Axie Infinity: A Play-to-Earn Gaming Mascot

Axie Infinity is one of the most successful play-to-earn blockchain games. But how exactly does it work and what are its future prospects?

• Play-to-Earn blockchain-games have picked up over the last two years and one of its flag bearers is Axie Infinity, the game developed by Vietnamese developer Sky Mavis.
• Axie Infinity revolves around NFTs of monsters called Axies that can be teamed up to fight other Axies, to reward players with Smooth Love Potion (SLP). This can be exchanged for cryptocurrency.
• To ensure the transactions don’t get delayed and are affordable, Axie Infinity runs on its own blockchain called Ronin. The disadvantage is the vulnerability to being hacked. And it has happened.
• As playing Axie Infinity requires an upfront investment of buying three Axies, the game has led to an economy where rich patrons buy Axies and loan them out to players for a cut from their earnings.
• During the peak of the pandemic, when movement was restricted, Axie Infinity earnings were enough to sustain many daily-wage-earning families in rural Vietnam and the Philippines for months.
• But there is a big question mark over the feasibility Axie Infinity's business model. In addition to a recent hack, the earnings per player have come down as the game gets more popular.