Play-to-Earn games allow users to have fun while also collecting cryptocurrencies and NFTs, which can be sold on the market. By playing regularly, each player can acquire more items or tokens that can be sold and generate income. Some people have even started supplementing or completely replacing their salaries by playing blockchain games. However, such activities come with risks because you usually have to make an initial investment to buy characters and items for the game.
PLAY-TO-EARN ALSO KNOWN AS P2E
Blockchain gaming has come a long way, starting with the trading of simple non-functional tokens (NFTs) such as SpaceCatch. Now, you have the chance to earn money by playing crypto games, even if you don't have the rarest NFT in your wallet.
The idea is enticing because video games rarely give players the opportunity to earn real income by selling digital assets. With this new gaming model, "play-to-earn," users can now earn money in the crypto world.
Blockchain helps ensure the collectibility of various items and create functioning digital economies. Blockchain technology and NFTs have enabled the creation of digital items that cannot be duplicated, thus creating the concept of digital scarcity. To collect your profits, you need to store your NFTs or crypto on an NFT marketplace or exchange, such as Binance. It's unlikely that you'll be able to convert them directly to fiat, so initially, it may be a good idea to sell for stablecoins.
After selling NFTs or tokens, you can convert stablecoins to fiat money according to your own choice and withdraw them using channels available in your country. Another option is to use stablecoins with a crypto card, such as the Binance Visa Card.
WHAT ARE P2E GAMES?
Play-to-Earn allows players to generate a steady stream of crypto income simply by playing the game. The mechanism of each game may vary, but rewards usually come from staking, farming in-game currency, or generating tradable NFT items.
In older blockchain-based games, users relied mainly on random chances of winning. However, the concept of earning money through gaming has created an economy in gaming and business models where players can work for their income.
One famous example is Axie Infinity on the Ethereum blockchain. The game combined traditional video game elements and gameplay with an old blockchain gaming model. For example, Axie Infinity includes Adventure, PvP Battles, and Tournament modes - which are typically found in the traditional gaming industry. The game is available for Windows, Android, Mac OS, and iOS.
EXAMPLE OF BEST Play-To-Eearn (P2E) CRYPTOCURRENCY GAME
SpaceCatch
SpaceCatch is a game that combines classic mobile gaming with modern technologies like augmented reality, blockchain, and NFTs. This unique blend offers players a brand new gaming experience and opens up the world of Web 3.0.
The game features an open gaming economy where players have complete ownership of their items, which they can monetize or use as they see fit. The game also incorporates the Play-to-Earn and Move-to-Earn concepts, allowing players to earn real money without any initial investment.
SpaceCatch has created an M2E concept that doesn’t rely on new players or their investments. Additionally, the team has made it a priority to ensure that new players don’t have to spend any money on the game, yet still have the opportunity to profit from the move-to-earn model.
Despite the challenge, SpaceCatch has managed to achieve this goal. Through the game, players can obtain different items by being physically active, and then use those items to create options and boosters, which can be sold to other players.
Players can earn various items by being physically active, which they can then use to create non-NFT potions and boosters that will have a significant impact on their game progression. At the highest crafting levels, the rarest potions will be created as NFTs,which can be bought and sold for real money by players.
The aim of this concept is to encourage people to be more active and physically engaged. Skilled players will have the opportunity to create the rarest potions early on in the game, and then sell them on the market to other players.
Unlike traditional games where players can use real money to purchase health and energy or bonus items, SpaceCatch has eliminated this option. Instead, the play-to-earn concept allows players to distribute their earnings among themselves without the game profiting.
HOW DO PLAY-TO-EARN GAMES WORK?
Thanks to the combination of games and finance, earning games fall into the GameFi category. Each game provides financial incentives to play and progress. As mentioned, it is usually possible to earn money by repeating certain actions that allow users to earn money in two main ways:
Earning cryptocurrencies in the game. One example is the Smooth Love Potion Axie Infinity (SLP), obtained by completing daily tasks or fighting monsters and players.
Earning or trading NFTs from the game. Each NFT can represent an item, character, or other collectible items in the game. Depending on the game, they can be purely cosmetic or have gameplay purposes.
There is also a third alternative to earning money in Play-to-Earn games, and that is staking. Some NFT games allow users to lock NFTs or cryptocurrencies into smart contracts, which in turn generate rewards.
For example, staking MBOX tokens rewards users with MOMO NFT Mystery Boxes. Each contains a random NFT of various rarities, which can then be sold on the secondary market. However, to earn large rewards for staking, you will need a very large initial deposit.
HOW DOES BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY SECURE GAMES?
Play-to-Earn is nothing new. There are many online games (usually MMORPGs) with auction houses based on virtual money or secondary markets managed by gold farmers.
