A new games storefront thinks that it can take on Steam using blockchain tech.
Robot Cache is a new decentralised platform founded by InXile's Brian Fargo, which claims to have lower fees for publisher and developers as well as letting consumers sell their digital PC games.
The announcement press release says that companies selling their games on the store will retain up to 95 per cent of revenue – something Robot Cache claims is 25 per cent higher than the industry standard.
Furthermore, there's a digital resale market, with companies able to set prices on resale and earn 70 per cent of proceeds. Gamers retain 25 per cent of proceeds from resale, with the other 10 per cent presumably going to Robot Cache. Trading in digital games isn't a new concept and was actually one of the core ideas behind Green Man Gaming. You can only get the cryptocurrency IRON from reselling games, too.
Gamers can also get involved with mining cryptocurrency if they fancy, too.
Oh, and the company is based in the tax haven that is the Canary Islands which is an interesting detail. Not that that's unheard of in video games – Grand Theft Auto giant Take-Two is based in the US tax haven of Delaware, for example.
“Earning any money on the video game resale market is unheard of for game publishers, and earning up to 70 per cent, which is equivalent to the best margins publishers and developers currently receive on today’s most popular digital distributions platforms is crazy," Fargo said.
"Allowing creators to keep 95 per cent of new game sales, and 70 per cent on game resales, provides developers, like us at inXile, with a strong financial stream. This gives us more resources to create new content and new IPs for fans."
CEO Lee Jacobson added: “Just a handful of companies dominate the multi-billion dollar digital download PC video games market. Robot Cache plans to revolutionise the industry by launching the first-ever workable decentralised video game marketplace that benefits both the creators of video games and gamers. All of this is accomplished by expertly leveraging the power, flexibility, safety, and transparency of blockchain technology."
Keep an eye out for our upcoming interview Fargo about Robot Cache.
