Although P2E promised to revolutionize the gaming industry by giving more control to gamers, did it actually succeed? Check out this deep dive by the ChangeHero team to learn about the current state of play-to-earn crypto games.
Key Takeaways
- Play-to-earn games allow players to earn real money through gameplay by completing tasks and achieving goals. Thanks to blockchain technology, in-game assets and currencies can be represented by tokens to be freely traded in public marketplaces and owned by players.
- By 2024, the play-to-earn sphere expanded to offer diverse genres and depth of gameplay. Players who seek engaging gameplay and fun and players who are fine with idle activity alike can find an option to play and earn in-game rewards with blockchain-based games.
- Play-to-earn has been around long enough to have established titles that are now as accessible as ever, such as Axie Infinity. However, new games also arrive in the market, letting players get into the project and economy early.
Brief Intro to Play-to-Earn Crypto Games
The idea of blockchain games is almost as old as the success of the practical implementation of the technology in Bitcoin. They started to take shape in the era of Ethereum when smart contracts enabled the creation of tokens. The current iteration of blockchain games is known as play-to-earn (P2E), aptly named for rewarding players tangibly.
Play-to-earn games combine entertainment with financial rewards. Players can monetize their gaming skills and dedication and earn real money by participating in gameplay and achieving specific milestones like winning battles, completing tasks, completing quests, or competing.
Benefits of Play-to-Earn Crypto Games
Aside from the obvious attractive prospect of earning actual real-world value by playing games, there are many other benefits of P2E games.
Play-to-earn games integrate blockchain technology, so players can earn cryptocurrencies while playing. Blockchain technology provides security and transparency for game assets, as well as true ownership of in-game assets.
As a result, players can trade or sell their in-game assets on various marketplaces. True ownership of digital and virtual assets encourages players to engage more deeply with the game’s economy. In turn, the gaming economy is significantly impacted by monetized in-game activities.
Although arguable, blockchain gaming enhances security by making cheating nearly impossible or unfeasible. Blockchain acts as a tamper-proof outside reference point for in-game valuables and assets. Decentralized ownership creates a new economic model within the gaming industry.
Players can start playing many play-to-earn games for free, although there may be opportunities for in-game purchases. Blockchain games use a decentralized model to track the ownership and value of in-game assets. The integration of blockchain technology in gaming empowers players with control over their in-game assets.
Many play-to-earn games have a decentralized structure where players influence the game’s development. Players are rewarded with governance tokens that allow them to stake tokens and vote on game development.
Crypto Gaming and Non-fungible Tokens
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs became the necessary breakthrough to make crypto gaming much closer to its ideal form. Unlike fungible or interchangeable crypto tokens, these assets are unique and can represent unique objects in games, such as battle pets Axies, ‘crypto kicks’ in the move-to-earn app STEPN, or lands in virtual world games.
The gameplay in many play-to-earn games revolves around the collection, modification, and trading of NFTs. It caters to players who enjoy leveling up their character or developing a metaverse plot to sell for profit. Likewise, players who want to start with something better than a blank slate can shop around for corresponding NFTs.
Players can trade their NFTs in various marketplaces outside the game, public and proprietary alike. Since they own the NFTs, they are free to do so and will not lose them in case the game closes its servers (although it would probably mean the token will no longer have any value).
Tap-to-Earn Trend Explosion
P2E games often enter the spotlight along with other crypto market trends. In 2021 it was NFT games, and in 2024, Telegram mini apps made tap-to-earn crypto games wildly popular.
At its peak, Hamster Kombat, one of the most exemplary tap-to-earn games, had 300 million active users. The secret ingredients to such success are a low entry barrier and the promise of monetary rewards after the in-game currency HMSTR was listed on crypto exchanges.
Starting a game is as easy as launching a Telegram bot, and the more you tap the icon, the higher your score. The core mechanic has some changes depending on the iteration but the simplicity made it approachable even to the non-gaming types.
Tap-to-earn crypto games originated on Telegram’s TON network but are no longer limited to it. Solana-based Sonic VM made it possible to build a tap-to-earn crypto game on TikTok, SonicX. Due to advertising being the main driver of these games’ economic models, TikTok integration could also prove to be a smash hit.
The tap-to-earn trend highlighted an interesting paradox of play-to-earn crypto games. These apps are barely games with the most shallow depth yet they have an equally low entry barrier with the same promise of monetary rewards. Unlike traditional video games, which strive to retain players’ attention, P2E ultimately benefited from keeping things simple, although tap-to-earn games tend to struggle in the long term.
Top Play-to-Earn Crypto Games
Axie Infinity
Even today, the notorious pet battler Axie Infinity remains a poster child for play-to-earn games. Not only it was central to many news in 2021, when it turned into full-time jobs for some Filipinos, but it really was that popular. At its peak, it reported 3 million active players, which is a feat many traditional video games can only dream of.
Axie Infinity allows players to collect, breed, and battle digital pets called Axies. Players can earn rewards by participating in in-game competitions. Renting Axies also used to provide a source of passive income to those who already contributed to the game.
To start playing Axie Infinity, players are required to buy Axie NFTs or rent them, and thankfully, it no longer amounts to a $600 buy-in. On the flip side, the game’s native token SLP lost 99% of its value since the ATH, which reduced earning opportunities but also made the in-game economy less exploitative.
Is Axie Infinity still the best play-to-earn game? The game economy has certainly shrunk, and not in the least part due to the $622 million Ronin validator breach in 2022. The developer Sky Mavis has recently laid off around 20% of its workforce but still pledges to do well to continue improving Axie Infinity and related projects.
The Sandbox
The Sandbox allows players to create, own, and monetize their virtual worlds. Players can buy virtual land, build structures, and host events in The Sandbox.
