Five Reasons Why Axie Infinity Might Change the World

If Earning Money to Play Video Games is your Dream Job, then You’re in Luck.

Image Credit: Image of NFT Owned by kingzeusinfinity1

If I asked you to guess which game throughout the world has had the most growth so far in 2021, you might say Fortnite, Call of Duty, or Roblox. But you’d be wrong. Axie Infinity has taken the world by storm with explosive growth and a singularly unique ecosystem of exciting features. If you’re feeling skeptical, then I don’t blame you. I was too.

Once you dive in to the facts and give it a try, though, it’s easy to understand how Axie Infinity is emerging as a new powerhouse in gaming. The future is bright, and here are five ways that Axie Infinity could change the world.

1. Play to Earn: Axie Infinity has pioneered a system based on blockchain tokenomics whereby players of the core game can earn thousands of dollars per month in cryptocurrency simply by playing the game. This isn’t like gambling, you earn a small amount of crypto for each victory you achieve in the game. If you lose a battle, there are no consequences. The only catch is that you need to have 3 Axies to begin playing, and the Axies cost cryptocurrency to obtain (unless you can get a scholarship, more on that later). The value of cryptocurrency that the game awards to players is balanced by the fact that they “burn” cryptocurrency which is used to breed more Axies. The amount of money that the typical player earns monthly is enough to be a complete game changer for some people. The fastest growth so far has come from countries such as The Philippines and Venezuela, where playing Axie Infinity can generate more income for many people than working full-time jobs within their local traditional economies. There are billions of economically impoverished people all over the globe. If all they need is a strong internet connection and a mobile phone to easily change their economic status, then this innovation has world-changing potential.
2. Gaming Scholarships: At today’s prices, a team of 3 Axies (which is required to begin playing the game) can easily cost between $600 and $1,050 depending on marketplace dynamics at any given time (more on the marketplace later in this article). That is a substantial barrier to entry for most who would like to try this game. The solution to that issue has so far come in the form of a system referred to as “scholarship” for pay-to-earn gamers. Managers, or individuals who have Axies that they can loan to others, are able to temporarily gift the NFT access of their digital property to Scholars. The scholars then use the Axies with no upfront cost to them to play the game. This generates thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency per month (see point 1 in this article) which is then split between the manager and scholar using a shared distribution plan which is agreed upon before the scholarship begins. This allows the manager to earn passive income on his investment of the Axie (which is a NFT, more on that later). It allows the scholar to earn money with no upfront cost and virtually no risk. Gaming Scholarships are an entirely new innovation within the gaming world, and as this system evolves it could help change the world once adoption reaches millions, or perhaps even billions of individuals across the world.
3. NFT Marketplace: If you are new to the crypto/blockchain world then you may have heard of NFTs, but you might not be entirely sure how it all works. The short version is that in a digital world powered by exponentially expanding content creation, it becomes difficult to keep track of who owns what. Copy/paste, snipping tools, and screen recording options allow random people to steal content on a whim and then pass it off as their own in a different corner of the internet. NFTs are the digital world’s solution for intellectual property rights and protections. NFTs give real world value to digital assets by quantifying scarcity via ownership. Blockchain databases record the ownership of digital property or assets, and then track every time the asset is listed for sell, purchased, leased, moved, and/or destroyed. The Axie Infinity development team makes use of this technology by codifying every Axie, land plot (more on that later), and item in the game via NFT database. The Axie Infinity database is so popular that it recently overtook the NBA Top Shots brand as the number one NFT marketplace in the world by volume. In future updates of the Axie Infinity game, the developers plan to introduce additional various methods by which Axies and other in-game items can be used for events, different games, and even in different digital worlds. A few months ago, you could buy Axies for around $20 each. The cheapest options now have increased at least ten fold. The possibilities are limitless.
4. Digital Real Estate: Lunacia is a city which is not fully accessible yet, but the excitement for its upcoming release is palpable nonetheless. In the future, Axie Infinity will be largely based within this online city, and the land within it can be owned by anyone with the Ethereum needed to purchase a plot of digital land. There are other games and systems that feature digital or fantasy land available for purchase, but Axie Infinity is already the premium flag bearer for this sector. The most expensive parcel of digital real estate ever sold in history is a record which belongs to the Axie Infinity community. A breathtaking 1.5 million dollars worth of Ethereum was paid out earlier in 2021 for a bundle of ultra-rare “genesis” land plots. This land will eventually allow for a plethora of ways to earn passive and active income by its owners. You can read more about the details of how this is all expected to work here at this weblink. But the take away is clear… Digital Real Estate is a new frontier for video games with world changing implications.
5. Player Community-Based Governance and Profit-Sharing: What if your favorite video games allowed you to earn shares of stock simply by playing every day? What if those shares allowed you to vote on proposals that shape the future of the game, thus helping to decide which path the game itself will take over the long-term? What if those shares generated dividends that reward the player base with compounding interest? These questions will be answered later this year with Axis Infinity’s new AXS staking system slated for release in the coming months. With a suite of features and rewards this rich, this game will likely continue its extreme growth in terms of popularity, value, and utility.

These five revolutionary aspects of Axie Infinity are great, but the really exciting part is that this just scratches the surface. The potential for this game is limitless. For example, the developers plan to allow land owners within the game to develop and implement their own mini-games within the Lunacia metaverse. That opens up the potential of a digital environment that doubles as an App Store within the game ecosystem.

Although it might seem like it, I am not directly affiliated with the Axie Infinity team beyond the fact that I currently play the game everyday and I like it. My motivation is to simply help others who might be interested in this game to learn about it. As with anything on the internet, you shouldn’t jump right into any platform or project (especially when it involves real money) without doing your research first. Watch videos online, check social media for testimonials (both good and bad) from people who have tried the game and then make your own decision about whether or not to give it a try.

If you have any questions or feedback about this article, please feel encouraged to write a comment or click the ovation button generously. I will respond to all comments, and more content will be posted frequently so please subscribe to the publication if you enjoy Axie Infinity, or if you want to learn more about it. The next article will include tips for getting started with Axie Infinity. Thanks for reading!