A Short Guide To Play-To-Earn Games: How Do They Work?

If you’re an active gamer, there’s a good chance that play-to-earn games have been on your radar for a while. For most of their existence, video games have solely been played for enjoyment. Unless you were a professional or a streamer with a large following, earning money from a gaming hobby would’ve been a nearly unreachable dream.

Now, gamers can turn their hobby into a side hustle and earn legitimate cash through play-to-earn games. But even among the hype, there’s still some uncertainty regarding what it is, how it works, how you earn from it, and whether it’s worth trying.

What Are Play-To-Earn Games?

The simplest explanation is that they’re blockchain-based games that reward players by allowing them to earn digital assets in the game. They’re essentially games to earn crypto because the rewards are typically digital currency or NFTs.

Instead of the game owning these assets, they’re owned by the players. You own your NFT and can sell it for a cryptocurrency, which can then be exchanged for cash.

The Benefit Of The Play-To-Earn Model

Traditionally, video games have been a one-way financial transaction.

You could buy a game through an online platform or buy a physical copy of the game. After installing it on your computer or gaming console, you’d have a license to play that game. The other popular option is ‘free-to-play,’ sometimes called ‘freemium,’ games. These are easily downloadable and cost nothing to play.

However, players are incentivized to speed up their game progress by purchasing assets within the game. In some cases, it’s considered nearly impossible to make progress in a freemium game without spending money—these are often called ‘pay-to-win’ games.

In both options, players spend money to play without getting anything in return.

The newcomer, play-to-earn, takes a different approach. Getting an initial start to the game isn’t always free. It’s not uncommon for games that offer NFT rewards to require a purchase of some in-game tokens before you can get started. But you own these tokens. They let you earn through playing without additional financial investment and can be resold later at your will. In other words, it’s possible to earn back the initial investment.

In the play-to-earn model, players increase the value of the game itself. The game’s owners earn money through various means, often by earning a percentage on transaction fees or other in-game options. Still, these games allow players and developers to earn assets that can be exchanged for money.

Which Cryptocurrencies Are Used?

One of the biggest questions to ask when getting into crypto games is which digital currencies they rely on. In general, these games will either use existing cryptocurrencies or native/custom cryptocurrencies designed for the game by its developers.

In both cases, there are ways to convert any crypto you earn to fiat money. Custom cryptocurrencies typically work similarly to existing cryptocurrencies, although there might be extra steps involved if you want to exchange them for money. Otherwise, Bitcoin and Etherium are some of the most common existing cryptocurrencies you’ll find in games.

How To Start Playing Pay-To-Earn Games

Getting started with play-to-earn crypto games comes down to setting up a crypto wallet, funding it, and finding the right game for you. You’ll have to fund your crypto wallet out of your own pocket to purchase any starting items for games you’ll play.

Getting A Crypto Wallet

Crypto wallets, as the name implies, are digital wallets that enable you to store any amount of cryptocurrencies you own. There are many to choose from, and there’s no correct choice. At the end of the day, every wallet allows you to store and make transactions with your cryptocurrency.

But remember that to play a game, you must have a crypto wallet that supports that game’s cryptocurrency. For example, you can’t play a game based on Ethereum if your wallet only supports Bitcoin. The solution is to have multiple wallets for multiple games or to only play games that are compatible with your wallet.

Choosing Games

There’s not too much to say about choosing a play-to-earn game. The two most important factors are that you enjoy it and can afford the initial cost of its starting items/tokens (if any).

You might find it worth your time to educate yourself on a game before you start playing. Some are more popular than others, with various online resources about the game’s contents, play style, strategy, etc. Because the value of games, their tokens, and starter items tend to increase over time, it’s often beneficial to get into new, interesting games sooner rather than later.

So, Should You Try It?

If you’re a gamer who’s interested in crypto and NFTs, play-to-earn crypto games could become an excellent side hustle for you. There’s certainly a learning curve, as becoming profitable will require a basic understanding of trading NFTs and cryptocurrencies—you’ll also have to learn each new game’s rules.

Even so, this business model is growing and attracting new players each day. If the prospect of earning money by playing games sounds appealing, why not give it a try? Find a game you can start without spending on starting items, try it, and you’ll discover if this is something YOU like.