From the physical to the digital realm, games have always been an integral part of human history. As technology caught up, video games have moved from simple consoles available in arcades to super-powerful computers in our homes loaded with the best graphics. With estimates of the gaming industry to reach a tad short of $400 billion in the next five years, the demand is huge and the opportunity for game developers to earn big.
Pay to Play or Play to Earn? — The New Evolution
Traditionally, game developers had adopted a model known as Pay to Play, where players would be required to pay for premium content, in-game items, downloadable content or to simply cough up money to progress in the game — a significant revenue stream for game developers. Today, however, we all are aware of the Play to Earn model, where gamers do not have to pay for content or progress in the game. Rather they EARN while enjoying their favorite games.
This gaming model is famous in the blockchain gaming industry, where players battle, race and perform different tasks to earn in-game tokens or items which can be then sold for crypto in different marketplaces.
The beauty of all this is that since it is based on blockchain, the items are represented by NFTs and the in-game tokens are essentially cryptocurrencies, which are tradable on different exchanges. The transparency of blockchain also ensures that people know how much they have earned and they are guaranteed to receive their dues.
Evolving to P2E
Play to Earn (P2E) did not evolve over time but is gradual progress stretching a few years. Think back to 2017, when a little known digital feline card game, called CryptoKitties, nearly choked the Ethereum network to a standstill as people rushed to buy, sell and take care of NFT based cats. This was the first known case of the P2E model in blockchain gaming. As the cats grew and different attributes were attached to them, owners could sell the digital cards at profits. Thus, the gaming industry started to drift away from P2P games and more towards P2E games such as Axie Infinity and Crypto Prophecies.
Crypto Prophecies, a partner of CoinBurp, is a DeFi prediction platform that has gamified the whole experience. Using the concept of the metaverse, the crypto prediction system is represented by a player avatar, which battles on making the right prediction on how a trading candle will close.
So the question arises, how do these games differ from traditional ones? Consider the Crypto Prophets again — if it were a traditional game, the game could have offered an in-game currency (mind you, not crypto tokens) that players would have needed to earn by winning rounds, and then spend these to upgrade their avatars with different magical items that would increase their chances of larger earnings.
At the end of the day, the in-game tokens would be only applicable within the game, trickling and forcing players to buy the tokens from the game developers to fast track their progress.
Benefits of the Play 2 Earn Model: Fair and Decentralized
In the P2E model, the avatars and their items are represented by NFTs, with earnings in the native crypto tokens. The tokens can not only be earned with winning rounds, but can be traded outside the game, enabling a whole new potential income stream for players. At the same time, the NFTs also gain value and can be sold off for profits in the marketplace. The use of blockchain also offers different benefits, such as making it a fair play for all, and at the same time incentivizing skilled ones.
Secondly, with players knowing that they are actually earning something that has market value, they tend to stick around longer and create a sense of ownership. With secondary and tertiary options such as having a say in the development of the gaming experience through methods such as DAO, players are not just gamers but can govern the whole ecosystem towards what they vote on — an essential factor for any decentralized gaming success. The use of blockchain gives transparency to the whole system, right from the tokens earned, the rounds won and down to how the voting of DAO leads to further changes and development of the game.
P2E: Is it the Future of Gaming?
Blockchain gaming with the P2E model has exploded lately, with games like Axie Infinity at $3 billion, this just goes to show how large an untapped potential exists in the market.
Most recently, Upland — a Monopoly style NFT based virtual real estate game raised $18 million giving the play2earn game a valuation of $300 million. Upland is developed on the EOS based WAX protocol and has been around for quite some time, however, its rise in popularity comes with the buzz surrounding “the metaverse” and everything to do with community generated worlds with the potential to earn tokens as you play.
EA Sports: NFTs are in the Game!
From the traditional gaming landscape, not surprisingly the gaming giant EA (Electronic Arts) CEO, Andrew Wilson commented that NFTs and blockchain gaming will be an important part of the future of gaming, however, has not expressed how he foresees it to operate. Maybe we will be seeing real football star’s as NFTs in FIFA Football, with limited legendary drops, enhancing the relationship between football and crypto, creating even further use cases.
Within the last two months it comes as no surprise that EA has been on the hunt for blockchain and NFT based jobs, mainly for strategic director and software development positions, specifically to explore “new business opportunities like fantasy sports, blockchain and NFTs, and more”. The software developer roles are described “for products leveraging machine learning and blockchain”.
Developers not only have the chance of making it big, but the demand for the native tokens also incentivizes both the players and the developers. As any game becomes popular, the demand for the tokens rises in the market, with token holders generating massive profits, and the developers who tend to hold a small amount as a reserve for salaries and other purposes, also making exponential earnings and a whole new financial gaming economy.
Combined with DeFi options such as staking and liquidity pools, P2E games are rapidly generating new methods for people to not only enjoy different games but constantly have new and innovative means to supplement their earnings.
The Play 2 Earn arena is going to be a major focus area to tackle and $BURP Token will need to explore the opportunities that can be available to disrupt the Web3 GameFi sector! More information soon to come so stay tuned!
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About CoinBurp
CoinBurp is the cryptocurrency platform partner for the $BURP ecosystem that includes Cede Fields Ltd for token issuance and CB Defined Ltd for DeFi products. CoinBurp is the design partner of the MealDrops NFT series. The tokens are not issued or controlled by CoinBurp.
About $BURP
$BURP is the official token of the $BURP ecosystem of products including but not limited to non-custodial token management, staking mechanisms, NFT raffles.
Important Information
Cryptocurrencies and crypto tokens are generally not regulated and investors do not have access to recourse or compensation schemes such as, for example, in the UK, the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Investing in cryptocurrencies and purchasing crypto tokens can be high risk and investors should carefully evaluate their appetite for risk and their understanding of trading cryptocurrencies prior to entering into a transaction.
