The term “Play-to-Earn” has seen an increasing rise in popularity alongside blockchains that have touted themselves to be low in fees and high in speed. Today, games and their in-game assets are owned by centralized entities. This means that if an entity decided to shut down a game, its players would lose their in-game assets such as skins and other items. The Play-to-Earn model resolves this issue by allowing players to have ownership of their in-game assets through the form of cryptocurrency tokens or non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Let’s take a further look at how ownership can be important for paving the next generation of online gaming.
The Covid pandemic saw a major shift in how companies and people interact with each other. Majority of our meetings were held online, schools had no other choice but to hold lessons over Zoom meetings and for some, families could only speak to each other over a video call. Our way of life was completely changed and with more people staying at home, a rise in the sales of computer parts and gaming related purchases was observed. Popular streaming platforms such as Twitch saw a spike in popularity with many hours of content being streamed and viewed by people from different parts of the world.
As the norm continues to shift to an online centric lifestyle, gaming has quickly become the center of attention amongst many. The introduction of blockchain games have brought about a change in the gaming landscape by giving ownership and control to its player base. This differs from the current model of video games that we are all familiar with where the developers earn the revenue while gamers spend money to purchase items in a game. By allowing players to have ownership over their in-game assets, it also increases their value through actively playing the game.
Popular names such as Axie Infnity, Decentraland and The Sandbox have become topics of conversation and each functions differently from the other while providing value through NFTs for their player base. In games such as Axie
Infinity, players are able to earn tokens known as Small Love Potions (SLP) just by playing the game. These tokens can be used for breeding new Axies or players can sell them on a marketplace to other players. Players can also put up their Axies, which are NFTs, for sale thus providing value for the player and others participating. A unique feature that is becoming more popular amongst crypto enthusiast is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Decentraland is an example of a DAO where players can vote for governance changes using its native token MANA thus encouraging players to participate actively.
Lastly, to be able to access these new forms of gaming, an entry to Web3 would be required as these games operate on smart contracts. Web3 wallets such as Ronin Wallet and Metamask would allow users to be able to interact with the gaming platforms that are based on different blockchain ecosystems.
