Comment les jeux vidéo nous familiarisent avec les nouveaux moyens de paiement

The coin inserted into the arcade machines of the 80s can undoubtedly be traced back as an ancestor to the V-Bucks used in Fortnite, forty years later. This is a fact, video games have often served as a secret laboratory for payment technologies. Without fanfare or trumpets, it has familiarized millions of users with certain methods, long before they were widely adopted in traditional commerce. There were physical tokens, predecessors to in-game currencies and digital wallet systems like Apple Pay. Today, we have Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.” (paraphrased version)

Les casinos en ligne, terrain d’expérimentation des cryptomonnaies

An online casino quite simply brings the brick-and-mortar casino experience to our screens. From the comfort of your armchair at home, you can access the same games: poker, roulette, slot machines. Over the past few years, these 2.0 actors have experienced a remarkable growth, even surpassing traditional casinos in the hearts of players. Their secret? A quick sign-up process, stakes starting at just a penny, social elements with live games (streamed poker tables), excellent customer service, and so on.

To play with real money on these platforms, you still need to fund your player account. While traditional methods like credit cards and bank transfers are most commonly used, many platforms now accept cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether dollar (USDT), two digital currencies that operate without a central bank. That’s why these operators are known as “crypto casinos.” For those who want to explore this world and try it out with an initial deposit starting from 10 euros, a list of reliable establishments is waiting to be discovered here.

The principle remains straightforward. The player transfers Bitcoins from their digital wallet to the address provided by the casino. Within a few minutes, the funds appear on their gaming account, either converted to euros or kept in crypto depending on the platform. This is quite different from bank transfers, which can stretch over several business days! The withdrawal of winnings follows an inverse logic: the cryptocurrencies return to the player’s wallet. Some may convert them to euros using exchange platforms (Coinbase, Binance), while others prefer to keep their Bitcoins.

Aujourd’hui, chaque grand titre possède sa propre “devise”

In simpler terms, “massively multiplayer games” play a significant role in the democratization of digital wallet logic and limited-use currency systems. For instance, within the popular game World of Warcraft, virtual gold moves among players, fueling parallel, real-world economies. Some individuals have even made this their profession, spending their days farming (a term from the gaming world meaning accumulating methodically) this virtual money to sell it for real-world euros.

Today, each major title displays its own motto. V-Bucks from Fortnite, for example, are virtual points that you purchase in packages (around 8€ for 1000 V-Bucks). These points can then be spent on costumes or dances for your avatar. Riot Points in the popular League of Legends follow a similar logic: our euros get transformed into points which unlock new champions or customize their appearance.

Essentially, these digital currencies are like modern-day carnival tokens, but they exist in the digital world and only have value within the game. The concept becomes even more immersive with “on-chain” games where players truly own game items as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, each NFT is unique, making them distinct from one another. This uniqueness sets them apart from conventional cryptos.

In Axie Infinity, you breed and nurture creatures that can later be sold to other players. On the other hand, Gods Unchained offers collectible cards in the form of NFTs, much like physical Pokémon cards but digital. The concept of verifiable digital property, initially tested with gaming NFTs, is now inspiring major brands such as Nike selling virtual NFT sneakers and Carrefour experimenting with blockchain-based discount vouchers. Once again, video games have paved the way for future applications before widespread adoption.

L’achat en un clic, une révolution née du gaming

Just as the name suggests, purchasing something becomes a single click affair since the promise is to no longer require you to pull out your bank card every time. By registering payment information once, future purchases can be validated with just a simple click. No more typing long card numbers, finding expiration dates, or deciphering security codes on the back. All details are stored securely and ready for use.

Once again, it’s video game platforms that paved the way for e-commerce giants like Amazon to venture into this territory. As early as 2010, Steam, a PC game store offered by Valve Corporation, already had its “Steam Wallet” feature, allowing users to store their financial information and make purchases with a single click.

Digital marketplaces like the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live, and the App Store quickly followed Valve’s lead. As a result, online purchasing has become second nature for an entire generation of gamers, almost as instinctive as pressing a button.

The “freemium” model has changed our habits, referring to free games available on the AppStore and Google Play that contain in-app purchases. Think of games like Candy Crush Saga by the Swedish company King or Clash of Clans by the Finnish Supercell. They’ve made microtransactions seem invisible. Two euros for five extra lives? The action is so quick you hardly notice it anymore!

This innovation was heavily influenced by Amazon; the core technology of Amazon’s “1-Click” system was once protected by a patent that entered the public domain in 2018 in the U.S. Europe, however, had previously declined to register the patent, paving the way for widespread copying of the system by e-commerce sites and gaming platforms.

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2025-08-20 00:01