For some, the play-to-earn concept is pure fun and a bit of pocket money. For others, as we are seeing in the Philippines, it has become a legitimate income-earning opportunity.
WANT to get paid by playing video games? That’s what Axie Infinity is now offering to gamers in Cabanatuan City.
Indeed, this gameplay isn’t just for fun.
Axie Infinity, created by SkyMavis, allows players to earn income through nonfungible tokens, or NFTS, and cryptocurrencies by breeding, battling and trading digital pets called Axies.
An 18-minute documentary titled Play-to-earn: “NFT Gaming in the Philippines” highlights the origins of Axie Infinity and how it was discovered.
The company has released a short documentary called “Play-to-earn” which follows several Filipino players of the game which is partially owned and operated by the players themselves.
Included in the docu is a trio of young entrepreneurs, recent college graduates, a cabbie, and an older married couple.
The game is available for both PC and mobile devices, and uses NFTs to “uniquely identify digital items.”
Additionally, players are able to earn a virtual currency called Smooth Love Potion.
This type of payment can then be converted to cryptocurrency, followed by real money.
The Philippines is the number one source of traffic for Axie Infinity globally.
According to growth statistics supplied by Sky Mavis, the game’s developer, more than 29,000 people have downloaded Axie in the Philippines, up from around 10,000 in March 2021.
That’s compared to a total 70,000 downloads around the world, with Axie’s next biggest sources of traffic coming from Indonesia and Venezuela, also emerging economies where homegrown jobs are lacking and relief from the crisis has been limited.
For some, the play-to-earn concept is pure fun and a bit of pocket money. For others, as we are seeing in the Philippines, it has become a legitimate income-earning opportunity.
The success stories are wild.
With the money earned playing Axie, people have bought diapers and milk for their babies, shoes and shirts to wear to job interviews.
Families have paid their kids’ school fees and bought digital devices for their home schooling.
Yet again, the world’s underserved populations are positioned squarely at the forefront of innovation, creating and delivering solutions to meet their own needs.
In this case, it’s marginalized gaming communities showing the rest of the world what can actually be done with NFTs. (NP)
Tags: #Axie, #videogames, #playtoearn, #nonfungibletokens