Recently, the ERC-404 token standard has attracted attention, with mixed reviews.

On one hand, its innovative combination of fungibility and non-fungibility is exciting; on the other hand, its experimental nature and volatile market performance are controversial. There is no doubt that judging ERC-404 solely based on initial hype or price fluctuations is one-sided. What it needs now is real-world applications to prove its value and drive wider adoption.

This is where ERC-404 and Web3 gaming intersect, as both technologies have natural synergy. Web3 games pride themselves on community and shared ownership, while ERC-404 facilitates the "liquidity" of NFTs, making it ideal for dividing in-game assets or representing community ownership of virtual goods.

Let's take a look at a recent case study of this combination: "Project Matthew" is a space construction simulation game where players have the opportunity to design and manage their own industrial factories, mine resources, build robots to assist in factory work, and confront interstellar forces, even building their own alien cities from scratch. Prominent game developer BinaryX announced their collaboration with the "Project Matthew" team to incorporate ERC-404 tokens into the game.

One of the traditional ways to sell in-game assets is through NFTs, and Project Matthew offers players ERC-404 tokens with the dual characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and fungible tokens (FTs). Holding 404 tokens in the game is equivalent to holding both NFT and FT tokens. The NFTs have long-term airdrop benefits; players can also use trading to regenerate NFTs and change the rarity of their NFTs, thereby gaining higher airdrop opportunities. Players can also exchange FTs for in-game assets and destroy the corresponding NFTs; this action reduces the total number of NFTs and increases the airdrop earnings of others.

ERC-404 greatly enhances the liquidity of NFTs and opens up different possibilities for future ownership, including shared ownership and returns on land, buildings, and resources, promoting cooperation, community awareness, and making the game accessible to a wider audience without compromising ownership of their game assets.

This is just one example, and the possibilities of ERC-404 are far from limited. Guilds can use fragmented ERC-404 NFTs to manage shared assets and reward guild members. Games can use them to create dynamic fungible in-game currencies and tradable NFTs. Most importantly, ERC-404 allows developers to create new ownership models and foster deeper community engagement in their games.

Of course, ERC-404 is still in its early stages. It needs time to mature, more robust technical standards, and most importantly, successfulThe application case to build trust and understanding within the community, simply regarding it as a hype is definitely not rigorous enough. The potential of shared ownership and community-driven economy in Web3 games is undeniable, and ERC-404, with its unique attributes, can become a key driver.

Beyond the initial hype, ERC-404 may only need to focus on building influential applications to find a foothold. Only in this way can we truly assess the potential of ERC-404 and unleash its power to shape the future of shared community and ownership models in the Web3 gaming sector.