When was the last time you played a game?
Did you enjoy it?
Were there any rewards you won for achievements?
If your answer is yes, then you’re in for a treat. Especially if you are somewhat interested in crypto. Gaming as an industry is running on billions of dollars annualy and with each new game and each new console, players rack up hours and hours of game time in order to reach certain levels, unlock certain rewards, build their avatars the way they want and attain what may just as well be the most impeccable form in the gaming community—whether it is niche to games like Call of Duty and Fortnite, or spread out like Grand Theft Auto and MetalGear.
Gamers love building up their teams, arsenal, characters and XP. It is the lifeblood of gaming—becoming a collector—and many wish that these skins, property, coins and XP they have amassed can be turned into actual rewards that they could use to buy something in the real world. Personally back in 2019 while I was playing GTA5, I desperately wanted to turn the $1,000 reward I had just won from a mission into real money. Even if it was 15% of it. Though I have now reached and surpassed the thousand dollar mark as a monthly wage, it did help me try to see gaming in another light: how can I invest these man hours into profitable gaming and inch closer to buying myself a Tesla?
The result was hours of Google searching (that many call “research”) and that led me to a number of games that can actually pay me!
ENTER CRYPTO GAMING
About a year before my GTA5 wish moment, I had worked on my first blockchain project and stumbled around miserably till I picked up pace. That was how I got to know about crypto—fast forward to last year 2021, after my “research” I discovered that these games that pay me are called “Play to Earn” games, and they are all crypto-based games. Seemed more like a “WTF” moment more than a “jackpot” moment because the only way to truly earn or put yourself in a position to earn was by making an investment in the game.
Gamers are probably having a fit right now because we all invest a lot into games that don’t pay us already so why in the world will I want to make an investment into a game that’s backed by something as volatile as crypto? Thing is, why not?
I believe that’s the incentive there; the fact that you can spend a fraction of what it takes to build a rig, get an ergonomic chair and play online for hours into building an avatar, developing it for months thus giving it value and selling it as an NFT so you can make a profit. The cost-benefit curve is reasonable. A game called AXIE INFINITY did this and is currently the most popular Play-To-Earn game in the world. Guess where it holds most users? The Phillipines. Shocking innit?
Now while Axie requires you make a small investment to buy and build your avatars, a crypto gaming startup called OpiPets is taking same initiative as Axie but this time, making it free for all so gamers can start with next to nothing! What is interesting about these two models (asides the fact that there’s a lot of other P2E games) is the fact that they chose to focus on developing economic regions as their target market. Think it’s a fluke? Maybe not. Because for developing countries like Nigeria and The Phillipines, users stand to lose nothing if they invest a small amount of money or man hours—they’re playing to beat the odds that their economy has lined up against them. So it’s pretty much like Attack On Titan but everyone is Eren Yaeger.
CRYPTO GAMING INVESTMENTS
Naturally, any person who looks at crypto and gaming as a pair will think the people involved in it are all mad. Because crypto is as volatile as they come and the gaming industry has relied solely on monetizing consoles, upgrades, CDs, merch and collectibles within their product’s stratosphere—and if it works, why change it right?
You might want to think again. FTX has its eyes set on entering the gaming industry and from their track record, they have been known to make moves daring enough to change the tide. I mean see what they did with FTX Africa. So I personally don’t think they are unwise to have invested $100 million in gaming, no, not with a 2 billion-person global gamer population.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
Glad you asked. See, the beauty of gaming is how fluid it is to function passively and actively in your favor. If you judge with respect to the examples I gave, then you are looking at how you can start and make your first few dollars in 70 hours or 70 days. Lol, you can also lose money. Playing games that allow you earn doesn’t exempt you from the fact that you most likely won’t be amongst the top 10%, but what crypto helps you do with that is since decentralization is in play, communities of likeminded gamers will help you through the journey of playing, earning and sharing—as displayed with Axie infinity. The rewards are beyond dollars because this “money” comes as tokens or coins that one will have to exchange using decentralized finance platforms.
All in all, you can say it’s shaky or risky right now and that’s fine. Just remember that the PS2 came out 21 years ago, and crypto gaming is still barely 7 years in.
Make do with that information what you will.
wagmi.