Emerging Countries' Economy Transformed by "Play to Earn" (3) | BRIDGE Technology & Startup Information

(Continued from last time) A few years ago I called this the "leisure economy." YGG's Dizon calls it "play-to-earn," but his words have power because he does them. Play-to-earn is the idea of ​​earning money by playing games.

If you start playing NFT games like Sky Mavis' Axie Infinity now, you can earn money by first leveling up cute NFT characters (Axies) and increasing their value. Each character is unique. You can fight other players and win, or you can keep it as a collectible pet with more value.

Vietnam-based Sky Mavis believes NFT games can build transformative economic power, especially for communities in developing countries where jobs are scarce. Jeff Zirlin of Sky Mavis said, "With the emergence of AI, it is likely that many jobs will be lost, and it can be a model for developed countries."

You can sell it for profit. The time invested in the game will be rewarded, that is, the game will earn you money. Such was the case with players from Yield Guild Games, a guild of players gathered on Discord. The guild not only allows players to easily join NFT games, but also teaches them how to invest. It also teaches how to invest in titles where playing is an investment, like buying virtual land.

In the Philippines, many players are leveling up Axies and selling them for as much as three times the minimum wage. That was very important at a time when so many jobs were lost due to the pandemic.

Dizon and Zirlin believe Axie Infinity created hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Philippines, and hundreds of guilds like Yield Guild Games have since formed. In order to start this game, players have to pay a high fee to create a character, but this guild has prepared a "scholarship" to pay those fees for beginner players, and while playing We have adopted a model to return with interest if earned. This documentary film by YGG and Emfarsis captures the story of Axie Infinity poignantly.

This "play to earn" economy is being adopted by many other games. And unlike Axie Infinity, many of those games won't be criticized for being silly blockchain games by hardcore players. Nick Tuosto of Liontree and Griffin Gaming Partners (one of the largest gaming funds) sees triple-A blockchain games leveraging play-to-earn in the future.

Also, while players in wealthier countries like the US wait for better games, players in emerging markets such as Venezuela, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nigeria, Ghana, and Turkey are embracing digital. Embracing play-to-earn as a way to make a living in the world. I'm not interested in flashy graphics because it doesn't work on the phones these players have.

Zirlin hopes to bring income to underprivileged people around the world. About 25% of players are 'Un-Banked'. 50% have never used cryptocurrencies before and 75% are new to NFTs.

They are creating new jobs that never existed before, like eSports players and TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch influencers. Millions of players participate in this virtual economy, which dates back to 2003 when Linden Lab launched Second Life.

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[via VentureBeat] @VentureBeat

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