With a total market cap of more than $19 billion, GameFi and blockchain gaming seems to be making a comeback in the crypto scene as it once again seeks to disrupt the $175 billion global video games market. Titles like Axie Infinity and its more than $1 billion in total in-game asset sales have piqued the traditional gaming industry’s interest. So much so, we’re now seeing giants like Ubisoft and Square Enix the GameFi sector.
Axie Infinity is an NFT-based online video game developed by the Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis. On it, players are able to collect, breed, raise, battle, and even trade token-based creatures, known as ‘Axies’. At its peak in November 2021, the company reportedly had 2.7 million active daily users. Despite the drop in price, this initial cost is still a huge barrier for many, especially as the vast majority of blockchain game players currently hail from developing countries. The GameFi industry is seeing massive amounts of funding right now, as venture capital firms shovel millions of dollars into crypto gaming companies. Investors poured $3.6 billion into these startups last year, according to Drake Star Partners, with heavy hitters like Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue and Softbank leading the charge.
Bitcoin first brought digital scarcity to the fore with blockchain, while Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) expanded it. NFTs can represent diverse digital and physical assets, including in-game items. Ethereum’s 2015 launch presented new opportunities for video game developers thanks to its programming language’s sophistication. It meant programs could be stored and executed on-chain for the first time, enabling the creation of applications. Among them were blockchain games like CryptoKitties, which leveraged the newly defined ERC-721 standard to represent in-game assets in the form of nonfungible tokens.
As the NFT sales continue to explode, we see that the GameFi concept transitions into NFT-based games that reward players with real-world monetary incentives. Points are earned for their line-up’s performance as well as each card’s rarity—players receive increasing point boosts as card rarities go up. New cards are sold in an auction-style format and also rewarded to players for winning tournaments. GameFi presents an opportunity to earn crypto tokens while playing online games. Read on to learn about GameFi, why it is so popular, and you will discover a list of popular play-to-earn (P2E) games. In October 2009, the App Store introduced in-app purchases for free apps, enabling players to purchase digital items, such as in-game currency and resources, to enhance their experience.
The Rise of the NFTs
It features creatures called Axies that you can collect, upgrade, and use for your Axie Infinity battles. Axie Infinity’s marketplace allows players to trade their Axies, with the most expensive ever sold at 300ETH. Axie Infinity mainly uses the AXS token to power the game, allocate rewards, and facilitate staking.
Axie Infinity
Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, 10 best trading robots for october 2023 or offer by Crypto.com to invest, buy, or sell any NFTs or crypto assets. Participating in a play-to-earn product does not guarantee positive returns. Play-to-earn products do not come without risk, and participants can incur high initial costs, which may be partially or completely unrecoverable.
Blockchain Gaming
The autobattler describes itself as an Interoperable Blockchain Game (IBG) with P2E properties that encourage open-world adventures. To play, you are required to collect Illuvials and train them for better chances at mutant ape race series battles. Other features that make GameFi work are gaming DAOs and community decision-making to help create a fairer environment for players.
Many blockchain games require ownership of one or more in-game assets before you can play. For example, to play Axie mobile app development wikipedia Infinity, you must have at least three Axies in your Web3 wallet. It’s common for GameFi projects to launch Initial DEX Offerings (IDO) to raise funds. For instance, the Ethereum blockchain-based, futuristic space-themed MMORPG Sidus Heroes game raised $21M during one public and three private IDO rounds for the game’s two native tokens, SIDUS and SENATE. The rounds included prominent blockchain platforms SpaceSwap, Blokpad, Ignition, Trustpad, Seedify, GameFi, and Red Kite. The economy of the Gala Games’ Mirandus project, for example, relies on three tokens.
- Because these assets are stored on a blockchain, they are owned by the players, not the game developer.
- The more than 2.7 billion video gamers worldwide are already very familiar with the notion of scarce digital items, tokenization, and in-game currencies.
- Crypto.com may not offer certain products, features and/or services on the Crypto.com App in certain jurisdictions due to potential or actual regulatory restrictions.
- Digital ownership of unique assets creates economic opportunities that were not possible before.
As with crypto in general, one of the biggest roadblocks to mass adoption is a lack of understanding. To address this and assuage any concerns, it’s integral that developers invest time and energy into improving not only the gaming mechanics, but the public understanding and perspective of blockchain technology and GameFi. Players of these games can obtain in-game rewards by completing tasks and progressing through various game levels. Unlike traditional in-game currencies and items, these rewards have measurable value outside of the gaming ecosystem.
Future of GameFi
The value of crypto assets can increase or decrease, and you could lose all or a substantial amount of your purchase price. When assessing a crypto asset, it’s essential for you to do your research and due diligence to make the best possible judgement, as any purchases shall be your sole responsibility. With that said, there is resistance to blockchain-based games from the gaming community — particularly when it comes to game mechanics and NFTs. With an estimated 3.24 billion gamers across the globe, there is a huge opportunity for growth in the emerging GameFi sector.