Metaverses—virtual 3D worlds that offer unique experiences—are still in their early stages. However, one online gambling operator is already capitalizing on metaverses’ infant stages. Decentral Games has earned $7.5 million in revenue within three months. According to its website, Decentral excelled in January after making $6.5 million through its ICE Poker casino.
ICE Poker operates on Decentraland—a popular metaverse platform with its own cryptocurrency, MANA. Below, you can find out how ICE excels in the metaverse industry while others are still stumbling.
News Highlights
- Decentral Games bought virtual land in Decentraland and launched ICE Poker.
- It has earned $7.5 million over the past three months—including $6.5m in January.
- Decentral Games sends over 1,000 daily users to Decentraland.
The Success of ICE Poker Casino
The journey of Decentral Games began in mid-2020 when it bought 1,000 parcels of virtual land on the Decentraland platform. The cryptocurrency project then began developing a decentralized gambling platform. ICE Poker became the finished product. ICE is the in-game currency, and DG is the governance token.
The decentralized virtual poker room lets people gamble with ICE Wearable NFTs (non-fungible tokens), like virtual shoes and jackets. These “wearables” are available for purchase through the OpenSea Marketplace.
However, you don’t even need NFTs to start playing at ICE Poker right away. On occasion, the ICE (Decentral) team drops wearables in the DG Marketplace. You can also find a Lender (Delegator) to get NFTs through ICE Poker’s Discord channel.
Playing 3D Poker
As for ICE Poker, it offers virtual 3D poker action. The games look more lifelike than what you can find at standard online poker sites. You can play at ICE through a PC or Mac. Meanwhile, virtual reality play isn’t available at this poker room or Decentraland in general.
Decentral Goes All-In With Virtual Gaming
Decentral’s ICE Poker got off to a slow start like all metaverse operators so far. However, it has picked up steam and now draws over 180,000 monthly metaverse visitors. Its poker tables can also attract more than 1,000 players in a given hour. While 1,000+ hourly players won’t break any records, they represent a substantial amount for a metaverse operator.
It doesn’t sound like a lot of users, but when it comes to the open metaverse, it’s pretty substantial considering the main issue right now with metaverses is that they’re empty.”
Miles Anthony – Decentral Games Founder
Anthony and the DG team took a significant risk with virtual gambling. Some metaverses are ghost towns right now. Decentraland would undoubtedly be less populated if it weren’t for thousands of daily ICE players. Based on the last few months, Decentral Games’ gamble on ICE Poker seems to have paid off.
5 Questions About the Metaverse and ICE Poker
The Metaverse is a very recent concept, and many of us are just catching up to it. There are many common uses, phrases, and terms that you may not be familiar with yet. Here are some answers to a few questions you might have to help you better understand this article.
What is ICE Poker?
It is a free Decentral Games poker game in the Decentraland Metaverse where players can compete in a daily leaderboard and earn tokens after completing challenges.What is an in-game currency and how does it work in ICE Poker?
ICE is the currency used in the game. It’s an incentive for players that provides them with the means to purchase in-game items and enable upgrades.What is a governance token in the Metaverse?
A governance token is a token created by the developers and issued to the players so the community can help shape or design new protocols for the game or project.What is ICE Poker’s governance token?
DG is the government token of ICE Poker. The community can vote to change fees and economic incentives.What is a Wearable NFT and how does it work in ICE Poker?
According to the game’s website, “ICE Wearables enable players to earn ICE by completing daily challenges playing poker with Chips. Players may view, buy, and delegate their iced NFT wearables on the DG Account. The team distributes ICE Wearables to the community through drops conducted on the DG Marketplace.”
Are Metaverse Casinos the Future?
The jury is out on whether metaverse casinos and poker sites are the next big thing. After all, most people still seem happy with popular online casinos, such as Wild Casino and Las Atlantis.
As ICE Poker has shown, though, metaverse gambling has potential. Metaverses are only at the beginning of their growth stages. They still have time to develop, draw users, and grow.
Virtual Reality Connection
Ultimately, the fate of metaverse casinos ties in with the virtual reality (VR) industry. While VR headset sales are growing, the average person still doesn’t own a headset. Due to the current situation, Decentraland and, by extension, ICE Poker is only optimized for PC and Mac play.
Metaverses are tailor-made for VR and will need the latter to grow. They give users the ability to experience virtual worlds in a lifelike manner through headsets. If virtual reality becomes more significant, then metaverse gambling should naturally grow.
Are Metaverse Casinos Changing the Game?
Decentral Games and its ICE Poker product are blazing trails for metaverse casinos. ICE generates millions of dollars in monthly revenue and attracts 180k+ users each month. That said, Decentral may not even need to worry about metaverse growth as a whole. It’s looking like a success already with plenty of potential for the future.
