Gaming has become an integral part of our daily lives. Many of us spend hours gaming. Some games have amassed millions of fans.
All of this has been built on the premise of play to entertain. That is, you spend your time and energy to have some fun. Everything you work for is essentially useless outside the game environment – besides bragging rights in a gaming convention.
What if things weren’t like this? What if it was possible to enjoy games while adding value to your real life?
That’s what play to earn crypto games are all about. You play immersive metaverse games, spend hours upon hours grinding and completing tasks, and as a result, you get rewards that have real-world value. These rewards range from in-game tokens to NFTs – which you can exchange for cryptocurrency and, eventually, fiat.
Your hard work pays off. Games, where you can earn by playing, are usually called GameFi – a portmanteau of gaming and finance.
If you’re into video games, GameFi might interest you.
Table of Contents
What is GameFi?
Usually, games are built on centralized servers controlled by the company that developed the game. All the profits from the game go to that company, with nothing left for those who play. Any purchase they make, any achievement they unlock, everything stays in the confines of the game.
You may purchase a skin for your avatar in the game. But you can’t take it outside the game. Or trade it for real money. This limits the players’ chances to earn money from what they enjoy. Streaming and playing competitively are the two viable options for players to turn their labor into something tangible.
To counter this, a new concept is raising its head – play to earn. Players can earn rewards for completing various tasks, and they’re paid in NFTs. These NFTs are tradable on crypto exchanges. Players can earn real money from these games, and many have turned it into part-time jobs.
Inner workings of Play to Earn Metaverse Games
Metaverse games flip the board by giving players controls through in-game currencies. These in-game currencies hold real-world value, so your in-game progress is reflected in real life.
There is no overarching authority. Players are the ones who make crucial decisions, from adding an integral mechanism to removing a part that doesn’t sit well with the community. All of this is made possible by the voting mechanism that ensures majority token holders hold real power, not some overseeing centralized authority.
We have 4 building blocks of the metaverse games. These are Blockchain, Play-to-Earn Model, Asset Ownership, and DeFi Solutions.
Blockchain Technology
All metaverse games run on Blockchain. They use blockchain standards to make transactions and other processes transparent and fraud-free. While Blockchain provides a strong, reliable foundation, the actual difference comes from play to earn the model itself.
Play to Earn Model
Play to earn is where players complete specific tasks and earn NFTs as rewards. For example, if you make progress in the game from level 2 to level 7, you may be eligible for a certain NFT. Through Blockchain technology, these transactions become seamless and fast. Some games pay in cryptocurrencies, which are easily tradable for fiat currency.
Asset Ownership
If you’re playing a GameFi title, you can transfer your in-game achievements – NFTs, for example – to other players. Or trade those on NFT marketplaces. These NFTs could make you money because other players would appreciate all the work you’ve put into the game. These achievements could be skins or plots of land or anything in between that you own in the game.
DeFi Solutions
Some P2E titles also have DeFi elements to make the experience more financially rewarding. You may earn certain in-game tokens. You may have the option to stake those and earn rewards for your staking. This is one way for players to make passive income from play to earn metaverse games.
How did the Play to Earn Model start?
The idea of adding real value to games has been around for quite some time. But it was never accomplished before. So GameFi projects had to introduce many rules.
There were P2E titles before CryptoKitties. But this game was the spark these titles needed to launch into the mainstream. After CryptoKitties, there have been hundreds of P2E titles, and many have garnered millions of daily players. One of those titles is Axie Infinity.
What to expect in the future?
Play to earn metaverse games have a bright future because the metaverse technology is gaining steam. And even if the metaverse concept doesn’t perform as well as expected in other areas, metaverse gaming will be huge.
For now, P2E titles make up a fraction of the overall video game industry. The pace they’re growing at suggests that the market is ready for a positive change. Within a few years, we expect P2E gaming to be a major part of the gaming industry.