Introduction
It should come as no surprise that the gaming world has taken to NFTs like kids to ice cream
We’re not in the least belittling NFTs or gamers here. We’re just saying that it’s the most logical, natural thing in the world for the most digitally comfortable people in the world to wholeheartedly embrace completely digital cryptocurrencies like NFTs.
The video gaming world has, almost from the start, included some form of tokens that players could earn during gameplay. This currency could then be spent in-game on everything from extra lives to better weapons.
Today’s gamers have taken that concept to the next level. You “Play to Earn”, gaining digital currency that can be bought and sold for real cash, not just in-game goodies.
We’re going to be looking at three gaming universes that are utilizing this new P2E strategy, how they’ve done it so successfully, and what’s working for them.
The Splinterlands ($SPS) Gaming Project
“Magic the Gathering”, meet HIVE blockchain technology.
Splinterlands is a digital trading card game, very much like a virtual MtG. The goal is to develop a deck or collection of cards, each with different abilities, functions, and stats. These cards are then used to play the game.
You can start playing for free, but to earn money, you must invest $10 in $SPS, much like buying your first pack of MtG cards.
What Splinterlands has done is assign a value to each card, allowing players to trade, buy, rent, and sell their cards securely and freely. They want everyone to have equal access to the game.
Splinterlands had been around for several years as the game Steem Monsters. The Splintershards token, however, recently boomed in a big way.
At the beginning of October 2021, a single $SPS was worth 69 cents. By the end of the month, that had shot up 340% to an all-time high of $94. In November of 2021, there were 12,000 sales, and the game was named #1 in the WAX category.
Splinterlands recently unveiled the VOUCHER token. Without a VOUCHER token, you can’t buy any new cards or card packs. VOUCHERs are only earned through gameplay. The VOUCHER is supposed to add an extra layer of security and fairness to the Splinterlands metaverse.
What Makes Splinterlands a Unique Gaming Project
Here’s a short list of what Reddit users say they love about the game and why they keep playing:
- Easily accessible trading system that allows for multiple payment sources, including PayPal
- Allows multiple accounts per player
- Equality, fairness, and game security
- Rare cards actually have functions in the game, not just for collecting
- You win $SPS for every battle, not just tournaments
- iOS and Android, as well as web browser
- Awards for quests, battles, and rankings
- Battles don’t require much time to play
- Staking of $SPS
- In 2022, $SPS stakeholders will have a say in governance
- 3 billion $SPS cap
The Star Atlas ($ATLAS and $POLIS) Gaming Project
Star Atlas is an intergalactic RPG set in the future. The creators envision a digital world with real-world economies, alliances, trading contracts, and earning potential.
You will be able to buy your own fleet of spaceships; buy, sell, and trade resources; set up contracts and alliances; and do battle with other players for resources and trade routes. The game’s in-game currency, the $ATLAS, will allow you to do all this trading, buying, and selling.
The other crypto currency involved with Star Atlas is the $POLIS. This token is the governance token, and allows you to have a stake in the future of the game. While there will be a cap of 36 billion on the $ATLAS, $POLIS will max supply at 360 million.
Many gamers are saying that $POLIS is the token to invest in right now, as it gives you a bigger opportunity. It’s deflationary, offers political power, and is more rare than the $ATLAS, making its future value potentially higher.
Star Atlas used a combination of influencer marketing and real-world live events to launch the game this year. They combined the best of both their worlds, crypto and gaming, to involve some of the biggest names in both.
What resulted was a record-setting token market cap of $6 billion. They reached oversubscription rates of 5,000% and 3,500% on FTX and Solana, respectively.
What Makes Star Atlas a Unique Gaming Project
At the time of this writing, the game is still too new— with their metaverse still in production — to get many reviews or player testimonials. One thing that is driving the game’s success, however, is the quality of the game’s graphics.
Another thing that reddit users comment on is the extensive amount of choice in playing the game. You can be a space pirate, a bounty hunter, a mercenary fighter, a faction member, and more.
You can read about how Crowdcreate put together Star Atlas’s unique and highly successful pre-launch marketing strategy here. If we can do it for them, imagine what we can do for you.
The Axie Infinity ($AXS and $SLP) Gaming Project
If Splinterlands is Magic the Gathering meets the crypto currency universe, Axie Infinity is Pokemon-Does-Blockchain.
The game is an adventure and strategy game where players train and battle cute little NF beasties called Axies. Axies are collectible and breedable, just like Pokemon. Questing and battling other Axies are at the heart of the game.
Winning those battles earns you Shards, tokens that can then be cashed out on various crypto currency exchanges. You can also use $AXS tokens in the in-game NFT marketplace to buy Axies.
Axie Infinity has another currency, the Smooth Love Potion, or $SLP. Unlike the $AXS, $SLP’s supply is unlimited. You need $SLPs to breed your Axies and create new ones. They have become so popular that they are currently being openly traded on some crypto exchanges.
So, your digital pocket monsters are NFTs, and you can earn $AXS and $SLP tokens, which can also bring you cash. It’s definitely a P2E opportunity few can pass up.
What Makes Axie Infinity a Unique Gaming Project
In short, what makes Axie Infinity so popular are the cute little Axies themselves and what you can do with them in the game’s metaverse.
Raising, battling with, and breeding Axies has made the game the most traded NFT collection ever, with a current total of $1.46 billion in Axie trading alone. That’s more than double the amount of trading on the #2 game.
Another unique feature of the game is that new players don’t buy their first Axies from Axie Infinity. They buy them in the marketplace from other players.
Currently, a beginner Axie will run about $200, while some Axies have sold for as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past.
If a player can’t afford to drop that much cash on an Axie, there are “scholarship” programs available. The player rents an Axie from an existing player or breeder. They then share the $SLPs they win from battling with their breeder. There are over 40 such programs right now.
We recently named Axie Infinity one of the crypto currencies with the most growth potential. It’s just one of the many insightful and informative articles we offer on our Crowdcreate blog.
Summary
As we’ve seen today by examining these three popular and profitable games, the success of NFT marketing strategy in the gaming world depends greatly on the game itself.
The more unique and different your game is, the more appealing it will be to players. As a result, the more profitable it will be for everyone involved.
We’ve seen how Splinterlands has chosen to utilize non-crypto payment sources like PayPal. We also looked at the extensive, nearly endless possibilities for role playing offered by Star Atlas. Finally, there’s both the cute factor and the cash factor of Axie Infinity driving it forward.
What might be the unique and appealing features of your NFT game? Will you be the next to top the trading boards? Bring your game to us, and we’ll help you create the strategy that works best for you.
Contact us at Crowdcreate today.
