This Video Game's Difficulty Rises And Falls With The Price Of Bitcoin

Imperatum, an indie action-RPG game currently in Early Access on Steam, has done something kind of novel with difficulty levels.

The top-down sci-fi game has implemented a 'Crypto Update' that creates a dynamic difficulty level that's based on the current value of Bitcoin. As the crypto-currency goes up in price, the game becomes more difficult. As Bitcoin's price surges, more (and better) loot will drop but you'll have to fight tougher enemies. As it drops, loot becomes less frequent and bad guys become more easy to contend with.

It's a neat idea, and given how much Bitcoin's value fluctuates it could make for some really interesting gameplay. Granted, if Bitcoin finally crashes we could see this Crypto mode fall to pieces. Nobody wants to play a really easy game with no loot drops. But if it spikes again that could make for some pretty intense challenge.

More than anything, I suspect this is a very clever way to get posts like the one you're reading up on the internet. As a PR stunt it's rather impressive, latching on to the crypto-currency craze with a novel idea in order to draw more attention to Imperatum. Getting attention in the increasingly over-crowded storefront that is Steam is harder than ever these days for small indie teams. Traditional PR doesn't always work, and "going viral" is easier said than done.

Honestly, though, I wish they'd gone with Ethereum. It sounds more sci-fi, for one thing. A game called Imperatum should use a crypto-currency with a similarly sci-fi-ish sounding name, and Ethereum fits the bill.