The world is on a steady trajectory into an age where everyday people earn from playing games. It’s no longer a vision for the future; we’re already living it.
Quick History of P2E Gaming
The foundations of P2E is the idea that players can monetize their time while enjoying video games. In-game currencies and perks have been integral parts of video games since the early days of gaming. Whether you’re smashing blocks to collect coins in Mario, skulking around and picking pockets in Skyrim, or owning expensive mansions and wheels in GTA. Games have always featured a way to enrich your avatars. But what about enriching yourself?
People making money playing games is not a new concept. Gamers who are skilled enough can participate in world tournaments of traditional PC games like World of Warcraft, Diablo II, etc, and make money from it. They can also sell their in-game assets or leveled-up characters to other players. However, earning in-game currency that can transform into a real-world value is a very recent concept.
Axie infinity launched one of the first and biggest games that featured a monetary system that had value within the game and could also traverse into real life. Gamers could collect and convert in-game earnings to fiat. Essentially, this development provides a way for the average gamer to earn a living just doing what they love. And of course, P2E games have turned several ordinary gamers into millionaires within the short time it became mainstream.
The Fundamentals of P2E
P2E games are designed to help players earn/collect cryptocurrencies and NFTs, which they can exchange for real-life value. Most of the games feature special events, tasks, and other requirements that players must complete to claim rewards. The players can then withdraw their prizes to their wallets for safe-keeping or exchange them for profit.
However, earning collectibles on P2E games is not as straightforward as collecting coins in Mario. The games usually require players to contribute seed capital (purchase items) to be able to participate. Plus, the more recent games mostly use a ‘staking’ reward accrual system instead of the randomized chance system older blockchain games employ.
‘Staking’ is a mechanism that allows players to generate tradeable NFTs or farm the games’ native crypto. In other words, ‘Staking’ essentially allows you to earn rewards by fulfilling specific criterias. The staking mechanism works perfectly in the creator economy design feature of the new P2E games and it’s expected to also shape the future of gaming.
The Role of Blockchain in the Future of P2E Gaming
People earned money from gaming even before the term Play-to-Earn was coined. MMO-RPGs have been providing avenues for players to earn in fiat-based economies. However, the new P2E games are primarily built on blockchain systems. That’s why they’re also known as cryptocurrency/NFT games.
The underlying blockchain technology helps to manage the issues concerning the rarity of in-game collectibles and also ensures all in-game transactions are recorded on a fixed database. Plus, the blockchain network is decentralized, and each node has a copy of the whole dataset in question. So, the risk of data theft, duplication, tampering, or loss is almost non-existent.
