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<p><i><span style="font-size: 16px;">Explore how Web3 could transform gaming through digital ownership, direct player rewards, and smarter marketing, potentially bringing billions of gamers into the blockchain ecosystem.</span></i></p><h2><br></h2><h2>The Next Billion Web3 Users Will Come From Gaming</h2><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">The next wave of Web3 adoption may not come from cryptocurrency trading or decentralised finance. Instead, it could come from gaming, an industry that already has billions of players worldwide.At Consensus Miami 2026, Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla, spoke with CoinDesk about how blockchain technology could transform the relationship between game developers and players. His vision focuses on bringing Web3 features into existing games, giving players more control over their data and creating new ways for them to earn rewards.</span></p><h2><br></h2><h2>Bringing Web3 Into Existing Games</h2><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">One of the biggest challenges facing Web3 gaming has been the attempt to build entirely new gaming ecosystems from scratch. Many projects introduced unfamiliar systems and financial incentives without first establishing the gaming experiences players wanted. Xsolla believes a different approach could work better: integrate blockchain technology into the games people already play. With its platform reaching nearly two billion players worldwide, Xsolla sees an opportunity to introduce blockchain-powered features through existing gaming infrastructure rather than asking players to move to completely new platforms. The goal is to make Web3 technology work in the background, allowing players to benefit from new features without needing to understand blockchain or cryptocurrency.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br></span></p><h2>Ownership Means More Than In-Game Items</h2><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Web3 gaming is often associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which can represent digital items that players own and potentially trade. However, Hewish argues that true digital ownership goes beyond collecting or selling virtual assets. It also includes <strong>ownership of player data, gaming activity and engagement</strong>. Today, much of a player's gaming history and behaviour remains within individual platforms. Blockchain could make it possible for players to carry records of their activity across different services and choose whether to share their data with game companies. For developers, this could create a more direct relationship with their audiences. For players, it could offer greater transparency, control and opportunities to receive rewards for their participation.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br></span></p><h2>What If Gaming Companies Paid Players Directly?</h2><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">One of the most interesting ideas discussed in the interview is rewarding players directly for the value they create. In traditional gaming, companies generate revenue through advertising, player engagement and in-game purchases. However, the players generating that attention do not necessarily receive a direct share of the value. Blockchain-powered systems could introduce a different model. For example, a company might offer a player $20 to try a new game or complete a specific activity. Instead of relying entirely on advertising intermediaries, the company could reward the player directly for completing the task. Rewards would not have to be cash. They could include in-game items, NFTs, stablecoins or other benefits, depending on what the developer chooses to offer. This approach could make rewards more meaningful by connecting them to genuine engagement rather than relying on speculative token systems, which were a major feature of some earlier play-to-earn games.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br></span></p><h2>Better Targeting for Game Developers</h2><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Blockchain could also change how gaming companies find new players. Currently, developers often spend money showing advertisements to large audiences in the hope of reaching a relatively small number of people who are likely to enjoy or spend money on their games. Hewish explained that bringing gaming activity onchain could enable more precise targeting, provided players choose to share relevant information. For example, a developer looking for ten players with a particular gaming or spending pattern might currently need to advertise to thousands of people to find them. With more direct access to relevant, consented player data, the developer could focus offers on people who are more likely to be interested. This could reduce wasted advertising spend while allowing players to receive offers and rewards that better match their interests.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br></span></p><h2>Making Blockchain Easier to Use</h2><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Despite these potential benefits, complexity remains a major barrier to Web3 adoption. Wallets, transactions and unfamiliar technology can discourage ordinary gamers who simply want to play. Xsolla's approach is to reduce these obstacles by integrating blockchain functionality into familiar gaming experiences. Hewish also discussed the company's work on a product called Backpack, intended to reduce friction for players. The idea is to make participation simple for newcomers while still allowing experienced Web3 users to access more advanced features, such as trading digital assets. Players should not have to become cryptocurrency experts just to benefit from new gaming features.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br></span></p><h2>The Future of Web3 Gaming</h2><p><span style="font-size: 16px;">Hewish believes the future of blockchain gaming will look less like a separate industry and more like an improved version of gaming as we know it today. Rather than focusing on the label “Web3 gaming,” the emphasis could shift towards better digital ownership, more transparent systems, personalised offers and fairer ways for players to participate in the value they help create. Xsolla's existing reach gives the company a potential route to introduce these features to a large gaming audience. However, widespread adoption will depend on how effectively developers integrate them and whether players find the benefits genuinely useful.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><strong>The key takeaway, </strong>Web3 gaming may have a better chance of reaching mainstream audiences by improving existing games instead of asking players to change how they play. If blockchain can deliver meaningful rewards, greater control over player data and simpler experiences, gaming could become an important gateway to the next generation of Web3 users.</span></p>