Play-to-earn games are as attractive as they sound—you can play your favorite games and make an income from them. But what makes these games tick? The following article will answer this question and explain how you can earn from play to earn games. Let’s get started.
What is a Play-to-Earn?
Play-to-earn games allow players to earn rewards by playing online games. The rewards include cryptocurrency, weapons, avatars, virtual land, or NFTs. Players usually have to complete tasks or reach certain levels in the game to earn rewards. Plus, unlike traditional games, play-to-earn games let players transfer in-game assets to the outside world.
Examples include Axie Infinity, Sandbox, CoinFantasy, and Decentraland.
Play-to-Earn Business model
Play-to-earn games work as a blend of gaming and finance; hence they fall in the GameFi category. These games offer financial incentives for progress. And they follow a business model that rewards developers and gamers. Here’s how gamers earn through play to earn games:
In-game cryptocurrency
Some games have native tokens, which gamers can earn by progressing in the game. An example is Axie Infinity’s Smooth Love Potion (SLP). Players can earn SLP by accomplishing tasks or winning battles.
In-game NFT
Some in-game elements are NFTs in themselves. For instance, NFTs may come as a character, weapon, avatar, or cosmetic, depending on the game. These may accomplish a specific requirement in the game, and players can earn and trade them later for a profit.
Staking
Staking is another way for gamers to earn from play to earn games. Some NFT games let users donate and lock their NFTs or cryptocurrency on smart contracts. These will generate rewards with time. For example, if gamers stake MBOX tokens, they earn MOMO NFT Mystery Boxes as rewards. Players can later sell these in the market.
Game developers, on the other hand, earn through the following ways:
Native cryptocurrency
Many game developers create a native cryptocurrency that circulates as tokens. This includes creating new blockchain projects, tokens, and smart contracts associated with their function.
These tokens stand out because they have real-life value. Some prominent games like Axie Infinity have unique cryptocurrencies, namely SLP and AXS, which exist on Ethereum. Similar to cryptocurrencies, their value also fluctuates. Players can sell or buy them on crypto exchanges too.
Transaction fees
New players have to pay a transaction fee for buying in-game currency, which is a significant source of revenue for developers.
Scarcity
Play to earn games developers raise the value of the in-game assets through scarcity. Since certain elements are unique and cannot be replicated, they carry a certain value that never falls considerably.
How to cashout from the play-to-earn model
If you want to cash out the in-game currency, you must find an exchange that lets you trade it for fiat money and get them in your account. Another way to do this is via a crypto card that will allow you to spend cryptocurrency, such as Binance Visa Card.
You can also turn your earnings into a stablecoin if you want to avoid the fluctuations of the native token. This will require you= to complete an extra step of turning the stablecoin into a fiat currency, but your funds will stay more stable this way.
Consider this example of cashing out your SAND tokens from playing the game Sandbox. First, you need to transfer SAND tokens into your Binance account:
- If you use Metamask or another wallet, copy the wallet address to the sending wallet. To transfer, you need to spend cryptocurrency in fee payments, depending on your blockchain.
- On the exchange, choose a pair to trade with SAND, such as SAND-BUSD. BUSD is a stable coin that you can easily exchange with fiat currency.
- Now sell your SAND coins by choosing one of the multiple order types on the exchange.
- Once you have your BUSD, you can turn them into fiat currency such as INR or USD. After this, you can withdraw your cash by following instructions specific to your country.
Conclusion
As we saw, play-to-earn games have opened up a new niche in gaming that benefits both gamers and developers alike. Play-to-earn gaming continues to grow in popularity, and the industry will undoubtedly bloom in years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
Play-to-earn games or crypto games are those where players can take ownership of in-game assets, which are NFTs on the host blockchain. Besides, the in-game currency is usable as cryptocurrency. Also, gamers can trade skins, characters, weapons, and virtual land just like with NFTs. For instance, CoinFantasy is a play-to-earn game and the world’s first for the crypto stock market. It lets players earn rare crypto token NFTs.
Play-to-earn apps make money mainly through two methods:
Native cryptocurrency
Play to earn game developers build a project and release a native cryptocurrency token. These tokens carry value and can be traded on crypto exchanges. This is one revenue stream for developers.
Transaction fees
Players must spend their cryptocurrency when they need to buy in-game assets or in-game tokens, and game developers charge a fee for this transaction.
Crypto gaming does offer an income stream to players. In some developing countries, players depend on games like Axie infinity to earn a constant income.
For instance, gamers in the Philippines earn from Axie Infinity through the farming method. In this, your earnings are directly proportional to your gaming time. Players report making between $200 and $1000 monthly by farming Smooth Love Potion (SLP), the native token of Axie Infinity. Although the farming revenue is far lower than trading in-game NFTs, it still ensures a regular income.
In Axie Infinity, you can use existing NFTs to breed new Axies. But it is also impossible to predict their value as they keep fluctuating. Hence, one cannot put an average figure on earnings from play to earn games.