Decentralized ownership in play-to-earn games allows players to contribute to the game economy. The in-game maker Voxedit helps players make game assets that agree with its voxel-style art direction, creating a visually appealing experience. And like in other play-to-earn crypto games, these creations can be traded on marketplaces as NFTs.
The Sandbox works on a season basis, and the current Alpha Season 4 offers 100+ experiences spanning over 50 hours of varied gameplay, unique wearables, items, and equipment.
Decentraland
Decentraland is a virtual reality platform where players can explore and create their own digital experiences. In a way, it is similar to The Sandbox but it offers even more diverse experiences such as music events and branded virtual spaces. The best comparison outside the Web3 space would be Roblox: an online game platform and game creation system to program and play games by users.
One source of revenue is developing land plots and trading them on marketplaces. Plots with experiences that attract visitors can provide a source of passive income, so consider all possibilities.
Decentraland is still providing updates and growing, with Beta 2.0 released just two months ago. In addition to a long-anticipated facelift, it improved the performance and introduced more opportunities for creators.
Splinterlands
A blockchain trading card game Splinterlands allows players to collect, trade, and battle with digital cards. The TCG genre is one that smoothly integrates tokenized cards, and players can maximize their earnings by trading or selling earned in-game cards.
Splinterlands is powered by the HIVE blockchain and allows earning HIVE, WAX, and ETH. Since 2021, it also has a native currency Splintershards (SPS). It acts as a governance token for the DAO and can be earned in ranked play and tournament prizes, giving active players a stake in the development of the game’s ecosystem.
Illuvium
Illuvium is a more recent crypto game franchise than the rest of the list, but it is as close as it gets to the blockchain game vision. It is a franchise of three interconnected games on Ethereum’s L2 Immutable X, offering a real interconnected blockchain-powered gaming experience.
Illuvium: Overworld is an open-world adventure game where players capture and battle mythical creatures called Illuvials. They can also battle monsters and take part in battles against players or AI in Arena, a second game in the franchise. Finally, in Illuvium: Zero, players develop and manage a city to reach the stranded ship that brought the players to the Overworld.
The Illuvium games share some economic elements and a native token ILV, which is also a governance token. The entry barrier is different depending on the game, with Zero requiring buying land for best results while Overworld can be started completely for free. The idea is to let players collect enough resources across the franchise to interact with all three (and maybe more!) games.
Battle of Guardians
For fighting game enthusiasts, Battle of Guardians is a real-time multiplayer game where players battle as mythical creatures. It offers player-versus-player matches, as well as an arcade mode.
Players can earn the game’s native token BGS in championships, by scoring at the top of leaderboards at the end of a season, or even outside of the game by doing tasks in the developer’s social media. The BGS token is a BEP-20 token on the BNB Smart Chain. Along with the FP token rewarded for playing, players can use it in the game’s marketplace to trade and rent NFT characters and in-game items.
My Neighbor Alice
Are casual games like Animal Crossing more up your alley? My Neighbor Alice is a farming-based game where players own virtual land and cultivate crops. The in-game currencies you will be using are the ALICE on the BNB Chain and BJORN tokens.
The game is in the beta testing stage, so the developers offer free trial options along with paid ones, for example, lands. The in-game Marketplace, however, is up and running on both Chromia and BNB Chain, allowing players to earn money through trading NFTs tied to objects.
Many play-to-earn games allow players to participate in in-game competitions to earn rewards. By taking part in events such as $ALICE Airdrop party and collaboration with ELLE, players can turn their time and effort into extra money.
Big Time
Self-described as the most successful NFT game of 2024, Big Time is a multiplayer action RPG in which player parties explore dungeons and engage in PvP battles, craft, and loot treasure.
Despite highlighting the performance of the in-game economy, Big Time is free to start playing. Crafting is reserved for Hourglass holders, who would generate in-game tokens BIGTIME for crafters to create cosmetic items. Moreover, playing during the Early Access stage can yield rewards that will be of monetary value in the open invite beta stage.
Off the Grid
Last but not least, this Avalanche-based battle royale shooter recently received much attention. The secret to the success might have been abandoning the “build in the open” mentality in favor of shipping a playable game before monetizing it.
In fact, Gunzilla Games has not yet introduced NFTs or the Web3 elements to Early Access. It does not promise anything that it would not be able to deliver: like other blockchain games, it will offer in-game asset trading with NFTs on an in-game marketplace.
Conclusion
From casual games to competitive multiplayer action, trading card games to role-playing games, play-to-earn crypto games cover a lot of ground in terms of genres. As for the depth of gameplay and how engaging these games are, it seems that the Web3 gaming industry is evolving past an excuse to fundraise before delivering.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can you really earn crypto playing games?
The earning potential in play-to-earn games depends on the player’s skill and dedication. Players can exchange in-game rewards for fiat currency.
How does play-to-earn crypto work?
Players use blockchain technology to ensure transparency and security for their in-game assets. Players earn cryptocurrency rewards in play-to-earn games by completing tasks or achieving goals.
Is there any game to earn Bitcoin?
Quite a few legitimate games offer small payouts in Bitcoin (BTC) for engaging: Bitcoin Miner, Sweet Bitcoin, Bitcoin Sudoku, SpaceY, Bitcoin Solitaire, and Word Breeze. These mobile casual games convert ad revenue into satoshis, so don’t expect a steady income stream. Nevertheless, they are a proven way to receive some BTC virtually for free on mobile devices.
What is the highest-paying play-to-earn game?
Among the best free play-to-earn crypto games, The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, and Illuvium score the highest in the Chainplay ranking.
How do tap-to-earn games make money?
Tap-to-earn crypto games work as advertising networks, converting user referrals to monetary rewards. They are usually the most lucrative right before an official token airdrop and listing but struggle to provide value to players in the long run.
