IOI
In the blockchain gaming realm, Axie Infinity led the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) market in 2021. Over the last year, the play-to-earn game where users combat each other with their beautiful little Pokemon-inspired pets witnessed $3.5 billion in NFT transactions, which is four times more than its nearest competitor, NBA Top Shot.
The AXS token’s value increased by 18,000 percent during the year as a result of the growth in popularity.
In 2021, the top five play-to-earn games in terms of transaction volume were:
| Play-to-earn game | Transaction volume |
| Axie Infinity | $3.5 billion |
| NBA Top Shot | $827 million |
| Loot | $242 million |
| Neo Tokyo | $112 million |
| Wolf Game | $86 million |
While cryptocurrencies had a downturn in 2022, NFT sales continued to rise. According to CryptoSlam data, Axie Infinity’s collection has increased to $4 billion in sales as of February.
Will Axie Infinity’s rampage continue in 2022?
In 2021, Axie Infinity’s platform grew in popularity as play-to-earn (P2E) became a popular way for users to earn money in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic’s uncertainty. In Southeast Asia, countries such as the Philippines, the style was particularly popular.
The game is made up of NFT characters named Axies, and it was created by a Vietnamese firm called Sky Mavis. Users can obtain Smooth Love Potion — the game’s P2E token — by breeding their pets, having them battle one other, or doing other chores. These tokens can then be utilised to make further Axies.
The problem is that to play the game, you must have at least three Axies in your possession, and they aren’t cheap. The cheapest Axie costs roughly $22 at the time of writing, making the entry fee $66 — around $5,000.
Furthermore, Axie Infinity is currently experiencing inflation, according to a report by analytics firm Naavik. Simply put, the amount of money a person can earn is steadily decreasing. Existing players are cashing out rather than using their earnings to buy new Axies. As a result, the survey predicts that users earn less than the minimum wage, at least in the Philippines, where more than half of the users are based.
So, not only is the entry barrier high, but the return on investment of $5,000 isn’t really impressive unless you’re a very powerful player. Naavik proposes that Axie Infinity keep growing its player population to keep its inflation problem under control.
According to gaming data business ActivePlayer, Axie Infinity has an average of 2.2 million active players over the last 30 days, and the number of daily active players has been decreasing over the last two months.
