Why Play to Earn is Thriving

Author: Gary Blaisdell

The crypto market has seen significant growth over the past year. It has skyrocketed from a $1 billion industry to a value of over $2.5 trillion. Meanwhile, a lot has been happening around it; despite the world grappling with a global health crisis, many emerging sectors continue to thrive. Play2Earn is one such emerging crypto space, commonly known as P2E.

This dynamic has largely contributed to the boom of P2E due to the rapid development of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). This growth stems from concepts such as cryptocurrency, decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). All of this allows players to earn rewards simply by playing great games, with leaders in the movement like Axie Infinity and RollerCoin discussed further below.

The combination of NFTs and Play2Earn has greatly enhanced the gaming experience and contributed to the mass adoption of blockchain networks. Given this new dimension, gamers are exploring a whole new realm and unlocking new income sources that are more inclusive than previous gaming models. So what exactly is Play 2 Earn, where does it come from, and how is it related to blockchain? Let’s find out.

P2E and Its Concept

Before diving into the data, let’s understand what Play2Earn is all about. Play2Earn is a combination of two fundamental ideas: playing and earning. Games require time and effort to participate and earn money in the process.

Play2Earn is a new gaming model that has gained attention this year, primarily due to the proliferation of blockchain protocols and the subsequent rise of NFTs. These unique crypto tokens stimulate a new player economy where users are partial owners of the games they enjoy and can easily transfer in-game assets they have spent weeks or months building.

In this way, the walled gardens of previous gaming models have been broken down, allowing players to enjoy the dynamics of the real-world economy.

What Changes Has Crypto Brought to P2E?

Play2Earn is a third-generation concept that has been fully embraced this year. Prior to this, the most popular model was Free2Play, which offered gamers a free basic experience and then monetized through in-app purchases and advertisements.

The problem with this model is that only those with deep pockets can strive to unlock certain items, leaving a large number of players in the dark. The Pay2Win model follows the same principle, where only wealthy players can benefit from a complete gaming experience. Play2Earn has thrived this year, largely thanks to blockchain. It is well-known that blockchain-based assets ensure a redesign of gaming, enabling the following:

• Improved in-game assets for users
• Integration of NFTs into the overall initiatives of game developers
• Disruption of the gaming industry's walled gardens
• Increasing player engagement
• New economic dynamics brought by in-game assets
• Centralized platforms are slowly losing control

Essentially, the cornerstone of Play2Earn's success is NFTs, which have gained substantial support over the past year. As most decentralized applications (dApps) reside on the Ethereum network, trading volumes on major altcoins have surged, leading traditionally supported businesses to invest more deeply.

Image from RollerCoin

The Shift of P2E to Blockchain

Play2Earn has seen a significant upward trend over the past year, largely driven by the gaming community embracing blockchain technology. In hindsight, this relationship has been beneficial, as most blockchain-based games have seen many gamers earning substantial income by doing what they love.

A typical example is the Ethereum-based P2E game Axie Infinity. Like all next-generation products, Axie Infinity aims to create a truly player-driven economy, allowing players to become partial owners by owning game characters called Axies. These Axies are NFTs that can be collected, bred, upgraded, and sold at higher values on secondary markets. In this way, players can invest in the games they enjoy and hope to appreciate their assets.

Image source: Shutterstock. Author Ira Lichi

However, P2E also requires funding to unlock the full potential of in-game assets; this is where Axie Infinity becomes unattainable for many. The initial investment requires 3 of these Pokémon-style characters to get started, costing between $414 and $420 at the current price of $138 for one AXS. For some gamers, this cost is considered steep.

This is where different kinds of Play2Earn games come into play. Take RollerCoin, for example. It is a virtual Bitcoin mining simulator game that rewards players with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, and RollerTokens. RollerCoin focuses on allowing players to earn block rewards based on their mining capabilities. Just like real-life Bitcoin mining data centers, this time you increase your hash rate by playing engaging arcade games.

If they are mining Bitcoin, players can play different games and earn satoshis as rewards. Additionally, they can use the mined cryptocurrencies to upgrade their mining rigs or simply withdraw them, as these are real BTC, ETH, and BNB that they have mined.

Another popular Play2Earn game is Alien Worlds, which simulates the Earth economy using the Trilium game token. Here, players complete tasks to mine TLM tokens.

Conclusion

The player economy is rapidly changing, and with the security of the Free2Play gaming model, Play2Earn has now become the norm.

The trading volume of game-related NFTs is beyond imagination, with over $3 billion recorded to date. Axie Infinity holds a significant portion of this market share; however, simulator games like RollerCoin have also proven to be very popular, gathering a community of over 1 million players. While cryptocurrencies are gaining massive adoption daily, with Bitcoin leading the way, more and more gamers are viewing RollerCoin as a viable way to earn free Bitcoin while only investing their time.

In summary, P2E is still considered to be in its infancy, leaving ample room for massive growth and breaking the monopoly of centralized gaming companies. Game developers like Ubisoft have already recognized the potential of the P2E gaming economy and are slowly adjusting their business models to accommodate it.