The key difference in crypto games is that these currencies and items exist on the blockchain. It has several properties that easily prove membership, legality, and rarity.
You can think of the blockchain as an immutable database. It is maintained by a distributed network of computers (users), each of which stores a copy of the blockchain data. This means that it is practically impossible for anyone to modify, duplicate, or remove data from the blockchain.
Blockchain-based games can be developed in ways that prevent fraud or corruption, such as item duplication, gold hacking, and other scams that are common in traditional games.
A key component of an item's value in the game is its rarity. In the case of the blockchain, the data is resistant to copying and pasting. If the item is unique, there is no possibility that it could ever be duplicated. This helps create real value for in-game items.
HOW MUCH DO PEOPLE EARN FROM PLAY-TO-EARN GAMES?
Games are not usually known to reward players with money. The fact that casual gamers can earn money on a blockchain-based game may not seem obvious or true at first glance. In reality, however, many people make a living from crypto games like Axie Infinity, especially in developing countries.
Farming can provide a more stable income stream, where your earnings are proportional to your skills and time spent playing. This method of farming has proven successful in the Philippines, where Axie Infinity has even become an alternative to unemployment benefits.
Players can earn anywhere from $200 to $1,000 per month farming SLP, depending on market prices and time spent playing. The benefits of farming are generally lower than NFT trading with creatures and items, but much safer for anyone who needs a regular income.
In games like Axie Infinity, you can even use your own NFTs (Axies) to create entirely new ones. However, predicting the value of a newly bred Axie is impossible.
The most expensive sold Axie (Angel) was worth $131,970 and is now traded for 3,000 ETH. Although these numbers sound enticing, predicting the average income for someone selling NFTs from games that are played is difficult due to their random nature.
SpaceCatch
SpaceCatch is a game where you can also earn money in a similar way to the game "Axie". You can collect $CATCH tokens and create your own NFTs, both of which can be traded on public exchanges.
HOW TO START PLAY-TO-EARN?
To start playing "play-to-earn" games, each game will have different requirements for new players. At a minimum, you will need a cryptocurrency wallet like MetaMask or Binance Chain Wallet to store your crypto and connect it to the game.
You may need to make an initial investment, such as creating a party of characters or purchasing in-game items. Entry into the digital crypto economy usually isn't free.
Starting from October 2021, the aforementioned "Axie Infinity" requires an initial investment of approximately $600 to purchase the first three Axies. Although it can pay off in a few months of playing, it still creates a significant barrier to entry.
Another option is to look for so-called "scholarships," where you can essentially borrow Axies from another player for free and then share the proceeds with them (your manager). In other words, a percentage of your income is dedicated to the player providing the scholarship. After creating your starting team and completing daily tasks and challenges, you'll start earning SLP, an ERC-20 token that can be traded on Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges.
HOW TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM PLAY-TO-EARN GAMES?
When playing NFT games, we mentioned that there are two main ways to earn money: finding NFTs to sell or regularly playing to earn in-game currencies.
These actions will provide you with NFTs, tokens, or both, which you can sell on the secondary market. Depending on which cryptocurrencies and items you own, you can sell both your NFTs and tokens on Binance.
NFTs with Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) can easily be added to the Binance NFT Marketplace, but you must check if the non-fungible tokens you want to sell are available on Binance in your country. You will also need to verify your account through the KYC process.
PAYMENT OF REWARDS
To withdraw tokens like SLP or SAND, you need an exchange that offers the cryptocurrency in a trading pair, so you can actually earn money.
If you want to use your earnings in real life, you also need to consider if you can exchange tokens for fiat currency (like US dollars and euros) and withdraw them to your bank account.
Another option is to use a crypto card (such as the Binance Visa card) to spend your cryptocurrencies.
You can also convert your earnings to stablecoins, but converting them to fiat money will require an extra step.
Your funds will be more stable in a coin like BUSD than in volatile cryptocurrencies like SLP, SAND, or Bitcoin (BTC).
TAX IMPLICATIONS
If you decide to use Binance to withdraw your earnings, you have several options depending on your country and local laws. However, it is always important to check the tax implications of all exchanges you use for withdrawal. You may also be in a legal jurisdiction that affects the legality of cryptocurrencies, so always exercise due diligence.
CONCLUSION
Games for earning money are a new thing when it comes to earning money with cryptocurrencies. With most new projects and ideas, you usually have to keep up to fully take advantage of them.
However, play-to-earn allows players to earn money regardless of when they join the project. But you should always be careful because many games can be too risky, and difficult to maintain due to poor tokenomics. For this reason, we recommend focusing on proven projects with a strong team like SpaceCatch, which has all these matters worked out in detail.