While this model of NFT borrowing has been great to start with, they completely rely on a solution outside of the gaming platform for the NFT lending process. Through YGG, players essentially rent NFT Axie characters, and the earnings that are acquired during the time that the individual plays with those Axies is then divided between the guild and the players themselves. While this model of NFT renting comes in many forms, one of the most popular ways of getting access to Axie NFTs is through Yield Guild Games (YGG), one of the most successful play-to-earn gaming guilds to date. Players who are interested in Axie but who lack the financial resources to acquire the initial set of characters can essentially participate in an NFT lending and borrowing process from others who are able to acquire them.
So how do Filipinos, or residents from other lower-wage countries begin playing on Axie? For three Axies (the minimum to begin playing), they would need to contribute up to 30% of their monthly income – an unmanageable amount by all accounts for most people. Asking a Filipino to purchase an Axie would require them to put up almost 10% of their monthly earnings. In the Philippines, where Axie is extremely popular, the average monthly salary currently stands at around $880 USD. Assuming a conversion rate of $4,000 USD/ETH, 0.02 ETH equates to $80 USD. While 0.02 ETH can be affordable depending on where the player resides – in many parts of the world, paying such an amount would not be feasible based on the average monthly salary of the average citizen. These cute little Axies, resembling miniature pufferfish of various colors, often cost a minimum of almost 0.02 ETH, and up to 300 ETH. New entrants to the Axie universe must first acquire three Axie characters before they can even start playing the game. While Axie Infinity has been enormously successful over the past year, its success has not been without challenges, especially when enticing and onboarding new users. What NFT Renting Enables and Why Solid NFT Rental Infrastructure is Key Smooth Love Potion (SLP) from Axie) regularly traded on exchanges, and in-game assets available for sale on marketplaces like OpenSea, players who are willing to learn and dedicate their time to a play-to-earn platform have the potential to turn their in-game earnings to real-world currencies. For the first time ever, players can not only play, earn, and win in a game – but they can take those earnings and winnings off of the gaming platform, and transact with others in the “real world.” This was understandable, as the infrastructure did not yet exist to seamlessly transfer information between one platform to another, or to even allow an intermediary to easily broker transactions between two parties.īlockchain – and more specifically, decentralized gaming, changes all of this. Prior to the introduction of the play-to-earn gaming model, one could confidently state that most games and gaming platforms were a “closed system.” That is, anything and everything that a player accomplished and/or earned in the game would be trapped on that gaming platform forever. Unsurprisingly, the growth of this industry is only expected to climb higher – as more mainstream audiences discover such platforms, as people begin to understand the financial empowerment gained through playing such games, and as the ability to rent NFTs further breaks down barriers to joining and succeeding within decentralized games.
Play-to-Earn games have seen phenomenal growth in the past twelve months – rising from relative to obscurity to putting established gaming powerhouses “on notice.” Axie has no doubt been leading the way, working its way up to 2.5 million active monthly users at the time of this writing.
As games like Axie Infinity charged their way onto the crypto scene, gamers, investors, and even legacy gaming institutions began to take notice. If NFTs were the hottest story of 2021, play-to-earn games certainly weren’t far behind. Readers are encouraged to conduct further research prior to taking any actions. 5 min read SponsoredShare this article Tweet Post Share Post Emailĭisclosure: This is a sponsored post.From in-game tokens (similar to those coins collected by Mario in Super Mario Bros) to in-game assets (think swords, armor, other accessories), everything a player earns within a play-to-earn game is able to be taken off-platform and into a marketplace.