As most gamers know, sandbox or open-world games have been around since the 1980s. However, the release of Grand Theft Auto III in 2001 set the standard that everyone is familiar with today. Recently, metaverses akin to Second Life have begun spreading on the internet, gaining massive traction in only a few years.
The main reason why these blockchain games have become so popular is that they provide money-making opportunities. In early 2021, twenty-two-year-old Aaron Ramos, a gamer from the Philippines, announced on social media that he bought two houses from profits attained while playing Axie Infinity. Ramos credited his success to purchasing Axie’s in-game token Smooth Love Potion (SLP) at the right time before it surged. Many similar stories are floating online of people using this Ethereum-based game and others like it to make a living.
In mid-May, the Vietnamese startup Sky Mavis, the developer behind Axie Infinity, sent out a press release stating that they have joined forces with billionaire Mark Cuban and a series of other investors to foster further growth of this platform. The rise of non-fungible tokens is currently driving this sphere, and everyone is looking to get in on the action.
What Is Axie Infinity & How Does It Work?
The simplest way to describe Axie Infinity is to call it a Pokémon-inspired universe where players earn tokens via ecosystem contributions and gameplay. For those not into cryptocurrencies, a token is a digital asset different from a coin in that it does not have its blockchain. It lives on top of an existing digital ledger.
Axie Infinity is a decentralized application built on the Ethereum blockchain, which is the second-most popular one behind Bitcoin, and it uses different types of Etherum-based tokens. The standard ones are AXS and SLP, which are ERC-20 tokens. However, there are also ERC-721 non-fungible (unique) tokens in play.
Axie Infinity follows a concept pioneered by Crypto Kitties. Meaning, the focus here is to gather fantasy creatures known as Axies, which are non-fungible tokens. The game allows users to collect, breed, raise and even do battle for them.
If this is not a sufficient explanation, the platform has scholarship programs that help with the onboarding process without purchasing an Axie. Interested parties can learn more about these educational schemes on the game’s official Discord server.
How to Make Money in Axie Infinity?
Users can do what they please with their Axies, as they own and control them. A user can store them in their Ethereum wallet or transfer them to another address. There is an Axie Marketplace where people can buy and sell Axies. In November, news broke that an Axie got purchased for a record price of $130,000. It then instantly got relisted for sale with a tag of $250,000.
Inside the game, players can experience an adventure mode, exploring the virtual kingdom of Lunacia. They can also participate in player vs. player combat, where winners get Small Love Potion tokens, which they can use for breeding Axies. They can also trade this ERC-20 token on exchanges like CoinBase or Binance and turn a profit.
Axies aside, there is real money to be made in the Lunacia real-estate market. The Axie homeland divides into plots of land, which can get upgraded. Each one consists of 64 blocks, and users can build structures on them. Note that every building has space requirements, so some may need multiple connected plots for their construction. Users can buy and sell land plots on the Axie Land Market. The land system used by this game is similar to that of Decentraland, another Ethereum-based virtual world. Decentraland users have turned massive profits via land sales and leases. Gaming pioneer Atari recently signed a two-year land lease in Decentraland to open the world’s first virtual casino. The closest we had before an open-world casino could be live dealer blackjack games.
The Axie Infinity Shards or AXS coins are a relatively new token, launched in November of last year. It is a governance token that provides rewards to holders who stake it. Similar to SLP, players can earn AXS through various means. A total supply of 270,000,000 AXS coins exists.
To Wrap Up
The development of Axie Infinity started in December of 2017 as a passion project by Vietnamese software engineers Tu Doan and Trung Nguyên. It quickly rose in popularity and now is one of the internet’s foremost blockchain metaverses. Thanks to it, in 2021, people can make a living and even get rich by breeding virtual pets or participating in a digital real estate market. These metaverses open up a whole new slew of money-making possibilities from home. However, to get in on this trend, users need a decent grasp of how blockchain technology works, as it is the foundation of these virtual worlds.
About the Author
Shelly Schiff has been working in the gambling industry since 2009, mainly on the digital side of things, employed by OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos.com. However, over her eleven-year career, Shelly has provided content for many other top interactive gaming websites. She knows all there is to know about slots and has in-depth knowledge of the most popular table games. Her golden retriever Garry occupies most of her leisure time. Though, when she can, she loves reading Jim Thompson-like crime novels.