- Blockchain-based online games like Axie Infinity, dubbed "play-to-earn," offer lucrative businesses amid the hype around NFTs and virtual worlds, Reuters reports.
- Axie Infinity allows users to buy virtual blob-like creatures with varying attributes like NFTs for tens of dollars to hundreds of thousands.
- Players can use the pets to earn money by winning battles and creating new pets, whose value depends on their rarity.
- Users can trade assets with other players on the platform. The platform boasts 1.5 million daily users.
- The games attract millions of players plus billions of dollars from investors who see the games as a way to introduce more people to cryptocurrency.
- Recently, Axie Infinity suffered a $615 million heist. Hackers targeted a part of the system used to transfer cryptocurrency in and out of the game.
- Players spent $4.9 billion on NFTs in games in 2021 and attracted projects worth $4 billion of venture capital funding.
- Axie Infinity users formed a "guild" to make more money, turning it into a full-time job. They also acknowledged the high risks associated with crypto with a lack of safety net for players.
- Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines have emerged as some of the hottest global gaming hubs.
- Leading play-to-earn network Yield Guild Games had 10,000 Axie Infinity players as of Q4 of 2021, who kept 70% of their earnings and had received $11.7 million.
