The market of video games is growing and changing the way the gaming industry works and the whole gaming business model. 

Game developers and gamers are profiting off crypto games, a new token, and NFT-based initiatives. That is allowing them to monetize the time they spend playing games. 

This digital real-life asset has become popular in recent years with profitable predictions in the following years.

Are you interested to know more about the play-to-earn crypto video games. How the market overview, size, and future are growing? Keep reading!

Play-to-Earn crypto games: Market overview

The appearance and increase of NFTs in recent years have brought changes into our reality. Specially in the gaming market industry, an industry that has been at the forefront of technology. After all, this is the industry that made early use of AI algorithms, streaming, etc. We can tell that is constantly looking for new ways to generate unique experiences for millions of players worldwide. Therefore, seeing that the most interesting digital assets based on blockchain technologies are coming from the gaming industry is not a surprise at all. 

What are these digital assets?

Well, in this fun, creative and challenging industry, a new type of video game has emerged. It’s changing the way of understanding and even using the game. Its prominent impact has made this invention gain its own space and name: play-to-gain games.

These games, seen as digital works of art and collectibles, have their own economy. This is because they are transformed into unique non-fungible tokens or NFTs. The NFT are digital assets stored in a blockchain. They have their own value as they may change depending on certain characteristics and are traded through blockchain technology. This trade is what lets players earn money while playing.

This is revolutionary because until recently, the only assets that were owned in the games were those in the environment of the video game itself. For example, avatars, powers, weapons, and skills. However, nowadays, these game assets are no longer limited to the game itself but are part of a blockchain. This offers a new possibility for users to generate income and earn rewards in the real world.

The popularity and growth of the play-to-earn market have been exponential in recent years. It also has positive prospects for the future even though it is still an emerging phenomenon with benefits yet to be discovered. 

Play-to-earn: The market in numbers

Looking at the gaming industry itself, a study from WePC estimated that it is worth US$178.73 Billion in 2021. A 76.8% increase from a forecast made in 2016. That predicted that in the same year it will be worth around US$90.07 Billion. This data shows that the gaming industry has experienced a further acceleration in terms of growth. 

Also, the number of gamers in billions by year shows that it will experience steady growth in the next couple of years. Beyond the number of gamers, their spending time while playing has increased considerably from 2019 to 2021 with an increase of 30%. Predictions point out that the growth will remain steady in the future.

Considering the play-to-earn market in specific, the sector received large contributions from venture capital in recent years. About 24 blockchain-based gaming companies have raised US$476 million in the first half of 2021 alone.

Having seen these numbers makes it clear why Facebook rebranded to Meta. Also Ubisoft has launched an NFT project named Quartz which consists of a marketplace for in-game items. where they can be transformed into NFTs collectibles. 

The upcoming play-to-earn trends are already visible as well as the emerging projects. These combines both blockchain technology and traditional video gaming development. Although, it is still in the anticipatory stage before blockchain gaming becomes mainstream.

The future of play-to-earn games

Adapting means survival and game developers have noticed that. decentralized game ecosystems with the arrival of web3 are the new norm and will not stop growing. 

For this reason, through play-to-earn games, they are finding a way that is going to change the way digital private property is handled. Something that was always centralized completely in the gaming sector. 

The future is uncertain but considering that the video gaming market is experiencing dramatic growth and it has promising predictions for the next few years, the future seems bright. 

At the end of the day, it goes beyond allowing gamers and creators to make money. Play-to-earn games are promoting a self-sovereign financial system, changing the way of interaction between people and financial institutions, governments, and marketplaces. 

It is already changing the video game industry. Therefore, while the blockchains continue to evolve in the future, they will transform even more. 

Best play to earn games

There is a wide range of play-to-earn games in the market but only those that capture the attention of the audience maintain a healthy and growing market. In the play-to-earn ecosystem, the two most well-known game titles are Axie Infinity and The Sandbox. 

• Axie Infinity: This is an online gaming universe based on Pokémon creatures where you have to pit them against each other in different battles. It became the most searched NFT collection on Google, reaching around 3.86 million searches around the world every month. The most expensive ‘Axie’ ever sold is worth $820.000.
• The Sandbox: This game is based on Ethereum. Players can buy digital plots of land and create their own experiences on them to share them with users and monetize them. It has placed as the second most searched NFT collection on Google, with around 553,000 global searches every month. 

However, other play-to-earn games are relevant to know. For instance, Games for a Living will develop two play-to-earn video games: 

• Elemental Riders: Players can play PVP and raids in order to earn (or trade) tokens and NFTs. 

• Diamond Dreams: An online universe where players can look for rare games and even craft jewels made by NFT. 

Overall, play-to-earn games are the future of the gaming industry. Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunities it offers is a must so you could adapt to the revolutionary future that blockchains hold.