Tips:
1. Play to earn is the highest-earning industry in the Web3 scene that offers NFT ownership and money-making opportunities for gamers
2. According to Absolute Reports, the market cap of P2E Games is expected to reach $2845.1 million by 2022-2028.
3. Play to Earn in the metaverse will become the next leading model in the gaming world
If playing games is your hobby then you have arrived at the right place. For someone who has been playing video games for many years, building maps, and powering up your characters through extensive battles, what did you get in return? Nothing except a timely satisfaction.
Well, what if you could play and earn money from games? Seems impossible? Almost like a scam?
Blockchain-based gaming built on various metaverse platforms presents a unique play-to-earn model where you invest little to no money and earn profits, royalties, and benefits as you level up.
What’s more? You can own your digital assets and monetize them as you like. This means you can either sell or trade them on the marketplace and earn a passive income.
Play-to-earn metaverse games have become quite popular, in fact, it has become one of the biggest industries in the Web3 world.
People are spending hundreds and thousands of dollars to make it a source of their side income. But before we get into the details of the games, here’s a guide to play-to-earn:
What is play-to-earn?
Play-to-earn or P2E is a model where players can earn money as they play. Although they’re almost identical to the usual games, they offer users proof of digital ownership over their in-game assets as NFTs in a blockchain.
Players can choose to do whatever they want with their digital collectibles without any third-party involvement.
Play-to-earn gives players liberty, and it ensures that those who put their time and effort into the platform earn their fair earnings through in-game cryptocurrency.
These crypto-tokens can then be exchanged for fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum or Dogecoin via exchanges.
NFT Play-to-earn games have a high utility, which means you get more benefits than a traditional game, so you don’t have to feel guilty playing your hobby and see it as a way to afford your small expenses.
What are in-game assets?
Now that you know what play-to-earn is, let’s get into the details of metaverse games. The first basic thing to know is in-game assets are the digital collectibles within the game that are essential to the gameplay, for example, skins, tools, weapons, avatars, etc.
These in-game assets are usually won through gameplay or bought through in-game currency. The in-game currency is the native token that is used to exchange products or services in the marketplace. These are either earned through battle rewards or bought from an exchange using fiat currency.
Every game has its own in-game currency. Although they hold no direct value in real life, they can be converted with other blockchain cryptocurrency coins as a utility to get fiat currency.
How does the P2E gameplay work?
P2E gameplay is quite simple and easy for any traditional veteran gamer. In fact, Blockchain-based NFT games are usually designed to accommodate every person, beginner, or professional. This means you can quickly be familiar with P2E once you know the basics.
P2E works on a community-centric model, which means all decisions and developments within the gameplay are made based on the opinions of the community members. A DAO or Decentralized Autonomous Organization is formed where holders with most in-game tokens have the right to vote for proposals.
Everything in metaverse games involves the will of the players. This is the biggest utility of choosing Web3 games over traditional games.
How to know a P2E game is authentic?
Many people hesitate in investing their money in P2E because many scams or Ponzi schemes have been reported in the crypto games industry. However, if you research what games are authentic and promise a good return on your investment, you can make this your one source of living.
The best advice gamers give to the community is to read the Litepaper or Whitepaper released by the game on the official website. Furthermore, if the game is developed by a reliable team or company, they are safe for investment as well.
Another way to know what game is authentic is to see how popular they are in the gaming community.
Top 10 best P2E Metaverse Games in 2023
P2E is a really extensive concept and it has opened new doors to possibilities within the gaming world. Every game has implemented this model’s mechanics based on its storyline and characters. Here are the top 10 most popular and best metaverse P2E games in 2023:
- The Sandbox
- Decentraland
- Axie Infinity
- Gods Unchained
- Illuvium
- Roblox
- Sorare
- UFO Gaming
- My Neighbor Alice
- Mobox
1. The Sandbox
Token: 1 SAND = 0.85 USD
Creator: Animoca Brands in November 2021
Blockchain: Ethereum
Utility: monetize in-game assets, rent LAND, trade NFTs
The Sandbox is a virtual playground metaverse game where players can create, buy, sell, and trade digital collectibles. The platform offers a variety of utility and NFT play-to-earn mechanics in a very community-centric and creator-centric way.
In other words, instead of just one gameplay, there are multiple games designed by different creators on various themes that match the preference of the users.
This metaverse platform has partnered with over 300 brands and personalities to help them connect with their fans and other NFT enthusiasts. It has opened new possibilities for partnerships between two parties on its platform.
You can play games designed by companies and earn rewards such as limited edition in-game digital assets that hold much value in the Sandbox Marketplace.
The Sandbox allows users to participate in these games and earn money in the form of SAND tokens. Additionally, they can also buy LAND and monetize it however they want to earn tokens.
