The runaway success of Axie Infinity and StepN has convinced a flurry of entrepreneurs that web3 gaming, where the ownership of in-game assets is in the hands of users via blockchain adoption rather than a centralized platform, is the future.
Some of the biggest hits in the space to date reward users with tokens that can be cashed out in what’s known as the “play-to-earn” model. While P2E games have attracted millions of players and billions of dollars from investors, veterans of the gaming industry argue that they are fundamentally unsustainable.
These games are the brainchild of financial engineers aiming to get rich quickly rather than experienced developers building time-honored works, they say.
Axie Inifity’s dramatic rise and fall is telling. After peaking at $754 million in November when bitcoin hit all-time high, the game’s monthly sales volume plummeted to $4.5 million in …
