It’s beginning to really seem like cryptocurrencies are here to stay. A few years back then, not a lot of people understand what it is and how it can be useful when making transactions online. However, the last year has proven that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have such huge potential. For the first time since 2017, Bitcoin has reached another all-time high and as of today, its highest value has reached over $64,000.
With the rise of BTC’s value, more people have started to give it attention and many who have never purchased cryptos before have finally decided to give it a shot. As of February 2021, it is reported that there are now over 68 million blockchain wallet users. And so, the more users there are, the more demand there is for cryptos to be used. Today, aside from trading, and playing at a crypto casino, people are starting to get into NFT Gaming.
What is NFT Gaming?
Non-fungible Tokens or NFTs are unique digital collectibles on the blockchain and when it comes to gaming, NFTs are represented as the game characters, items, and consumables. NFT gaming or also called Game-fi has been around for a few years now. However, it was only last year when it got a lot of attention because of its play-to-earn scheme.
Basically, this is a gamified version of trading or keeping cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Traditionally, NFTs are only kept in wallets like cryptocurrencies. These are just items or digital assets that you can either keep or sell. That was just it until NFT gaming existed.
So far, NFT gaming only appears to be popular in developing countries like India, Brazil, the Philippines, and Vietnam. However, with how the industry is doing and now that bigger companies like the NBA are starting to introduce NFTs, we can only expect that more countries will eventually hop on the wagon.
An NFT game incorporates the use of NFTs in its rules and mechanisms. The most popular NFT game at the moment is Axie Infinity. In this game, players will need to buy NFTs with Ethereum which come in the form of Axies. These are cute and colorful monsters that players can breed, train, battle with, and sell. All Axies are unique and have different skills and abilities. The stronger the Axie is, the more expensive it will be. And so, this game allows players to play a game with their NFT.
Aside from Axies, this game also allows their players to earn more by winning Smooth Love Potions or SLPs through Axie battles. SLPs can be used to breed Axies but it is also one of the two currencies of the game. The other one is called Axie Infinity Shards or AXS. Today, the value of one SLP is at $.088 while one AXS is at $139.
The said game has been around since 2018 but it was just this year when it has started to generate hundreds of million in revenue. In July alone, it was reported that Sky Mavis, the developer of the game, has gained a revenue of $485 million because of this game. From 2018, when the game was released, until earlier this year, the game has only made $21 million and so July was definitely a huge success for the company.
Other Popular NFT Games That People Play
Aside from Axie infinity, more NFT games are also getting more popularity like Splinterlands. The mechanics of this game is similar to Axie but it is a card-based game. Instead of monsters, people get to collect, buy, sell, trade and play cards with other players. This game has three currencies which are credits, Dark Energy Crystals (DEC), and Splintershards (SPS).
Another game worth mentioning is CryptoKitties. This game has been around since November 2017 and it was one of the first NFT games out there. It was a simple and direct game where players get to purchase, collect, breed, and sell virtual cats. Like Axies, CryptoKitties are also unique NFTs that are valued based on certain factors like their ID number and genetics.
If you’re into games like Minecraft, an NFT game you can play is The Sandbox. This game has been released in 2012 but it wasn’t for NFT gaming just yet. It was only in 2018 when it was acquired by Animoca Brands to be used for a Voxel-style Blockchain version of the game. It’s a great game to play if you want to create your own NFT. It’s a virtual space where artists could create almost anything, hence the name The Sandbox.