Crypto Games vs. Traditional Video Games: Exploring Play-to-Earn
The ongoing advancement of blockchain and the reinforced promotion of Play-to-Earn (P2E) games have caused a profound modification of the gaming reality. While P2E shares some similarities with standard video games, it brings a unique twist to the entertainment experience.
Understanding The Concept
Contrary to general games, in P2E ones, players engage in playing not just for fun but for financial gain. They earn real-world rewards and incentives as they progress in the game, creating a fusion of gaming and investment.
Blockchain technology underpins this concept, allowing crypto society members to play games, obtain crypto tokens, and partake in Web 3.0 platforms and decentralised governance.
A Shift in Game Creation
One key dissimilarity between P2E and classic video games lies in their creation. In well-known video games, large corporations design and launch the games, while players’ roles are limited to playing and earning in-game benefits.
In contrast, P2E games are player-created and player-provided. Crypto communities and Web3 developers collaborate on shared platforms to craft maps, level challenges, and even charge entry fees for players, introducing a new dimension to the gaming economy.
Exploring Top P2E Platforms
Top P2E platforms like Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, and Decentraland have gained prominence in gaming. Axie Infinity involves:
- Collecting and breeding crypto pets.
- Trading digital pets as NFTs.
- Trading in-game items with its native token (AXS).
The Sandbox offers an interactive map for user-generated content and digital events using SAND as its central payment system. Finally, Decentraland enables players to build virtual experiences, trade digital real estate with MANA tokens, and monetise their creations.
Final Remarks
This evolution from classic gaming to P2E is reshaping the gaming reality, allowing players to not only enjoy immersive experiences but also to profit from their gameplay. The involvement of blockchain technology adds an exciting dimension of real-world utility to gaming, transforming in-game prizes into tangible assets.