Play2Earn Is Here To Stay – But Which Titles Are People Actually Playing?

Over the past decade, Play2Earn gaming has morphed from a buzzword into an active segment of the gaming industry with hundreds of thousands of players from around the globe. With a total of $135 billion USD poured into this industry, and with no signs of slowing down anytime soon, this is certainly an industry to take note of if you haven’t already.

Commenting on this thriving industry, the Founder & CEO of bitsCrunch, Vijay Pravin, discusses the field’s trajectory, stating that:

“With P2E dominating the Web3 space and showing no signs of slowing, the latest DappRadar report suggests that just in 5 months of 2022, the investments in GameFi has surpassed the entire investments of 2021 by pegging them to be $4.5 billion. Most of the biggest gaming studios of the world are jumping in and launching their own games or adding the GameFi elements to their existing popular games by adding NFTs in them. As of March 2022, DappRadar data showed that there are more than 1,400 blockchain games.

P2E games are effectively beating the slowdown, which is showing up in the entire web3 ecosystem and NFTs being an integral part of them; it’s great news for the ecosystem to add new utilities and use cases to the existing NFT ecosystem.”

Following on from this, Play2Earn gaming seems to position itself as a springboard for other forms of Web3. For example, while the general interest in NFTs is falling, currently around 30% of its last year’s highs, P2E is still continuing on from strength to strength. This is mainly due to the avid player bases that form around certain games, with the addition of P2E elements representing further possibility for players to earn while also enjoying their gaming experience. 

In this article, we’ll be diving into this industry, taking a look at four of the most played Play2Earn titles that are currently available and exploring their player base. We’ll touch on:

• Digital Entertainment Asset
• Infinity Skies
• Silks

Let’s get right into it.

Digital Entertainment Asset

Digital Entertainment Asset is one of the largest businesses that holds several different Play2Earn titles. Instead of launching one singular gaming project, DEA has cultivated an entire ecosystem of different crypto games. Their leading titles are games like JobTribes and Lucky Farmer, but there are many to choose from whenever someone signs up to this platform.

Across these games, there is a central currency known as DEAP, which allows any gamer that contributes to this network to earn in a cross-game currency, helping to create a cohesive gaming ecosystem. DEA focuses itself on creating utility for DEAP, allowing players to engage with NFT purchasing, staking, lending, and earning opportunities within this online platform.

As they take a scattered approach to gaming, with many different titles covering a range of genres, they are in a prime position to capture a range of different gamers in their ecosystem. Whether you’re looking for a fun puzzle game, like PlayMining Puzzle, or an extensive in-game ecosystem where every profession has transformed into an NFT, like JobTribes, you’ll be able to find something for you.

Their leading game is the aforementioned Job Tribes, which converts jobs into NFTs, with each having different battle stats. From there, you can actively fight against others, dominate the world and discover the mysteries hidden around the map. One element of this game which has evoked a major reaction is the inclusion of artists from all over the world.

By working with these artists, JobTribes has developed a breathtaking collection of NFTs for players to find, collect, trade, buy, and sell, bringing an unmatched quality to their game. 

With passionate communities flocking around these projects, you’d be hard-pressed to find an in-game ecosystem that’s as broad and expansive as those that Digital Entertainment Asset has created. Reaching a total active registered player network of over two million individual users, this ecosystem is one to watch out for. 

Infinity Skies

Taking place in a limitless sandbox in the sky, Infinity Skies is a community-based adventure game where players can create their own castle in the sky. Every single block of your castle is an NFT, allowing you to create unique and luxurious builds. By actively engaging with the community and trading with others, you’ll be able to find all of the NFT parts that you need to create something unforgettable. 

Alongside building your castle in the sky, you’re also able to undertake adventures, scaling with reward and difficulty depending on your experience in the game. Within this, you’re able to access the prestige system in-game, with top-performing castles receiving additional rewards each month.

With a core focus of Infinity Skies being placed on socializing, you’re able to earn rewards from interacting with the community and hosting feasts in your castle. The more people that visit your castle, the better ranked it will be, allowing you to receive more rewards.

Alongside 8 rarity levels of NFTs, you’re also able to find and collect ISKY tokens throughout the game, which can then be exchanged for NFTs or traded on the global marketplace. With further incentives like these to play, as well as a strong community element, players from around the world have flocked to this platform to create their very own sky castle.

For unlimited building fun, socializing, and adventuring, Infinity Skies is one of the most popular P2E games currently on the market. 

Silks

Silks is one of the most unique P2E games that are currently active, offering the world’s first derivative P2E experience in the metaverse. Closely tied to real life, Silks tracks and tokenizes every single horse that’s born and registered within the United States. These are then minted as NFTs, allowing players from around the world to buy and trade NFT replications of horses.

Depending on the performance of these horses during their lifecycle, owners of certain horse NFTs will be rewarded, reflecting the real-world lives of the horses. Although only started one year ago in June of 2021, this concept has grown to be incredibly popular, with an expected $55 million being raised over the next few months once they commence the full sale of their NFTs. 

As the ecosystem is tied to non-inflationary assets, as they are connected to real-world horses, Silks is able to capture the exclusivity of this market entirely. As this is a one-of-a-kind project, there has been an incredible surge of public interest in pioneering this derivative P2E space. Instead of centering itself on horse race betting, it focuses on the practice of owning horses, cultivating hand for them, and creating farms.

With this multi-option gameplay, Silks represents an exciting P2E project which is gaining a huge community following. Out of all the projects on this list, Silks is the one that is still in its earliest stages, but shows an equal potential to explode right out of the gate. 

Final Thoughts

While still a relatively new field, the world of P2E gaming is incredibly captivating, attracting millions of players from around the world into their expansive ecosystems. On this list, we’ve covered some of the most populated projects, focusing on those that pull in millions of players, have expansive ecosystems to take advantage of, or have incredible community backing.

If you’re looking to earn while playing your favorite games, then these three should be the first step on your list. Best of luck with your adventures into the world of P2E!

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice