Apart from the fact that users can collect these cryptos or NFTs for several applications, they can also sell them on the market. Different players are now making a fortune just from participating in these games in light of this development.
What Are P2E Games?
Simply put, play-to-earn games allow players to collect NFTs and cryptos and sell them on the market. In other words, these games make it easy for players to earn a smooth source of crypto income just by participating in the game. As the name implies, play-to-earn games involve users playing and making while at it.
As an innovation that mixes money and entertainment, it's a part of the cryptocurrency world that has attracted attention.\
The pattern at which each game functions is different, but this doesn't affect the rewards.
A considerable amount of them stems from collecting a game's currency, staking, or sourcing for NFT items that you can trade. Like conventional games, luck was one of the players' critical factors to earn profits in earlier blockchain games.
Coupled with the fact that gamers have some form of ownership over particular in-game assets, play-to-earn games have made it such that these people can see them as work which means they can get some form of income from them. Players can now add to the value of these assets by being active participants in the game. All of these aren't strange as they've all been a success via the use of NFTs.
As these games are live on the blockchain, they get access to many benefits the technology offers. One of the popular instances of this is Axie Infinity. Found on the Ethereum blockchain, it's a game that possesses elements common to conventional video games and gameplay associated with the earlier models of blockchain games.
This game takes players on an entertaining ride from adventure, battles to conquests and tournaments while still giving them a nostalgic feel of traditional games. A significant number of other games also possess this essence and provide their players with filling feelings on both ends.
Related: Luna Rush announces IDO event from only $0.06 on 5 platforms. Play now!
How Do P2E Games Function?
How play-to-earn games work is pretty straightforward. Players can get profits and earn in three ways. Every time you play, the game compensates. This way, players get the motivation to participate better and move forward in the game, increasing their chances of being active stakeholders. The grinding part of doing specific processes repeatedly is what makes players earn. The three ways in which they achieve this include:
Earning in-game cryptos
By achieving a particular task in the game, which ranges from moving from one level, conquering a battle, players finishing daily actions, players earn rewards in the form of cryptos. As discussed before, this makes them geared to play more, which translates to earning more. A significant instance of this is Smooth Love Potion (SLP). This is a reward in Axie Infinity that players can only get when they fulfill certain game parts.
Earning or trading in-game NFTs
Items, tokens, characters, or collectibles may represent each NFT in play-to-earn games. This model is nothing strange. But ranging from game to play, they can just be for cosmetic purposes or fill in for a purpose in-game.
Staking
With the combination of gaming and finance which play-to-earn games possess, you can now see how players can get some form of income while still enjoying the entertainment the game has to offer. Though the two ways discussed above are significant paths this can follow, there's another alternative present, which is staking.
You might be familiar with the concept of collecting and locking up NFTs to gather profits. Play-to-earn games also make this possible. A couple of NFT games give users the free reign to put their NFTs or cryptocurrencies in smart contracts, which brings them rewards in the long run.
An excellent example of this is MOMO NFT Mystery Boxes which stand as the reward for users that stake MBOX tokens. There are random NFTs in these tokens containing unique items that players can sell.
The Role Of Blockchain Technology in P2E Games
As discussed above, play-to-earn games reside on the blockchain, making them privy to every benefit the technology gives. What blockchain technology majorly does for these games is to protect them. As play-to-earn is not a strange phenomenon, it's not hard to associate blockchain technology with it.
A blockchain possesses different qualities which affirm ownership, uniqueness, and integrity. These properties go on to be of use to these cryptocurrency games.
You know now that it's an impossible task to alter, copy or delete blockchain data. With this immutable database, developers now make blockchain games so that their integrity cannot be compromised and other vices common to traditional games can't be found on them.
Uniqueness is a critical quality an in-game item must possess, hence its rarity among other ones. This possibility is a result of blockchain. As a result of the rarity of an article that blockchain ensures, another copy can't surface. This way, in-game items get to possess and maintain authentic value items.
In all, blockchain and its technology protect play-to-earn games by ensuring their in-game items' integrity. This thereby provides real value for them.
How Can You Make Money From Play-to-earn Games?
