As the space becomes increasingly saturated, nuanced takes on the state of crypto gaming are few and far between ranging from “everything is a Ponzi scheme” to “Crypto gaming will fundamentally change every aspect of work, life, and play forever.” Conversations are becoming especially opinionated as people, from traditional gamers and developers to crypto investors, invest their personal and professional identities (and capital) into these concepts.
In this piece, I share a perspective on crypto gaming I’ve been developing to segment the action. I discuss:
Financializing fun is a path that traditional gaming is already on; people can trade skins and make money as streamers and professional gamers. Crypto just takes this to the next level. Currently, I see two major categories emerging:
“Play-first” crypto games where the fun gameplay takes centre stage and crypto is used as a competitive edge to engage players further.
“Earn-first” crypto games where the main allure, gameplay and fun ultimately come from earning money by participating in crypto game economies.
Both types of games can hit at the core of why people play: games allow people to fulfill their basic desires in ways that bring them more gratification with lower hurdles than fulfilling them in real life (see: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). Said another way, humans enjoy playing the same life games in parameterized and alternate realities. The most popular games capitalize on mimetic desire and simultaneously shape desires while creating the in-game loop to satisfy them.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
The current leading game in crypto, Axie Infinity, achieved a $35B valuation ($AXS) despite many gaming experts criticizing the gameplay for not being fun. Yet, dedicated players can earn up to thousands of dollars per month and low-income players (especially in the Philippines who make up 40% of players) have flocked to the game in search of economic opportunity.
Axie and its dozens of clones imply that perhaps fun isn’t what’s key for a crypto game to grow, but rather gameplay mechanics that reward players with real-world earnings. Illuvium, another game that won’t be launching for another 2 years, has found itself with an $11B valuation ($ILV) driven largely by introducing a pre-game token and staking mechanics.
The early traction for current P2E games begs questions like: