AMD and Industry Partners to Develop New Blockchain-based Gaming Platforms

Yes, decentralization is one of the main benefits of blockchain technology. Instead of a single copy of a ledger on a server run by the company, each client would have its own copy to work with and can secure it by the combined computing power of the network. As far as gaming goes, this could be a way of decoupling company servers from the always-online gaming model that's becoming increasingly prevalent nowadays - instead of centralized company servers, it would be peer-to-peer, verified by each player.

This could theoretically improve security and prevent frauds. Someone trying to cheat by modifying the game or game data would no longer be synched with the blockchain and would be invalidated (the only way to cheat would be to have more computing power than the entire worldwide network of players). It would also reduce the cost of running the servers, saving game companies money on maintenance and upgrades, and it could alleviate the fear of a game becoming unplayable because the central server went down. In some ways, it's like distributed computing, such as folding@home - why run folding simulations on costly supercomputers when you can get millions of ordinary people to do it for free?

Of course this is just open speculation, but the main benefit I see is using blockchain for a distributed, peer-to-peer gaming network that is always available and can eliminate cheating without the need for a central server. I see a lot of people talking about monetization and payment, but I see no relation to that here (let's not confuse blockchain with Bitcoin).