The gaming industry's reliance on centralized developers creates several pain points: games can be shut down or abandoned, updates disrupt gameplay, and modding often requires permission. One way to address this would be to deploy games as autonomous smart contracts on the blockchain, where burning the developer's private key after deployment makes the game truly immutable. This approach could ensure longevity, player ownership, and community-driven evolution without requiring ongoing developer maintenance.

How Autonomous Games Could Work

At its core, this approach would involve encoding a game's rules directly into a smart contract that runs indefinitely on the blockchain. For example, a chess game deployed this way would have all its movement rules and win conditions baked into the contract. Players could interact directly with it, and the community could freely fork it to create modified versions with new pieces or rules. Key characteristics might include:

• True autonomy: No developer backdoor access or centralized control points
• Built-in modding: Anyone could create derivative versions without permission
• Permanent availability: The game would exist as long as the underlying blockchain exists

Potential Benefits and Stakeholder Incentives

Different groups could benefit from this approach in various ways:

• Players would gain access to games that can't be arbitrarily shut down or altered
• Indie developers could create games without worrying about long-term maintenance
• Modders would have complete freedom to build on existing games

Monetization could work through initial sales, royalties from forked versions, or NFT-based assets. Developers might earn upfront revenue while modders could potentially profit from popular modifications.

Implementation Considerations

A possible path to implementation might start with deploying simple games like tic-tac-toe as a proof of concept. More complex games could follow, with tools to make forking and modding accessible to non-technical users. Some challenges would need addressing:

• Bugs in immutable contracts would require thorough pre-deployment auditing
• Performance limitations might be mitigated through layer-2 solutions
• Fair monetization of forks could be handled through smart contract royalties

This concept differs from existing blockchain games by eliminating all developer control post-launch, creating truly player-owned experiences. While it presents unique challenges, it could offer a new model for persistent, community-driven gaming.