Play to Earn

Traditional video games, or as we knew them until now, did not give any type of reward. But with the crypto revolution, a new type of game was created, play to earn.

Actually, the concept of a game close to playing to win has been around for some time. in role-playing games like World of Warcraft, where individuals accumulate rare goods in these massively multiplayer online role-playing games (or MMORPGs) and sell them to the highest bidder for cash.

Some people have even sold high-end accounts in other games for up to tens of thousands of dollars. But this was just a preamble to this new model that has matured quickly, with the dynamics that the crypto world almost always has in its development.

What is “play to earn”?

“Play to earn” simply gives players and game fans control and ownership of game assets, while allowing them to increase the value of these assets through active play.

Some pioneers of this video game model were Gods Unchained or Cryptokitties. Currently, the video game that is causing a stir everywhere is Axie Infinity. In these types of games, players can perform missions or certain actions within the game and be awarded NFTs, tokens, characters or collectible items. 

These rewards are not just items within games, they have value and are embedded within the player’s crypto assets. They can be traded in an Exchange, sent to wallets or exchanged for fiat money. Some NFTs within these games are valued in the millions or thousands of dollars. 

In any case, to start playing and enter these games, it is necessary to make an investment, which then, if the necessary effort and time is put in, is recovered and multiplied. Players are rewarded with up to $ 300 per month. 

An opportunity to generate income

In Venezuela, this gaming model was adopted as a source of income within the complex political, social and economic situation within the country. 

According to this article, players have accumulated more than 27 million SLPs together (reward tokens obtained by players of the Axie Infinity game). These cards are currently worth approximately $ 7.2 million at current prices. 

Thousands of lives have been significantly improved as a result of the guild’s efforts in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Venezuela, and Brazil.

This is why playing to win non-fungible token (NFT) games is so popular as users can earn money by actively participating in a video game. This opens up unparalleled access to income-generating possibilities, particularly in underdeveloped nations where games with this play-to-earn model have become widespread. 

Unfortunately, increasing demand has raised the price of the NFTs needed to play games. This addresses the opportunity that plays to earn games create, as high entry costs prevent people who could benefit the most from winning games from participating.

This is the case of Yield Guild Games (YGG), for example, which as part of their business plan, invests in NFT assets with the prospect of generating profits in different games, sponsoring players according to their ability, who obtain 70% of the profits. without needing to invest the high sums required to start the game. 

How much can you earn with “play to earn”?

Axie Infinity is the most famous of PtE games today. Apparently, the player can generate a minimum of 150 SLP, the game’s internal token, per day. As of this writing, 150 SLPs are worth around $ 40 at the time of writing. That’s 4500 SLP per month or $ 1200 per year. 

There are even companies that invest large sums in equipment and players and still manage to make a profit. Apparently, the average return on investment for each team is 2-3 months if there are no downsides.

The explosion of this “play to earn” model has been such that it has made Axie Infinity the number one NFT project by volume invested of all time.

Sources: Hongkiat, Cointelegraph. Photo by Thomas Despeyroux on Unsplash.