Games, naturally, haven't been a good and promising way to make money. It isn't known mainly by many to monetarily compensate the average user. This, to begin with, derails the mentality of earning from games. But it can be pretty surprising to know that many people have play-to-earn games such as Axie Infinity as their stable source of income. But in light of this, the real question should be, what part can I take in this game to get a steady source of income?
As of October 2021, Angel, the most expensive Axie (Angel), sold for $131,970 on Nov 7, 2020, and is now listed for 3,000 ETH. This shows much players can make from being actively part of play-to-earn games. But as juicy as this might sound, the predictions of an average income for an NFT seller who gains them from play-to-earn games is pretty dicey.
Apart from the fact that this is just one part of earning income from play-to-earn games, the game's random nature makes it hard to tell. This is one answer to the question above.
Farming
Another solution is farming. This side of the play-to-earn games can give players a better and steady source of income. Here, your skills and the amount of time you dedicate to playing determines your earnings. As a result, the power to earn is solely in your hands. The Philippines stands as a testament for this, as Axie Infinity has pioneered many players and made waves in curbing unemployment.
Ranging from $200 to $1,000 (USD) monthly farming SLP with the market price and playtime as dependent factors, players are sure to earn as much as they play and what the market price dictates. However, you can't compare this to trading NFT collectibles as its rewards are more diminutive. But on the other hand, it's a safer and sure way to earn a regular income.
You can now decipher that trading NFT collectibles, which can be rewarded from the games, may be worth a significant amount of money. Still, the associated risks make it an epileptic way to make money. On the other hand, playing, also known as farming, carries a steady source of income but comes with lower earnings than its counterpart.
Read: 5 Major Uses Of NFTs
How Do I Begin Playing Play-to-earn Games?
It's pretty easy. Start by noting that for every play-to-earn game, requirements differ for fresh players. You'll need a crypto wallet as storage for your crypto, which you also connect to the game.
Other requirements might include creating an initial investment to make you eligible to play, ranging from buying used in-game items or putting together a character team. In most cases, there's no free pass to these games.
Axie Infinity is a superb instance. As of October 2021, it was such that to buy three Axies, you must have an initial investment of around $600. Within some months of gameplay, you can pay this off. But even with this development, the presence of a barrier to entry still stands.
Though the option of borrowing Axies stands, you have to share the income you achieve with the lender. This action is called scholarship and this lender, manager. The moment you've made up your beginning team and have performed daily given activities and tasks, you'll slowly start to get earnings in the form of SLP, an ERC-20 token which users can trade.
How Do I Cash Out From?
The whole gaming process doesn't end without players cashing out. There are different ways in which they can go about this. Here's how you go for crypto.
For a token like SAND or SLP, cashing out involves an exchange that provides your play-to-earn earnings in a pair that you can trade with. You can then decide if you want to use these earnings in the real world, whether you can exchange them for fiat and transfer them to your bank account. Another good choice, in this case, is your crypto card. This way, you can avoid difficulties and cash out with ease.
Another choice you can make is converting what you earn into a stablecoin. Though changing this into fiat will take a more complicated step than the first, your funds will be more stable in a coin like this. BUSD, for instance, won't be subjected to volatility compared to SAND or BTC.
Cashing out NFTs
The process of cashing out NFT items isn't far from its counterpart. When you participate in this game, and you've made your earnings in NFT and collectibles, you'll need an NFT exchange to trade them and cash out what you earn. Some cryptocurrency platforms have features that allow this process to go smoother. Another channel you can use is via decentralized exchanges. As long as they aren't immune to your NFTs, you have no problem making this step.
Remember, cashing out as a player depends on you. There are other processes you can embark on cashing out successfully. Do your findings and see what works best for you. This process is equally important as the other ones, so paying attention and diligence goes a long way. Whether for crypto or NFT collectibles, cashing out requires adequate research and following through on the steps on different platforms.
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Summary
Play-to-earn games have affirmed the reality that cryptocurrency is more than just proving itself as more than just a currency but a means to help people take control of their lives and have fun while doing it. These games have further expanded the use of blockchain technology and keyed on the uniqueness and merits of NFTs to blaze fresh trails in the gaming world.
Now, it's not so hard to believe that play-to-earn games are changing many things in the e-gaming industry, and it's pretty vivid to see live testaments supporting that claim. In all, a further solid step in digitizing this world we live in.
