NFTs have arguably moved from being a minor player in the crypto and blockchain sphere to a more prominent one in popular culture. Indeed, the seeming hoopla around NFTs appears to be pushing increased adoption of digital currencies, as cryptocurrencies and decentralization appear to pervade the debate across social, political, and economic lines.

Gaming has frequently been mentioned as a prospective use case for the commercialization of digital collectibles inside the NFT domain. There appears to be an increasing convergence of gaming, blockchain, and the virtual economy within the scope of play-to-earn NFTs.

Projects like Axie Infinity, which combine the delight gamers get from playing games with the possibility to make money in the form of cryptocurrencies, have seen substantial growth within this confluence point. As a result of their growing popularity, the token value of these NFT games has increased, resulting in even greater patronage.

NFT play-to-earn gaming could be the next big thing in the crypto economy. Because of the model’s rapid rise in popularity, it may soon be referenced in the same language as other aspects of bitcoin commerce like mining, staking, and trading, at least in terms of wealth generation potential.

$1-billion Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity (AXS) surpassed $1 billion in all-time volume on August 9, confirming the game’s status as one of the most important initiatives in the current bullish NFT epoch. The NFT game reportedly generated $780 million in sales from over 1.4 million transactions between July 9 and August 9.

According to data from Similarweb, the Axie Infinity website was listed in the top 1,200 sites in the world as of the end of July, with internet traffic nearly tripling in the last six months. Additionally, Axie Infinity announced on Twitter on August 6 that it has reached one million daily active players.

This announcement of Axie’s one-million-user milestone provides insight into the app’s rapid rise in popularity. The game’s userbase has surged 1,000 percent in the same time as the Axie token price has increased 18-fold since early June. AXS and other comparable tokens have defied the crypto price fall trend that has been in place since mid-May, owing to the increasing appeal of the play-to-earn NFT gaming wave.

The NFT game has risen to become one of the most valuable crypto ventures in the business because of Axie’s remarkable growth over the last two months. As of this writing, AXS is ranked among the top 40 cryptocurrency assets by market capitalization, with price action trends indicating a possible climb past the $100 barrier in the near term – a move that would boost the token’s year-to-date performance to more than 18,700%.

The microeconomics of play-to-earn

Many crypto and blockchain use cases face the “mainstream adoption” dilemma, which involves determining how their unique protocols and operations will gain widespread interest within and beyond the cryptocurrency industry. For example, Play-to-earn gaming for nonfungible tokens could be the key to altering the narrative around digital collectibles and blockchain gaming.

For starters, the possibility to earn crypto as a reward for playing games is likely to offer economic incentives for would-be adopters, whether they are casual or hardcore gamers. There’s even evidence that titles like Axie Infinity are becoming something of an occupation for the younger generation, particularly in areas affected by COVID-19’s present economic downturns.

In May, an Axie Infinity player from the Philippines could purchase a home with the money earned from the NFT game. According to data from Similarweb, the Philippines accounted for nearly half of all worldwide web traffic to the platform in July, with the website ranking as the 33rd most popular in the country.

Axie Infinity is a popular game in Southeast Asia, developed by Sky Mavis, a gaming firm based in Vietnam. South America, particularly Argentina and Brazil, is a big supporter of the NFT game title.

Since the summer of 2020, play-to-earn NFT games appear to have taken on a life of their own, attracting a growing number of gamers. This steadily growing interest, combined with the current NFT craze, has most likely helped propel such blockchain gaming titles to even greater heights.

Dragos Dunica, the co-founder of DappRadar, a decentralized application analytics platform, commented on the intersection of decentralized finance (DeFi) and gaming in a conversation, saying:

“At the moment, we’re witnessing a convergence of DeFi and gaming features to promote interaction and usage. The most popular games are developing environments where users can not only own a one-of-a-kind NFT but also use it for a reward within the same platform.”

According to Dunica, the present trend is the beginning of a “true revolution” in gaming and decentralized applications (DApps), which will likely spill over into conventional games. “The idea of transferable NFTs for in-game stuff, for example, will be a game-changer in the future,” Dunica continued.

According to DappRadar’s Axie Infinity dashboard, the game’s all-time volume is around $1.4 billion, based on more than 3.1 million sales. Since its launch, the gaming site has attracted over 416,300 dealers.

Nonfungible transformation: A new virtual existence

The growing popularity of blockchain-based play-to-earn games provides another window into how NFTs appear to be changing digital interaction. As Craig Russo, director of innovation at PolyientX, an NFT vault, and marketplace protocol, put it:

“Within the NFT sector, play-to-earn is a high-potential area, and we’re already seeing some amazing market validation, which has resulted in a price increase across most gaming-related tokens. Play-to-earn gaming, on the other hand, is relatively niche, and significant inroads into the mainstream gaming ecosystem will be required before adoption levels rival those of non-blockchain gaming segments like esports.”

He claims that projects such as Ape In, an NFT-driven virtual environment, are already focused on a “consumer-friendly” approach to DeFi by incorporating features like in-game character staking. Such initiatives to boost NFT liquidity, according to Russo, will aid in the transformation of nonfungible tokens into more productive assets, hence increasing their on-chain utility.

“The idea of spending time in a virtual environment is not as unusual as it once was,” says Dunica, who believes the transition to a digital lifestyle is proceeding at a rapid speed.

Given the rise of platforms like Axie Infinity and the opportunity for gamers to retain ownership, NFT play-to-earn games could be the “first meaningful mass adoption use case in the blockchain space.”