What is a ‘play-to-earn industry’?
What a fantastic idea to let people play a game and at the same time earn money, isn’t it? That is what the ‘play-to-earn industry’ is all about. It creates a perfect match of desire to have fun and to make money.
According to statistics, the gaming market is growing rapidly, and is expected to reach $339.95 billion value by 2027. During the COVID pandemic online games became a place for people to interact with each other. So why not make their experience more enjoyable.
Users join a gaming community, make some actions that result in a profit. Such platforms can provide tokens or NFTs that can be later exchanged in the open market. It’s not harder than to convert coins. ‘Play-to-earn industry’ is based on blockchain technology and is powered by smart contracts. Such an organization helps to build a special economic infrastructure within the platform.
These features that were built on top of the games change the usual gaming environment into a metaverse. So now it is a fully developed virtual world, where users have a certain level of control, where they create and develop their skills and characters.
Some of the games are free for users. However, some of them require an investment to start.
What are the examples?
STEPN
STEPN is not a usual play-to-earn project. Unlike others it provides a gaming activity for the real world. With this project users are provided with the opportunity to make profit by jogging and walking. People can purchase Sneakers, install an application and start earning GMT tokens by doing their favorite activities. The amount depends on various factors, such as speed and time.
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is one of the most popular play-to-earn projects. In this game users collect, breed, and raise Axies, token-based creatures. The idea follows the steps of Pokémons and Tamagotchi. Each Axie is an NFT, which can be customized according to the owner’s preferences and then traded. For active participation, gamers earn SLP, the ERC-20 tokens, which are used within the platform and can also be traded for other cryptocurrencies or fiat money.
Decentraland
Decentraland is one of the oldest platforms in the play-to-earn industry. It gives users an opportunity to develop and monetize various applications. They can purchase virtual land, improve it, build on it, and then sell. The Decentraland marketplace also offers a lot of items created by users, all of which can be purchased for the native tokens. But if you want to join cryptoworld faster and without any unnecessary moves, you can always buy cryptocurrency with a credit card and start your blockchain journey.
Conclusion
‘Play-to-earn industry’ brings a fresh approach to the gaming sphere. It can be a useful instrument or just a fun time spending activity. The full potential of metaverse and play-to-earn platforms is still hidden from us. Some platforms are considering integrating crypto to its model. However, we can already suggest that it will spread, and maybe faster than we think.
Interesting Related Article: “What is the Metaverse & How Does Crypto Fit into the Metaverse?“