the gaming and fashion industries? Are there any changes needed to enable them to operate at their full potential?

We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.