Is the Play-to-Earn Dream Over?
Last year it was around these months when NFT games gained tremendous popularity and became one of the major focal points of the crypto world. The dream of play-to-earn was unreal before it's inception. I remembered playing Splinterlands (Steemmonsters) even before the advent of Axie Infinity and the lot a few years before but it was not that popular at that time. P2E was still an unexplored territory for most, something that the normal hobbyist wouldn't even dream of.
In the past decades only those who were cream of the crop of their communities are somewhat eligible to earn from their passion. From Tetris to Overwatch to Dota 2 and so on, there's alot of money involve in e-sports tournaments. Then there came streaming amidst the gaining popularity of different e-sports tournaments. Making money from streams is quite different, as the audience or the viewers mostly favor the entertainment value over a particular skillset. That's also the reason why some ladies wear borderline porn clothes - exposing most of their soul and flesh to those mortal simps.
But what about those that don't have any redeeming quality (like me and you). The normal hobbyist who just and play for fun and don't have the gift of humor nor a pair of bouncy jelly racks attached. The glory days of Axie Infinity might be over but the noise it created was so loud it is still reverberated through the ears of many. Play-to-earn might be conceptualize a few years or even decades earlier but it's Axie Infinity imo that really made it came to life for alot of people in this generation, albeit not for a very long time. Even before the devastating decline of Axie Infinity there were already lots of projects that mirrored them but failed earlier.
In the Philippines I remember that Cryptoblades and Plants vs. Undead were popular. Some people were living the dream, earning months of their wages in a span of days. It's like a fairytale until reality hit them really hard. The glitter and shimmer of fast returns seemingly cover the red flags which were obviously there. Majority of the P2E games released to markets were poorly made. Things that you wouldn't even rate a star in Google play. Knocked off versions of popular character from both video games and anime were printing almost everyday. The first ones to enter were lucky as they can get their ROI earlier. The masses that would enter at the peak of the hype had it worst. To say it directly majority of the P2E games are very similar to your scams or what they call the Pyramid Scheme.
Right now things are not looking good for P2E gaming. With numbers down to as low as 90% from their ATH the accumulated loss of investments are obviously there. The scandals and hacking issues make people also question if they're just being played right from the start. Well, as they say 'doubt if it's to good to be true'. Although the disappointment was there some projects are still hanging by a thread of hope. The challenge was to maintain a sustainable economy where the money flows in and out naturally. But that is easier said than done. So, is the P2E dream over? That my friend is subjective. It's called a dream because there's faith put into it. Of course people could just liquidate their funds and call it quits. But for those who are in limbo it's more of a question on how long can they cling to their hopes. Some call it revolutionary while some just lunacy.
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