While 2021 will be remembered primarily for the explosive price appreciation seen in crypto assets and NFTs, blockchain gaming also saw a rapid expansion in user adoption, becoming more than 50% of all activity. in the blockchain industry.

Most of these Web3 games employ a play-to-win (P2E) economic design where players are rewarded for their time, efforts, and in-game achievements. Combining core gameplay with economic mechanics, most P2E Web3 games are based around rewarding players with in-game items in the form of NFTs or the platform’s native tokens.

This model, however, has proven highly unsustainable in bear markets and has forced Web3 gaming entrepreneurs to switch to a hybrid solution involving both NFTs and fungible tokens (FTs). Offering better liquidity due to fungible economics, this generation of Web3 gaming is now being superseded by a revolutionary economic design that could boost the P2E Web3 gaming sector for better sustainability.

Challenges Plaguing the Play-to-Earn Gaming Space

NFT-only Web3 games, also known as Gen 0 due to their somewhat underdeveloped economies, are prone to issues related to token liquidity, asset valuation, and low trading frequency. In such games, low NFT trading volumes restrict value added to in-game economies, further negatively affecting the market capitalization of native tokens. Combine this inherent design flaw with a bearish crypto market, and it’s not hard to see why many of these games perish in such scenarios.

Furthermore, many of these Gen 0 games are simply tokenized versions of Web2 games, running off of a blockchain but employing cryptographic assets in an attempt to hook Web3 users. As a result, most of these games don’t last beyond the first few months of release, leaving most of their users with NFTs that have no tangible value out of the game. Therefore, the need for immersive games supported by sound economic designs is critical to the future sustainability of the blockchain gaming industry.

Moving away from NFT-driven economic models towards sustainability

The first step in this direction has been the introduction of the next generation of Web3 games, those that employ expendable tokens representing items with higher trade volumes and NFTs for more valuable in-game items.

One notable example is the Star Atlas platform, which offers users the chance to experience life in space and explore the future of reality aboard their own customizable spaceship.

By introducing fungible tokens that have a limited life and can be purchased using the native in-game token, these projects are able to generate much higher trade volumes and essentially maintain stable supply and demand metrics.

However, with cryptocurrency farming game Web3 CropBytes announcing the imminent launch of its Service Economy feature, the space is ripe to witness the next evolutionary stage that will usher players into a truly autonomous economic model.

Building for the long term with innovative economic models

By introducing avenues for Web3 investors to participate in the Web3 gaming industry, CropBytes has pioneered the concept of a service economy where players can earn income by utilizing assets owned by investors or merchants. By labeling this new model ‘Earn Money for Play’, CropBytes will allow players to use their native CBX token to pay other users for services like growing crops or feeding farm animals on their behalf. Alternatively, they could also lend their NFTs to other players for a fee.

As players trade assets and collect in-game items that can be redeemed for CBX tokens, CropBytes is one step closer to unlocking the full potential of blockchain gaming and harnessing the power of cryptocurrency to create a virtual economy. sustainable and balanced.

Setting a roadmap for the future of Web3 gaming

The introduction of service economy principles can help the Web3 gaming industry increase transaction volumes and help generate the liquidity needed to create gaming economies that can sustain prolonged crypto winters like the one we are experiencing today.

CropBytes was one of the first blockchain games to embrace the service economy approach, and now the big names in the space are following suit. Axie Infinity recently released their Axie Homeland Alpha, which allows players to farm and farm on their Axie land, generating resources and spending them in-game. Service economy concepts are becoming a go-to approach in the blockchain gaming ecosystem.

Also, the introduction of governance features will be the next natural progression for the space. However, this will first require existing players to build out great services and fungible economies, which in turn will help them mature to a level where investors, token holders, and other stakeholders will govern the broader gaming ecosystems. .