Play to Earn (P2E) Games
The cryptocurrency ecosystem has a lot of ways for an individual to earn money, and play-to-earn games created on the blockchain have recently created a lot of money for gamers in developing countries.
There is a hot new phenomenon in the gaming world, where gamers can earn money just by playing games. Gaming companies such as Ubisoft are making this possible by incorporating blockchain technology into their platform. The company recently made a surprising decision to build the Quartz platform; where it is possible to directly acquire NFTs from their games. Thanks to companies like Ubisoft, Konami and EA Sports, this new concept has already attracted a lot of buzz because of the revolutionary idea that people can make passive or active income by playing games.
The future of gaming seems to lie in blockchain and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has predicted that 90% of all gaming markets will be play-to-earn in the next 5 years. These games are also changing lives today and in Argentina; a country ravaged by a 49.3% inflation rate, a lot of people are turning to P2E games as a source of income.
An Argentine DJ has said that he can earn up to $1500 monthly, from playing games for 3 hours daily.
A 26-year-old Filipino has also said that his earnings from P2E games have helped him pay for his sister's university fees, groceries, and bills at home.
These games frequently employ a play-to-earn concept, in which players can earn cryptocurrency by completing activities. These online games often use their unique cryptocurrency as the in-game currency. Players can then buy characters and weapons with the game's token. Gamers can make money from these games by completing challenges and earning tokens which can then be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin.
These games are an exciting new way to learn and earn at the same time. They can help newcomers:
understand how blockchain works;
and give them their first feel of the crypto world.
The hope is that enthusiasts can adapt to blockchain and earn money at the same time. This hope is already being realized according to Axie Infinity’s co-founder Aleksander Leonard Larsen who said that 50% of Axie Infinity’s 2 million players have never used a crypto application before.
Game-Fi
P2E games are an example of crypto helping real lives and creating value by merging crypto and gaming to create a new ecosystem called GameFi. GameFi operates by combining gaming and decentralized finance (Defi), and it aims to build games on the blockchain. GameFi came to existence in 2021 as game developers aimed to capitalize on the NFT boom to bring more utility and functionality to games.
Developers have long been challenged to craft value-add experiences that benefit players and drive innovations in game design, and they saw NFTs as the best way to effect these innovations.
UFO Gaming was one of the first blockchain gaming platforms to achieve this. They joined the E-sports gaming sector and in a short while, were successfully able to combine their in-game economy and minting NFTs.
Gaming Coins
Game developers build these games with profitability for gamers, non-gamers, and developers at the forefront. Blockchain games can be a very profitable venture, even for non-gamers as they can make money from P2E games by investing in gaming coins.
Gaming coins have a 94.67 billion dollar market capitalization and combined with a 5.02% sector dominance, they have displayed serious growth potential. Gaming coins often offer a good return on investment and Axie Infinity, the leading blockchain game has once seen a 9333% increase.
Should we be worried?
These games, however, have failed to gain momentum in developed nations, mainly because for professional gamers, there is nothing new in terms of the game experience, other than the chance of generating some money. The allure for these type of games mainly exist in developing countries but Africa has long been excluded.
Top P2E games
However, OpiPets, a blockchain-based free-to-play NFT game is encouraging Africans to benefit from this space. To achieve this, they have launched a 500 dollar giveaway for Africans, and if you want to benefit from this giveaway you can go to their site and register there.
For those interested in P2E games, here are some of the most popular games on the blockchain :
The Bored Ape Yacht Club has also announced plans of creating its own play-to-earn game.
PS: I apologize for the one-month break, I decided to start UX writing and I have collaborated with some experienced UI/UX designers on case studies. Over the next weeks, I will share some of these UI/UX case studies with my subscribers. Some of the stuff I read during that time include this Wired article on how NFTs work, this Twitter thread on how to make it in crypto, and this Wired article talks about the anonymity myth that surrounds the blockchain. You can also check out the Breach Club’s Medium page (they offer quality blockchain info), and this Defiant article on the opportunities abound in Web 3.
To explain it so astutely is amazing. Didn't know about them before, but great job man.