The best NFT games in 2022: how to make money from it?

The development of blockchain technology has affected not only traditional industries, but also the video game industry. Modern decentralized technologies make it possible to have a good time and earn good money. In turn, the emergence of decentralized blockchain technologies on the market has stimulated the creation of GameFi projects, in which game items are also digital assets. Thus, players can not only “pump” their game profile, but also earn money by buying/selling various game attributes. Let’s look into the nuances of blockchain games, as well as how you can make money on it.

Strictly speaking, blockchain games are a type of decentralized applications (DApp). Due to the huge interest in such projects, they have taken a separate niche in the decentralized finance sector, and have received the name “GameFi”. As a rule, each game item or attribute is an NFT token that can be sold or bought on special platforms, as well as stored in crypto wallets. Like any token, NFT can be freely received and transferred at the request of the owner to any address compatible with this blockchain.

Popular GameFi projects allow you to receive several types of income. We list the most common:

• NFT trading

Typically, in GameFi games, each character, item, or attribute acts as an NFT token (NFT is a non-fungible token). Accordingly, the NFT owner can profit from the sale / purchase process on special trading floors. NFT assets have high volatility, which makes it possible to earn income. In addition, by “pumping” a character in the gameplay, you can increase its value and then sell it.

• Farming/Staking

Some decentralized projects allow not only storing tokens, but also participating in staking and/or farming. Staking is a way to get a reward in the form of new tokens by “freezing” part of the assets. Staking only works on blockchains that use the PoS (Proof-of-Stake) algorithm. Farming (profitable farming) is a type of investment that involves generating income by placing tokens in appropriate liquidity pools. The “farmer” provides the pools with liquidity, and the pools share a portion of the profits with the farmer.

• Prize fund

Some game projects hold competitions among participants, stimulating participation by the opportunity to share the prize fund. As a reward, participants who are on the list of winners receive project tokens that can be sold or used to “upgrade” their profile. It is worth noting that getting into the list of winners is not so easy. This often requires a lot of time and a lot of investment.

• Airdrops

Cryptocurrency airdrop is a marketing strategy for promoting crypto projects and new tokens of certain crypto-currency startups. For projects, this is an opportunity to make themselves known, and for ordinary gamers – to get a free asset.

In less than 2 years, GameFi games have grown from a simple DApp category to a powerful industry attracting hundreds of thousands of investors around the world. A prime example is Axie Infinity, a video game developed by the Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis. The internal token of the AXS project has grown from $0.5 to $160 in less than a year. If you are considering GameFi games for investment, you should be aware of the benefits and pitfalls of this type of income.

Advantages:

• Opportunity to quickly earn decent money. For example, if you invested in the Axie Infinity project in 2021, then by now your investment would have grown 320 times. It is clear that no other financial instrument comes close to this.
• Additional source of income. If your chances of making a fortune playing DeFi games are low (for various reasons), then the chances of getting some additional income from this type of investment are relatively higher.
• Development of the DeFi ecosystem. The development of GameFi projects contributes not only to the entertainment industry, but also to the entire decentralized finance ecosystem.

Flaws:

• You need to have a good understanding of NFT assets, understand current trends and what affects the growth of an asset. Some NFT collections are worth nothing now, but may skyrocket in value over time, and vice versa.
• High entry threshold. To qualify for high places in the gaming horizontal bars, it is not enough just to be well versed in gaming practices. Prize-winning places are occupied by players with “pumped” game profiles, which often requires significant investments.
• Uncertainty. No one knows how long the hype around this topic will last. In addition, a large number of new projects appear on the market, which increases the already high competition. Collections that are now well worth, over time, may depreciate.

There are many specialized resources that allow you to monitor the blockchain games market, the most popular of which, perhaps, is DApp Radar. The resource allows you to get a comprehensive assessment of more than 4000 decentralized applications.

• Farmers World

Less than a year has passed since the official launch of Farmers World. During this time, the project has gathered more than 150,000 players worldwide and more than 80,000 members in Discord. The gameplay is passive, which can be a big plus for investors who do not want to spend a lot of time in front of the monitor. Investment required. Some NFTs are extremely expensive.

• Axie Infinity

Launched in 2018 on the Ethereum blockchain, Axie Infinity is a Pokemon-inspired RPG where players can fight, collect, and breed pet-like creatures called “Axies”. Many early players have amassed significant sums through in-game rewards. According to reports from the Axie Infinity team, the game has generated over $1.3 billion in revenue and is currently the number one PC game on the Ethereum blockchain.

To participate in the gameplay, you must purchase three official NFT Axies on your own Axie Infinity Marketplace. These three NFTs make up the player’s team in the game.

• Alien Worlds

Alien Worlds is a blockchain-based metaverse where players can play and earn cryptocurrency. Players get the opportunity to mine the in-game Trilium token, fight other explorers, and earn commissions from their virtual real estate. Launched in December 2020, the game has surpassed five million users in 2021 and is considered one of the most successful blockchain games to date. Supports staking, mining and NFT trading on Atomic Hub.

• Sprinterlands

One of the best crypto games on the market. Every day, an average of three million transactions are made in the project, and about 400,000 players around the world fight, trade and earn. At its core, it is similar to most collectible card games (CCGs), but is built on the blockchain. There are web browser and mobile versions. To unlock the “play to earn” feature, you need to deposit $10.

The Sandbox

The Sandbox is a decentralized game where users play, create and monetize voxel assets and game experiences. Voxel assets are 3D pixels used to create digital 3D elements. Players may purchase special resources that entitle them to use the Game Maker software provided by The Sandbox to develop and monetize their own games.

The explosive growth in the popularity of blockchain games allows us to positively assess the future of this area. If about six months ago, the total daily turnover of GameFi projects barely exceeded $20 million, now it already exceeds $55 million. User interest in such products has a steadily growing trend. Experts also positively assess the prospects of the industry.

This confirms the interest in blockchain games from large companies such as Coinbase, Patron and Mythical Games, attracting millions of investments in the development of new games. And Forte did manage to raise $725 million for new developments. Market trends speak in favor of blockchain games, which means that large companies will continue to invest in this industry.