DotA, LoL, PUBG... What's their common trait?
These eternal legends share the same origin: All born from User-Generated Content (UGC). From humble community-driven beginnings, to generating billions in revenue.
Welcome to the history class of UGC in gaming, where bedroom coders became industry leaders and simple mods transformed into gaming empires. Being not just a trip down memory lane, by tracing historical development, we can glimpse the future of Blockchain Gaming.
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How has UGC shaped the gaming landscape, both artistically and commercially?
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Why UGC in Web3.0?
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How will Project Twelve drive UGC evolution in Web3.0?
This article reflects the state of our thinking on those questions.
How UGC Shaped the Gaming Landscape
User-Generated Content (UGC) is any content created by users of an online platform. Unlike polished content produced by professional studios, UGC comes straight from the heart of the user community.
It's raw, authentic, and often surprisingly innovative.
Genesis: The Birth of Modding
Modding marked the first large-scale application of UGC in gaming.
In the 1980s, players started modifying game codes to add new features for everyone to download. The trend exploded in 1993 when id Software introduced Doom WAD files, separating maps, sprites, and textures from the main engine, and making modding much easier for more people to create.
This infrastructure evolution led to an explosion of available content for Doom, propelling it to become one of the most popular games, reaching about 20 million players within two years of release.
Evolution: Mods Become Legends
Over the years, some of the most enduring legends originated from mods.
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Counter-Strike (1999) – Evolved from a Half Life mod. 24M monthly players, $6.7B+ lifetime revenue.
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DotA 2 (2013) – Started as a mod for Blizzard’s Warcraft III. 7M monthly players, $3B+ lifetime revenue.
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PUBG (2017) – Evolved from an ARMA 2 mod. 80M monthly players, $8B+ lifetime revenue.
Mods allow third-party developers to implement content beyond what was envisioned by a game’s original developer.
UGC isn't child's play; it's the secret sauce behind games that stay fresh for decades
Expansion: UGC Platforms Emerge
Mod success revealed UGC's potential, prompting big studios to develop integrated creation tools.
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Roblox (2005) – Allow players to create & monetize games and transform UGC into an economic model. 300M monthly users, $2.8B revenue in 2023, 200%+ growth in recent years.
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Minecraft (2009) – Pioneered 3D in-game construction with resource management and survival mechanics.
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Fortnite (2017) – Launched UEFN for creating game maps in 2023. Thousands of community-made maps have since been released, some hitting 50k+ DAU, keeping 200M+ players occupied over a long period of time.
Innovation: Specialized UGC Tools
But for game studios, developing in-house UGC tools is costly. This gap is filled by UGC platforms that offer streamlined, embeddable toolkits for multiple games.
Overwolf is an excellent concrete example. It supports UGC game development and monetization systems for over 1500 games, including Minecraft, World of Warcraft, Ark Survival, and Palworld, boosting over 15B downloads, 43M monthly active users, and 165k+ creators.
Securing Capital Market Interest
UGC-focused companies have attracted billions in investments. The booming success continues to draw attention in capital markets.
Roblox was valued at $38 billion after its IPO in 2021. Epic Games, studio of Fortnite, raised $1 billion in 2021, pushing its valuation to $31 billion in 2024.
Why UGC in Web3.0
So, why UGC in Web3.0?
Building great games is a challenging and expensive endeavor. While Web 3.0 is a niche market, it lacks the scale to support substantial production costs like Web 2.0 game studios, where mid-tier games often require development budgets exceeding $300 million.
Meanwhile, in Web 2.0, millions of mods have been created over the past three decades, yet very few have been successfully monetized.
UGC + Web3 Gaming offers a synergistic solution
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Studios: Radically lower development costs.
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Creators: Better monetization of their passions.
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Community: Deeper connections, richer shared experiences, and amplified cultural resonance.
Blockchain technology is set to revolutionize UGC by providing true ownership and new monetization models for creators - Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum.
P12 Editor: Pioneering UGC in Web3.0
P12 Editor (PGE) emerges as a catalyst for UGC Gaming in Web3.0. It was officially launched in August 2023, and has evolved rapidly with 16+ alpha versions released in just a year.
As a game engine that not only empowers professional developers to rapidly create diverse types of games, but also enables ordinary users to build various maps, characters, props, and scenes, P12 Editor simplifies the primitives of game development and fuels the flow of creativity -
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Extensive prefab library for streamlined development
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Modular, Lego-like design for reusable code, graphics, and tokenomics
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Style-fusion capability ensures diverse aesthetic options
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Support for non-voxel 3D models, expanding creative possibilities
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Full programmability for complex gameplay on both PC and mobile platforms
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Wallet login to integrate on-chain assets and unlock in-game utilities
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Built-in gameplay launcher allowing players to directly start and play PGE-Powered games
Every user can effortlessly create through drag and drop the moment they launch the interface without tutorials, and easily spark inspiration with thousands of built-in assets and templates at their fingertips.
Driven by powerful infrastructure, P12 has birthed thriving UGC ecosystems with 15,300+ Creators onboard and 18,600+ community-made creations, integrated into actual games.
Explore community masterpieces HERE.
About Project Twelve
P12 is building is building a game engine that not only empowers professional developers to rapidly create diverse types of games, but also enables ordinary users to build various maps, characters, props, and scenes. By simplifying the fundamentals of game development, P12 Editor unleashes creativity like never before.
With its intuitive interface, users can start creating immediately through simple drag-and-drop actions, no tutorials required. The engine comes packed with thousands of built-in assets and templates, providing instant inspiration at your fingertips. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a curious beginner, P12 Editor offers the gateway to bring your gaming visions to life!
Join P12 Community