Interest in Play-to-Earn Games Soars as Covid-19 Fallout Fails To Deter Gamers

Most economies were forced to close as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. While this was short-lived in some places, other nations are still in some form of lockdown as 2021 draws to a close.

The video gaming industry was one of the few to see an unexpected surge in demand. People naturally turned to seek entertainment within their homes throughout the repeated rounds of lockdowns.

At the same time, a new way to play video games and earn cryptocurrency was on the rise.

NFTs are Breaking Into the Mainstream

In March of 2021, Christie’s, the illustrious British auction house, sold a digital work of art for $69 million, catapulting non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from the fringes of the internet into the mainstream.

NFTs are a kind of token that is unique. Think about it like a dollar bill versus a painting. An Ethereum token is like the dollar, and the painting is the NFT. They can be used to contain one-of-a-kind pieces of digital art, music, or other, limited edition items.

Coinbase, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchange platforms, and Sotheby's - an auction house that has been in business since 1744, both announced this month that they will be creating NFT marketplaces.

Kenny Schachter, an art dealer, Artnet blogger, and self-proclaimed NFT enthusiast, predicts that digital works will overtake the traditional art market in the next five years. Highly successful NFT collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club have many collectors have been impressed by how well the value side of the NFT proposition has held up.

NFTs keep demonstrating their core position within the blockchain industry via successful use cases, which is like a magnet for attention from both new and experienced investors. Many established crypto investors see NFTs as a way to roll crypto profits into a non-fiat asset – and art collectors are impressed by how quickly NFTs have become an asset class.

Moreover, NFTs can include everything from music to a website address, which makes them a sector that has explosive potential for long-term development. The technology is ripe to introduce new ideas, such as being used as unique identifiers for real-world items in e-commerce.

Play-to-Earn Gaming is Gaining Ground

A few years ago it would have been impossible to combine video games and finance. Major companies controlled games, and they were very much opposed to any kind of real-world money entering their gaming universes – unless they were in total control.

Traditional online game revenue was generated with affiliate marketing, in-game purchases, and advertising. In addition, today's gamers are familiar with in-game currencies, such as those seen in games like Monopoly or mobile games like CandyCrush.

But these coins have had no value outside of the game.

Crypto gaming stands out in this regard since it allows players to gain tokens that can be freely traded. In some cases, these currencies are being used to pay for goods in the real world.

Blockchain-based platforms have become increasingly popular as a result of their capacity to allow players to gather and trade virtual assets that can be transferred and swapped anywhere in the world. It also makes raising funds simple, as game tokens can be sold for tokens like Ethereum by game devs, and major tokens are as good as cash.

New Gaming Platforms Make Sense

After several years of development in the blockchain gaming market, games like Axie Infinity have emerged. This Pokemon-inspired play-to-earn game has seen explosive revenue growth and made play-to-earn gaming the current focus in the gaming development community.

The NFT gaming business has grown in popularity as the result of the NFT industry and crypto games coming into their own. The gaming industry has always been driven by trends, and the latest trend into NFTs is no exception.

While it is no secret that the NFT market has grown to become a multibillion-dollar industry, games are without a doubt one of the most well-suited applications for NFTs. Much of the development in the NFT industry is currently centered on gaming, which has a lot of potentials to create in-game item opportunities.

Despite the dramatic increase in the number of gaming projects, genuine NFT games that actually bring benefits to players are limited at the moment. Moreover, some of the projects have been scams that cause financial losses to anyone who gets involved – much like the ICO scams that were common in 2017.

For this reason, many useful platforms that aggregate the top up-and-coming NFT games have been created to assist DeFi users. One of the most anticipated platforms is Gamerse, which intends to bring all of the popular NFT Gaming marketplaces together on a single social platform, with cross-chain compatibility.

As a cross-chain, cross-platform social media hub that intends to unite NFT gaming, the platform integrates a "Looking For Group" function, or “LFG,” which allows individual players to connect and join games together. It’s the next logical step in NFT gaming and gaming in general. In fact, it’s a wonder why something like this hasn’t appeared already.

Players can make connections with other gamers that are interested in the same games and can also find any information needed on important new NFTs. Upcoming NFT drops will be visible in the calendar view, keeping the entire community informed about how and when to get involved.

Similar to other blockchain tools, this ecosystem is supported by native token LFG and integrates numerous advantages for token holders. This includes a new Share-Fi economy that gives top-tier users even another way to earn tokens. While it isn't alone in the marketplace, Gamerse is the most comprehensive, ambitious, and highly anticipated platform.

New Ways to Earn and Connect

Decentralized gaming is just getting started. With more people looking for an online income – and the success of early movers like Axie Infinity – more devs will be looking to cash in on a sector that will likely grow stronger over the coming decade.

Crypto gaming, especially games that employ NFTs, improves the overall gaming experience for users while providing new revenue streams for developers. It is much easier to find funding for game development today – and like crypto projects – selling in-game tokens to raise cash doesn't dilute the ownership of the company.

There is little doubt that NFT-based game tokens can be as popular as some of the art tokens that we have seen hit the market so far. In fact, as these tokens will have utility in the Metaverse, we may be looking at the next major market for NFTs.

This article is part of The Gaming Metaverse Writing Contest hosted by HackerNoon in partnership with The Sandbox.

Submit your #gaming-metaverse story today for your chance to win up to $2000.