Playing games/sports is a hobby for many around the world. While sports have been commercialized over the centuries in various ways, the financialization of gaming was quite late as it took video games to form the gaming industry’s roots. For over five decades, the gaming industry has been in the hands of a few established names, with some independent game studios making tides once in a while. While it meant growth (by growth, we mean humongous growth) for big corporations, players could not reap any benefits apart from getting entertained, even when spending many bucks. Is there a solution that could change things for the better?

To answer such questions came Play-to-Earn (P2E) game development. The process depends on blockchain applications such as cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and other Web3 technologies. Although the first blockchain-based use case debuted in the late 2000s, it took a few years more for the first Play-to-Earn game — CryptoKitties — to hit the market. But, before jumping any further, one must know that P2E games offer a win-win situation for gamers and game studios through player-run economies. Today, the market for P2E gaming is more than US$800 million, which is expected to grow in big proportions in the next decade.

Although there are more than 1500 P2E games today, not all games receive the same amount of welcome and popularity among the gamer community. In this blog, we will focus on the six Play-to-Earn game development projects renowned in the Web3 gaming world.

Perhaps, the most well-known Play-to-Earn game development project globally, Axie Infinity, is based on the strategic battle genre. Developed by the Vietnamese gaming studio Sky Mavis in March 2018, its golden period came only during the 2021 NFT boom, where its marketplace grossed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency. The value of its native tokens $SLP and $AXS skyrocketed simultaneously. Players in the game battle against each other using “Axie” NFTs and earn SLP tokens. AXS tokens are used for governance aspects. The game’s extent of involvement of players in its ecosystem is the main reason for its popularity.

Splinterlands is a Play-to-Earn game development project created by a studio of the same name that was released in March 2021. It is based on digital trading cards that serve as NFTs, and players battle with one another to win various crypto and NFT-based rewards such as magic potions and Dark Energy Crystals (the platform’s native token). The game has been received well due to its unpredictable mechanics and attractive graphics. A pro of the game is that only minimal investment is required to begin playing, which has ringed the bells for gamers who think of spending on in-game items.

While Decentraland cannot be totally fitted under the Play-to-Earn game development category, it still offers to earn features for players. As one of the earliest metaverse games (launched in February 2020), it has opened new doors for people looking to benefit from the Web3 movement. The platform is based on land parcels denoted by LAND that can be bought using $MANA tokens. Landowners can then build their own ventures (marketplaces and games) on their plots and earn passive income. Also, gamers can play these minigames to get entertained and earn cashable rewards. People can also socialize virtually with each other on the platform.

The Sandbox is a voxel-style metaverse Play-to-Earn game development project launched in November 2021 by Animoca Studios, a famous Web3 game studio. It looks and feels similar to Minecraft but with blockchain applications. Players can buy land parcels, build their ventures and charge others for using them. The game’s native token, $SAND, can be used to experience in-game activities. The platform also provides assistance for individual plot holders to build minigames using toolkits. Such opportunities only add to The Sandbox’s reputation in the P2E gaming space. The P2E metaverse game embraces creativity, the main reason for its exponential growth.

Alien Worlds is a Play-to-Earn game development project based on the metaverse NFT gaming model. The game running in Ethereum, WAX, and the BNB Chain revolves around 7 virtual planets where players will mine to receive trillium, the game’s native cryptocurrency. Alien Worlds is essentially all about accessing higher-end features by staking native tokens. It is currently the top-ranked game on the tracking site Dappradar.com. According to its founders, the game is more than P2E, as it aims to teach crypto adoption through governance and strategize to the masses in an engaging way.

A novel platform based on virtual farming, Farmers World is a Play-to-Earn game development project that has stirred the Web3 gaming industry in recent times. The game is based on the WAX blockchain, which provides efficient and fast transactions. Farmers World concentrates on mining, breeding, building, and cultivating virtual land and protecting it from wild animals. It has three main tokens: FWW, FWF, and FWG denoting wood, food, and gold — the main resources inside the gameverse. While the game’s roadmap is still running, the user influx has been massive since the gameplay is fit for everyone to play in Web3.

Therefore, with NFT-based games getting into the mass adoption phase, the business scope still exists, despite the increasing competition. If you want to launch a featureful and immersive P2E game, this could be the right time to start. Approach a Play-to-Earn game development company for technical assistance, as the process involves some amount of difficulty. The Web3 gaming world is limitless, and so do your innovative thoughts! Go ahead to become the leader of P2E gaming based on Web3 technology.

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