Previously, games were associated exclusively with spending. The players wasted their time and money, and only the developers were the winners. Later came esports tournaments and the opportunity to monetize your skills. Then in-game trade in collectibles appeared, which, however, remained only pixels on the screen. But blockchain and NFT have turned the world upside down. Games have become profitable for everyone. And even those who had never been interested in the industry before have joined the ranks of gamers.
Let’s figure out how to make money on blockchain games and why it is worth adding such a mechanic to your project as early as possible.
Crypto Games: How Do They Work
NFT technology allows you to make any item (or series of objects) unique and give it material value. At the same time, a simple digital copy costs nothing. Only the item with the attached token has weight.
Common collectibles only exist within the game. It is a handful of pixels with a set of properties. And NFT is an object with real value. You can use it in the game itself or exchange it for real money or other unique items. That is, having received a rare sword in one game, you can exchange it for armor in another. Or sell it and buy something in the real world. A cat, for example.
By the way, about pets. Axie Infinity, a game in which you can breed unusual creatures, is now at its peak. Over the past 90 days, the value of one AXS token has gained 934% against the dollar and 840% against Bitcoin. And on August 11, the currency set a new record of $75.7 for one AXS. Just imagine how rare in-game items have risen in price! For example, an Axie named Sir Gregory recently was sold for 369 ETH, or about $819,000.
There are many ways for players to earn money in cryptocurrency games. You can make a fortune not only on items and collectibles but also on completing tasks. For example, on the StormPlay platform, you can get bonuses for software installations, surveys, and small quests. And on the platform Refereum, you can replenish your virtual wallet streaming the game.
Let’s take a closer look at making money on blockchain games for players.
Play To Earn And Other Ways To Make Money On Crypto Games
Even though the industry is just developing, gamers already have several ways to earn money with their favorite game. Since cryptocurrencies have real value, a field of opportunity opens up for players: from selling in-game items for currency to complex schemes like leasing virtual lots.
Here are some ways to make money in blockchain games:
- [ ]Find collectibles.
- [ ]Create unique objects in the game.
- [ ]Invest in different game clans and teams.
- [ ]Win in PvP battles.
- [ ]Upgrade items or characters to sell or exchange them later.
- [ ]Lease characters and objects to other players.
For example, in the already mentioned Axie Infinity, there are three ways to earn money: breeding creatures, joining battles with other players, and selling and buying in-game land. At the same time, with increasing popularity, the entry threshold rises. To start playing, you need to spend currency to buy a creature. And if at the start it was possible to join for $5-10, then today the cost of the simplest Axie is already $100- $200. The money from the sales is distributed among the players and forms the basis of the in-game economy.
In the UPLAND game, you can earn on virtual real estate linked to real addresses. Players make transactions with the local UPX currency, which can be exchanged for dollars on the exchanges. You can also get rare NFT objects to trade, collect or sell.
The Sandbox 3D allows you to create and trade virtual assets. The game has tools for creating and animating objects that you can sell on the platform. In addition, you can create your games inside it.
In the metaverse Alien Worlds, you can earn money from mining, PvP battles, and rent. You can use the mined NFT and Trillium in the game to make progress, or sell them on the secondary market and earn money.
Blockchain gaming helps people make money on what they like. With an open in-game economy, you can easily monetize your time: explore the world and find artifacts or sell characters you’ve spent long hours on — and get a stable income from this.
But why are these games beneficial for developers?
Income For Blockchain Game Creators
Blockchain games are often free-to-play. But to improve the results, players buy in-game items, artifacts, or privileges. Developers receive the income not even from the sales but the commission for all operations on the platform.
But the main guarantee of success and high earnings is the popularity of the game. Most often, developers create their unique currency. They can release it even before the game is released. It is possible through ICO – an initial coin offering. People can buy NFTs at the start of the project. The price at the beginning is always lower. And if the game will be successful, you can sell your crypto property or increase your net worth. For developers, it is an opportunity to get funding and build a community before release. People who have invested in the project will help with its promotion because this is in their interests too.
With the growing popularity of the project, the liquidity of the in-game currency also increases. Developers keep some of the tokens for themselves, usually from 5 to 20%. The more successful the project is, and the more expensive the currency, the higher the earnings.
Recently, the developers of the blockchain-powered card game Splinterlands sold 6.6% of its SPS tokens for $3.6 million in revenue. The game has been gaining popularity since the beginning of 2020. At that time, using NFT in Splinterlands was something new and unusual, but today this technology is used more and more often. Who knows, maybe soon all video games will switch to this format.
Of course, custom full-cycle game development isn’t cheap. But in the long term, you can recoup your investment many times over.
The Future Of Crypto Games
NFT game development is young, and the market is still emerging. Most of the existing projects are gamification of trading. The gameplay often fades into the background, giving way to the opportunity to earn money. In the ideal world, blockchain projects provide a new gaming experience rather than becoming a trading platform. But the rapid development of NFT games is inevitable. Blockchain provides decentralization and security and opens new horizons for gamers.
The main advantage of blockchain gaming is that you can monetize your gaming time in different ways. Also, such games have research potential. Because in the virtual world, you can conduct any socio-economic experiments and simulate any conditions. It means that crypto games can be useful not only for game studios but also to a wide variety of companies.
The growth of the popularity of NFT also contributes to the development of this direction. According to a report from NonFungible.com, token sales rose to $2 billion in the first quarter of 2021. People are actively investing in unique digital items, thereby increasing the confidence of a mass audience in this format. If ten years ago it was difficult to imagine that investing in pixels could be a profitable business, today everything is moving towards ensuring that virtual objects have the same value as objects in the real world.
The direction is rapidly developing, and soon, even the most conservative developers may change their minds and add blockchain technologies into games.
Also published on: https://stepico.com/crypto-games/