If you are familiar with Second Life or Minecraft, this game is perfect for you because all the mechanics work the same way except you have full ownership over whatever you build or create on the Sandbox metaverse.
2. Decentraland
Token: 1 MANA = 0.715 USD
Creator: Decentraland Foundation
Blockchain: Ethereum
Utility: trades plots, variety of in-game facilities to earn money
Decentraland is a 3D virtual decentralized space where users can explore different possibilities of the metaverse. Like Sandbox, this platform is open-source with its own marketplace and enables players to build their own virtual space without any third-party involvement.
Since Decentraland is open to everything, players can also host shows, display artworks in the digital gallery, collaborate, or hold events.
The plots in Decentraland are sold as LAND NFTs using MANA tokens and anyone can buy them. Once a player becomes a landowner, they have the authority to do whatever they want. They can even rent them out to other players or brands to host events in virtual space and earn a passive income.
Decentraland is a good metaverse game to invest money in because it can grow and become a valuable virtual space. After all, it is considered the rival of The Sandbox.
3. Axie Infinity
Token: 1 AXS = 12.77 USD
Creator: Sky Mavis in March 2018
Blockchain: Ethereum
Utility: Earn and Trade NFTs
Axie Infinity is another popular NFT play-to-earn metaverse game that offers players a chance to earn while battling out with their NFTs called Axies. The players are required to buy three Axie NFTs from the marketplace to get started on the platform.
This card-like RPG game features battles with other players where the winning player wins rewards in Smooth Love Potion (SLP), an in-game currency that can be used to further level up and buy items from the marketplace. The winnings can also be converted to Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) and exchanged for fiat currency at some point.
Axie NFTs have the utility to become a valuable asset once the owner breeds it to the maximum power. This means, the more a player plays and breeds their Axie, the higher their price will be in the marketplace.
Furthermore, players can also buy parcels in Lunacia, a virtual real estate in the Axie Infinity where lands can be owned. They have a high utility in terms of giving resources for upgrades and the land value is also demandable in the marketplace. For more information on Axie Infinity, see the guide here.
This is a unique NFT play-to-earn game model that earned Axie Infinity fame in 2021. Although the popularity of the crypto game dropped after the Ronin Bridge attack, Axie Infinity is still in demand among players and investors.
4. Gods Unchained
Token: 1 GODS = 0.45 USD
Creator: Immutable
Blockchain: Immutable X
Utility: free NFT cards can be upgraded to become tradable cards on the marketplace
Gods Unchained is a P2E free-to-play metaverse strategy game where players get free NFT cards that can be upgraded through various battles and events within the gameplay.
After Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained is the most popular P2E in the gaming community. For professional players, this is the perfect game where you can utilize your strategic expertise and win something valuable in return.
The battle is usually held between two players who fight against each other using a deck of cards with powerful avatars in them. If you pair these cards well, your strategies work effectively against the enemy, then you can win rewards in the form of in-game assets and the $GODS token.
Gods Unchained metaverse goes beyond just battles. Players can combine two NFT cards to get one valuable Meteorite NFT Card. They can also participate in the weekly rounds where the rewards are more expensive and valuable.
If a player invests their money, time, and effort in this game, the rewards are promising. With over $7.4 million in NFT sales and 65,000 asset holders, Gods Unchained is truly the best NFT-enabled game.
5. Illuvium
Token: 1 ILV = 59.79 USD
Creator: Aaron Warwick, Grant Warwick, Kieran Warwick
Blockchain: Ethereum, built on Unreal Engine 5
Utility: free NFTs can turn into valuable digital assets
Illuvium is a sci-fi open-source, NFT creature collector, and autobattler metaverse game. The players take the role of a survivor in an intergalactic space crew who needs to fight the wilderness to survive with his fellows.
With 7 alien landscapes, the players need to capture creatures called Illuvials to build a perfect team. The illuvials are basically NFTs with different classes and powers that can be bred to power up and upgrade their fighting skills for battles.
The players can either sell them for money or play even further to earn ILV tokens, a native cryptocurrency, that can be turned into fiat.
6. Roblox
Token: 1 Robux = 0.35 US cents
Creator: David Baszucki, Erik Cassel, Roblox Corporation
Blockchain: Ethereum
Utility: tradeable virtual items, multiple games, free-to-play
Roblox is an online gaming platform, which allows users to play games created by others and also design and share their own games using Roblox’s game-developing proprietary tool: Roblox Studio. It is an open 3D metaverse platform where people gather to play, build, trade, and interact with each other in a virtual space.
Launched in 2006, Roblox has been continuously developing its virtual system and creator economy to keep up with the latest technology. Even in the era of blockchain and Web3, this platform has managed to top the charts among the best metaverse games.
