Author : Mark

Date : Jan 09,2023

There are millions of players there from different countries. For instance, Axie Infinity has more than 2 million daily active users in 2017

Our attention has been riveted by video games for more than 50 years. From game cartridges in the 1970s and 8-bit graphics in the 1980s to HD games in the 2000s and mobile games in the 2010s, almost every decade in the business has seen fascinating advances.

Play-to-earn (P2E) games based on blockchain are the contribution of this decade. Thousands of fresh gamers join the rush every day because of their already enormous popularity. Additionally, as the idea develops, the following wave of P2E games will be more powerful and propel the sector forward.

So, what specifically can gamers and investors anticipate from the upcoming P2E game era? The best response to this topic requires an analysis of P2E games.

Development of P2E games Web2 Games

It's not new to think about earning money while playing video games. In Web 2, the two most common ways for gamers to monetize their gaming are through PVP competitions and the sale of highly ranked user accounts for well-known games. Technically speaking, these activities fall under the category of playing to earn.

However, there are a few drawbacks to this method of gaming revenue generation.

1. It's not practical: In order to create accounts that are valuable enough to sell, players must hustle and grind.
2. Only the top athletes receive: Only the best players receive payouts in tournament situations. The remainder return home empty-handed.
3. No free market: A fully open economy that benefits the gaming industry is lacking. Even in games where users can trade in their accounts, a separate economy emerges.
4. Privacy concerns: The Web2 gaming environment requests a great deal of financial and personal data. This raises a number of legitimate privacy concerns, such as what happens if the data servers for a game are compromised.
5. Players are voiceless: The future of a player's favorite game is not up for discussion. Web2-based platforms have no restrictions on game changes or closures.

A few P2E games have also been developed using Web2 technology. However, they don't really stand out in any special way. They either fail to deliver on their promises or serve as a front for phishing attempts.
P2E Web3 games

When blockchain technology was introduced, the P2E idea truly took off. Huntercoin by Xaya, the first P2E gaming project constructed on blockchain technology, was released in 2014. Over the following few years, further projects like MtGox, CryptoBots, and Spell of Genesis would be released.

These offerings, meanwhile, fell short of upending the game industry as it was. P2E games stayed a niche market. However, when NFTs gained enormous popularity, fresh initiatives like Axie Infinity and Alien Worlds seized the chance to advance what is now known as the GameFi revolution.

The player was the focus of each effort. They were developed with free markets, so everyone could participate and make money, regardless of their degree of talent. They made it possible for users to own virtual goods (NTFs) and exchange them for real money.

These P2E games are the most played overall. There are millions of players there from different countries. For instance, Axie Infinity has more than 2 million daily active users in 2017.

However, the first wave of P2E games is far from flawless. As a result, it has drawn a good deal of justifiable criticism. The following issues are at the center of this:

1. The visuals: P2E blockchain games don't have the most attractive graphics. Despite the majority of them being multi-million dollar undertakings, their graphics cannot compete with those of standard games.
2. The gameplay in P2E games is generally very disappointing. Many video games lack inspiration or are just plain dull.
3. Despite being based on blockchain technology, players still don't have a voice in many of these initiatives.
4. Far too investor-centric P2E games' poor visuals and uninspired gameplay are mostly a result of their investor-centric nature. They neglect the most crucial aspect while focusing the majority of their resources on trying to win over investors. Fun!

The fact that the games are play-to-earn makes the last problem logical. However, a gaming project's appeal to casual players decreases as it focuses more on investors.

The gameplay is what draws people to these games. Sadly, P2E games based on blockchain frequently lack this. Thus, it becomes increasingly difficult to draw in new players over time.

The game stops expanding if no new players sign up. As a result, a mechanism is developed that rewards players who join and leave early. Earnings decrease as soon as the ship begins to sink, and investors become dissatisfied.

These issues are causing a lot of P2E games to struggle. For instance, the number of daily active players in Axie Infinity has decreased to just a few hundred thousand.

What comes after P2E?

The following iteration of blockchain-based P2E games will build on what the previous one accomplished well and fix its flaws. For instance, rather than focusing solely on NFTs, they might broaden the economic ecosystems to include tokens as well. Users now have more alternatives for making money.

Much like DAO members, players will get more interested in other facets of their preferred P2E games. They will participate in the governance process, for instance.

Open League, a new game, promises to increase user interaction by enabling users to communicate with the producers, create their own racing dynasties, and even create their own games.

In addition to offering a fun and thrilling experience, Open League also offers the infrastructure and platform for a lot more. The platform's creators have opened up a world of possibilities for other developers and GameFi lovers rather than just sticking to making games.

The next generation of P2E games must be exactly like this. A platform that aspires to develop and empower its community, not just a game. This will guarantee that it develops and becomes a reliable investment from a financial and experiential standpoint.