Arquitetura descentralizada para a distribuição e apropriação de jogos eletrônicos

Abstract

The digital distribution of video games is dominated by centralized platforms such as Steam and Epic Games, which provide users only with revocable usage licenses rather than actual ownership of the acquired assets. This model keeps control of games in the hands of these platforms, limiting user autonomy and their ability to transfer, trade, or use games outside the original system. This work proposes the development of a decentralized architecture for the distribution and ownership of video games, using Blockchain technology and distributed file systems. A functional prototype (Minimum Viable Product) was developed, integrating the Solana Blockchain for license management through Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), the IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) protocol for peer-to-peer file distribution, an optional and configurable centralized indexing server, and a desktop application developed in Tauri that unifies wallet-based authentication, marketplace browsing, game library, and execution. The conducted tests validated the technical feasibility of the solution, demonstrating the system’s resilience and actual ownership of assets by users. This work validates the central hypothesis that it is technically feasible to build a game marketplace that transfers control of digital assets from intermediary platforms to end users. The developed system demonstrates that true game license ownership can be achieved through decentralization, without the need for centralized intermediary platforms. The implemented system encompasses the complete interaction cycle: game publishing by developers, decentralized user authentication, license acquisition as NFTs, distributed download via IPFS, and execution through the launcher desktop application.