Did you know that you can own crypto coins without having to either mine or buy the coins? The best of all is that there is no rigor or work attached to it. You are only required to play, and then you earn your coins. In this article, you will learn all about how the cryptosystem is changing the way we play games and how you play-to-earn through Crypto games and NFT games.

The Crypto Gaming Industry

As of writing this article, The blockchain game industry is valued at over eight billion dollars. This is a result of the fact that, unlike traditional games, players now find real rewards in playing blockchain-enabled games. With about 400 active blockchain games, the adoption of the crypto gaming industry is rapidly growing. Players earn real-world tradable non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and even fungible tokens. It gets better knowing that some digital economies pay players just for playing.

The industry consists of play-to-earn (P2E) games like the Axie infinity. In these play-to-earn games, players are engaged in tasks like battles, breeding their in-game characters, completing quests, and other typical functions of traditional games. By design, crypto games are very similar to many conventional games that offer rewards, coins, new abilities, new skins, and new outfits to players. Unlike in traditional games, these rewards (usually in the form of NFTs and coins) can be used to make purchases of physical, tangible items outside the gaming platform.

So, while traditional games only reward the game developer and his team, seasons have now changed. People now feel more motivated to play than they have ever been. Some people even make a living off gaming and this accounts for the massive growth and popularity that the industry has recorded.

What are the latest trends in the crypto gaming industry?

Despite the topsy-turvy ride the mainstream crypto market has had so far in 2022, blockchain games attracted $1.1 billion in investments only in January 2022.

One trend to look out for in the crypto gaming niche is the fusion between social media and gaming. While this trend has begun, it is only starting to spread across. Some games now function as hybrid social media platforms with a high sense of priority in the community. Reality Chain is a major party on this trail. The game allows players to level up their social and gaming lives through a combination of non-immersive, multiplayer 2D and 3D experiences.

How Is Blockchain Changing The Way We Play Games?

There is no denying that the gaming industry has faced a quick evolution from introducing NFTs and Cryptos to the world of gaming. Blockchain has changed the industry itself, but it has also changed how games are played and even people's attitudes to games.

Chief among this change is the play-to-earn mindset. The introduction of rewards that have value in the ephemeral world has helped to place more value on games. There is a different level of sportsmanship to games fuelled by the aim to earn. Players now play games with the energy and dedication that a company staff will enter his office, knowing that he has to daunt every productivity hindrance to putting food on his table.

How Does Crypto Game Work?

There are several crypto games on the market, and some of the most prominent ones are Splinterland, Alien World, Decentraland, and Axie Infinity. Although most of them follow a different operation pattern, the crux of how these games work is that players are made to execute a task for a crypto reward. Splinterlands, for instance, rewards players daily from quests, tournaments, and ranked plays. However, not all games follow this pattern. So, considering the peculiarities of each match, we will take the Axie Infinity as a case study in understanding how NFT games work.

Axie Infinity is an NFT game with over 1 million active users and is Ethereum-based. It is the first Ethereum-based NFT game to hit US$1 billion in sales on August 8, 2021, and has remained one of the biggest on the Blockchain. The game is a roll-out of Pokémon games. Hence, you will be required to combat other players in the Arena mode or enemies in the Adventure mode. Axies are the creatures that actively fight in the game. They are tradable NFTs that can either be created or bought. So, to start, you will buy three axies and, with them, make more Axies.

As a reward for victory, you can either earn an Axie Infinity Token (AXS) or the Smooth Love Potion (SLP). Both tips are tradable tokens. Once you successfully get into the PVP leaderboard, you earn the AXS, while SLP is made when you exhaust all the levels on the adventure mode and win arena matches.

But bear in mind that beyond creating new Axies, axies also find value in being NFTs. Additionally, they can each be sold at a price between $100 to $1,000. Hence, Axie Infinity is not only regarded as a play-to-earn game, but it also accommodates the activities of NFT collectors. And in this regard, it has maintained second place in the volume of the marketplace.

Are Blockchain Games Sustainable?

Although still in the budding stage, Blockchain games look like they are here to stay and take over the gaming industry. They have only been around a few years, toppling the volume and popularity that traditional games once celebrated. Its unique proposition that brings about a rewarding and more equitable game economy and grants players actual ownership of in-game assets and rewards has addressed a significant fallout of traditional gaming.

Members of the Philippines society, among many other countries severely hit by the Covid-19 lockdown, turned to NFT games as a source of income. So, speculations are that if the traditional gaming could hang on long enough in the market, then blockchain games have a better chance at winning more participants. However, while it has recorded immense growth since its introduction, Is crypto gaming sustainable? How long can we expect it to last?

So, to answer the question on the sustainability of the P2E economic model of blockchain gaming, we would consider Forte and Axie Infinity as examples. Close observation has revealed that these platforms adopt a facsimile of the Ponzi model. Hence, the platform's growth is tied to the onboarding of new users. And like Ponzi, this is not sustainable. So, while its present model may not be sustainable, it will eventually phase into more sustainable forms.

In conclusion, blockchain and  NFT games are only just starting, so the earlier you jump on the trend, the higher your chances of earning huge on the market. The crypto gaming industry is built on two viable and solid systems. There is no guarantee that the present Blockchain games industry will survive the tough days. However, the overall blockchain game industry will likely grow out of its current dynamics and outlast the expectations of most people. In other words, the current happenings in the industry are part of its evolution and not its end.