Plays-to-Earn, video games reinvented
It’s crazy what’s going on with video games and crypto, yet the first time I heard someone say “play-to-earn (P2E)” I immediately thought of abusive lootbox systems. Yes I admit it. So, I suggest that we take a closer look together to understand P2E.
Let’s go back in time
Have you ever stood in line in front of a gaming store and spent 110Francs for a game?
I have, I admit, it was mainly to play on the Playstation or Gamecube with my friends (if you knew the hours spent on Ratchet & Clank, and Dynasty Warrior).
But the reason I’m telling you this is to tell you about the business model of these games. Well, the business model of those games was the simplest one: Pay to play. You spend money to have the right to your digital or physical copy on CD. And here you play your game. Complete games that depending on the support will have or not updates.
Then there were more and more “free to play” models.
Here you play for free, but if you want extra stuff you have to pay. And to make it simple. If you don’t pay, you don’t earn much.
The extra stuff is going to be useful powers, items or outfits. Things that are not essential at the beginning, but that will become essential if you like the game, or if you want to perform in multiplayer.
And then… One morning, came ….
The Play to Earn.
Here you play and earn money. What? But how?
Well, we already say “you play and you earn money”, but to play you still have to pay. It’s not a magic trick either.
Concretely, you will pay to buy a pawn to play the game:
– On Sorare you will pay to get a soccer team, in the form of playing cards.
– On Foxtopia, you will pay to get a fox or companion to team up with friends and defeat monsters or battle each other in-game!
– On Decentraland you will pay to get a land where you will be able to build whatever you want.
Except that, this “pawn” that you buy, it will be unique, it is an NFT that is registered in your name on the blockchain, it can evolve. But it can’t be duplicated.
Then you will be able to play, the more you play the more value you will bring to the game, as an active user. And therefore in exchange for the attraction you generate by your presence and your actions in the game. The game pays you.
So the more you play, the more money you earn.
To get started you will need…
A crypto wallet, it’s the base but a wallet out of an exchange like for example metamask, or phantom will be essential. To store your first NFT.
A little bit of crypto on your wallet to buy your NFT and don’t forget to have a little bit more for the network fees.
Then you just have to choose a project that you like. A little tip to get previews of projects… You can check out gamefi.
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