Although the avatars on the platform are not NFTs, the users can still own the virtual items they buy from the Shop using Robux, the in-game currency. Robux is usually earned by playing games, trading virtual assets, and converting from fiat while creators can earn through games and by selling virtual items and then exchange for US dollars.
7. Sorare
Token: 1 ETH = 1,300 USD
Creator: Nicolas Julia, Adrien Montfort
Blockchain: Ethereum
Utility: rare tradable NFT cards
Sorare is a fantasy football metaverse game where players can play, buy, sell, and trade trading cards of different football players to create a virtual team. With over 180 football clubs available on the platform, users make their own teams, enter tournaments, and earn rewards. It is mainly a strategy game where the one with the best NFT cards in their collection earns rewards.
Once you start at Sorare, you will receive Free Cards to play in tournaments. As you play and complete the tasks from the Onboarding list, you will receive rewards such as rare packs of cards.
Cardholders with good performance receive higher points and every week the team with the most points is rewarded to make a new rare card. In this way, the platform maintains the burn and supply of trading cards.
Each season 111 cards are minted for every player that is distributed as follows:
100 Rare Cards
10 Super Rare Cards
1 Unique Card
To buy cards, you can simply connect your Ethereum wallet with Sorare and transfer funds in ETH that can be utilized on the platform. This is convenient for those who have ETH currency in their crypto wallet already. For football fans or those who like FIFA, this is a good metaverse game where you can earn money by trading rare NFT cards on the marketplace.
8. UFO Gaming
Token: 1 UFO = 0.0000019 USD
Blockchain: Ethereum
Utility: Tradeable NFTs, tokenomics
UFO Gaming is a blockchain-based metaverse game that offers a P2E mechanism in its various developed games. The platform features Dark Metaverse, a decentralized space, and a proper in-game ecosystem for players to earn revenue from playing.
In other words, UFO Gaming is a metaverse world where different planets exist. Each planet has different games that players can choose from to play and earn rewards. Users can generate their own virtual items as NFTs such as skins, armor, and weapons to be used in the games. They can also buy virtual lands and monetize to earn money in $UFO, the in-game currency.
This metaverse ecosystem has its own tokenomics where players need to stake $UFO to play P2E games. First stake UFO-ETH on the platform, earn Plasma Points and Redeem Origin UFOep which is used to play the games. The players also receive benefits of early staking and farming through rare NFTs.
The most popular game in UFO Gaming is SuperGalactic, a PVP fighting free-to-play video game where players can complete missions and play in competitions to earn rewards in UFO tokens. The platform also features games related to the eSports industry.
9. My Neighbor Alice
Token: 1 ALICE = 1.69 USD
Creator: Antler Interactive
Blockchain: Chromia
Utility: tradeable NFTs, DeFi features, governance DAO for token holders
My Neighbor Alice is a blockchain-based Animal Crossing-inspired Farming metaverse game that features avatars and lands as NFTs with its own native Ethereum-based token, ALICE. For people who don’t like battling or strategic gaming, My Neighbor Alice is the perfect metaverse game built on the play-to-earn model.
Players can buy and own virtual plots from the marketplace or from Alice that come in limited supply. After that, they use in-game virtual items to grow foods and sell them on the marketplace to earn ALICE tokens.
The game also features a DAO where maximum token holders have a say in the governance of the platform. The holders can also perform different DeFi features, such as NFT staking, collateralizing, and renting virtual assets to others using blockchain smart contracts.
10. MOBOX
Token: 1 MBOX = 0.6058 USD
Blockchain: Binance Smart Chain
Utility: Tradeable NFTs
MOBOX is a gaming plus farming NFT P2E and F2P ecosystem where players can earn rewards simply for playing the game for free. It combines the DeFi system and NFTs together to create an ecosystem called MOMOverse.
MOMOverse is a metaverse platform with multiple games either free-to-play or paid. In free games, the players must reach high rankings to earn MBOX, the in-game cryptocurrency, while in paid games, the players need to invest tokens in characters called MOMO who farm coins.
The MOMO NFTs can be traded on the marketplace and they also help in mining MOBX tokens. All of this is part of the MOMOverse.
Future of Play To Earn Metaverse Games
Metaverse is rapidly expanding in the gaming industry as more and more people show interest in the play-to-earn mechanism –Axie Infinity is the biggest example of a successful metaverse P2E game.
As time passes by the demand for these games will surely rise and the in-game assets will also double the price for the existing games because these are the main platforms right now and they are actively growing.
So, if you’re a gamer, investing your money in P2E games is the best choice to make. Not only will you own the assets to earn or buy, but you will also have the utility to earn passive income through it.
