One area in the blockchain arena and web3 is the development of GameFi, which is an incorporation of the trustless systems of blockchain-based technology combined with an actual game. It isn’t just gamification but a full-fledged game to be played primarily with others. One of the more popular games out there that put GameFi on the map is Axie Infinity.
How it all started
The project was built with its unique character base that allowed users to purchase these characters, which were NFTs or non-fungible tokens. That means you have full ownership, and the blockchain code would help prove that ownership. It was built on the Ronin Network, which is a sidechain of the primary open-source blockchain – Ethereum. The founders themselves are Sky Mavis, who is headquartered in Vietnam. The primary players come from Southeast Asia and the Philippines primarily.
How to play the game
First, you’ll need a minimum of 3 Axie’s, the Pokémon-like characters you use to battle against opponents. Keep in mind that not all Axie are the same, and some are better than others, which tends to increase their value. You can go through the storyline or compete against other players, where the prizes are power-ups to make your Axie army just that much stronger.
In addition, you can breed your Axie to try to create offspring that may be stronger than their parents, creating a new gaming element through this process. There are different stats and strengths to the Axie, and having the right type of combination during a match is what helps to seal that victory.
How money is made
When players play and win battles, they get a cryptocurrency that they can sell back on the open market or use for their power-ups. These are called Smooth Love Potions or SLP. This has built out a new trend where players can earn revenues through playing video games or playing to earn. The company itself makes its revenues not only on the launch of its governance token AXS but also on the transaction fees of the continuous sales that happen at its NFT marketplace.
This NFT marketplace has since expanded beyond Axie creatures and their relevant power-ups and now includes digital land as a way to expand into the metaverse concept. Axie also is looking at launching a new game with different mechanics, known as Axie Origin, to increase its popularity and usage. The number of Axie players monthly hovers at around 700,000 active users.
Axie also launched a scholarship program, where it loans out the funds to potential players to obtain their Axie because they can be quite expensive, just a starter set of three, and then these players would play Axie Infinity and use their winnings to pay off the scholarship. This adds yet another element to the gamification of blockchain-based technology, and Axie Infinity and its other games continue to do their best to develop GameFi products as a mainstream technology for the future of video games.
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