With the emergence of play to earn games, gamers are no longer tagged as outsiders who squander their time rather than doing anything worthwhile.
According to certain estimates, the global gaming sector will reach $268 billion in value by 2025. In many nations, considering a career in gaming is no longer frowned upon but actively encouraged.
As is the case with any business, online gaming has seen a plethora of trends and patterns throughout the years. The list includes everything from first-person shooters (FPS) to multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games.
The bitcoin industry seems to have recognized the growth potential of this market and the influence that blockchain-based technology may have on it. This was made feasible in large part by the proliferation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), when developers realized they could build and transfer physical value inside gaming ecosystems, creating additional incentives for those who spend their time gaming.
This is how the play to earn games paradigm (particularly as it relates to cryptocurrency) was formed, and it is gaining traction. We will examine the play to earn games paradigm within the cryptocurrency business, as well as several key principles and popular games, in this post.
But first, it’s critical to establish a few ground rules.
Gaming Online Ascending to the Meta
Without a question, online gaming has evolved into a phenomenon that cannot be ignored. Millions of individuals worldwide participate in a variety of games – some professionally, some recreationally. While gaming was considered a fringe activity a year ago, it has already become the standard for many young people.
There are a number of classic online play to earn games that are played at a very high level of competition. League of Legends and the enormous 2015 LoL World Championship were among the first titles to advance the competitive gaming industry and legitimize eSports to a wider audience.
For the first time in history, a gaming tournament was held in London’s renowned Wembley Arena, with the winning team receiving a whopping $1 million prize.
Today, millions of people worldwide play a variety of games, including World of Warcraft, New World, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Final Fantasy. They form groups, engage with one another, and — in a sense – build a whole other parallel environment in which to escape reality.
This last section is at the heart of a notion dubbed the “metaverse” by many — a world beyond reality that is totally computerized and fictitious, but also a place where people may physically visit through the use of different augmented reality technologies and invest time and money.
It is hard to ignore this while discussing play to earn games. This also introduces us to the next critical concept: the metaverse.
What Is the Metaverse?
The word “metaverse” has been bandied around a lot recently. It skyrocketed in popularity lately after Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook’s CEO – made many remarks about how he wants to be a driving force behind its development, even going so far as to suggest they want to hire up to 10,000 people in the EU.
And, although Zuckerberg is a well-known and prominent figure in the effort to make the metaverse a reality (pun intended), the notion itself is unintelligible. learn more about him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg
Merely said, the metaverse is a virtual environment, a country of sorts, that individuals may enter rather than simply seeing a flat-screen display. It’s the internet come to life, complete with all of its complexities.
Consider an universe in which everything is conceivable, provided it is planned and constructed. It is a world of infinitely linked virtual worlds in which individuals may play, meet, work, and do anything they want utilizing headsets, augmented reality devices, and other smart technologies.
This is where the play to earn games concept takes on even more significance. The world is getting more digital — just consider how much time you spend on your phone communicating with faraway friends and relatives using chat apps. Consider being able to engage with them digitally through virtual reality.
As this notion gains traction, the play-to-earn model will gain traction since well, as it will enable individuals to produce value and be paid in this metaverse – which is why there is presently a competition amongst billionaires such as Mark Zuckerberg to be the first to implement this concept.
Now, let’s examine what the term “play to earn games” truly implies.
What are play to earn games?
Play to earn games is exactly what it sounds like — a business concept in which users may engage in gaming while earning cryptocurrencies.
It’s a very effective psychological model because it combines two activities that have motivated humanity since the beginning of time – earning money and entertaining oneself.
The critical component of this concept is to offer players ownership of specific in-game assets and to enable them to grow their value by active participation in the play to earn games. Typically, in the crypto realm, identifying and transferring ownership is accomplished via the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
We have a comprehensive guide on what NFTs are, which you can see here.
By participating in the in-game economy, players generate value for the ecosystem as a whole and for the creators. They are rewarded in return with possibly appreciating in-game assets. These assets might be anything from desirable personalities with changing scarcity to a particular sort of cryptocurrency.
The fundamental premise is that in play to earn games, players are rewarded for investing more time and effort into the game.
It’s a relatively new phenomena in the cryptocurrency market – or, at the very least, it gained popularity very recently, owing to the introduction of one specific project – Axie Infinity, but more on that later.
Is it Free to Play Play-to-Earn Games?
While there is discussion about whether or not play to earn games should be free, the reality is that each developer follows their own route. Some games are completely free to play, while others demand some kind of payment.
It’s costly to develop a video game, and it’s critical to understand that these play to earn games are generated by corporations. Profitability is the goal of any firm.
On the other side, the advantage of play to earn games is that they enable players to generate revenue. Even if customers are required to pay to begin playing, these products may afterwards be sold for a profit.
Additionally, the majority of free play to earn games demand an initial expenditure to unlock basic features and full gaming.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most popular bitcoin play to earn games available.