The last couple of months hasn’t been good for the crypto world. Many popular crypto coins have experienced a sharp fall in price. However, Axie Infinity has raised several eyebrows with a dramatic price rise of 550% in just one month. This blockchain-based play-to-earn NFT game quickly became a favourite of many. As such, crypto investors are excited to jump on to this crypto gaming platform. Before investing in Axie Infinity, it is important to understand what the product is all about.

An Overview of Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is a Play-to-Earn video game that has made the play-to-earn concept popular in crypto circles in recent times. It was developed by the Vietnamese Studio Sky Mavis and runs on the Ethereum platform. It also uses the Ronin sidechain to minimize transaction fees and delays. The game takes inspiration from the Pokemon series of Nintendo wherein cute monsters are pitted against each other.

Axie Infinity contains creatures called Axies that resemble axolotl, a Mexican walking fish. Players purchase Axies and play the game by pitting their Axies against other Axies. You can choose to compete with live opponents or computer-based Axie teams. Each Axie is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). So, when you purchase an Axie, you own a unique digital collectible. You can purchase, breed, raise or trade Axies. Every new player should purchase at least 3 Axies to play the game. The prices range from$300 to $550,000. That’s the craze for this game. You need a Ronin wallet and an Ethereum wallet such as Metamask to purchase Axie NFTs from the Axie marketplace. 

The Dramatic Price Rise of Axie Infinity

According to Token Terminal, the Axie Infinity token is priced at $44.14 which is an increase of 15.32% over the last 7 day period as of 9th August 2021. The total market cap is $2.41 billion. In Feb 2021, the price was $1.29. By July 2021, the price rose to $47.21. It generated almost $90 million in revenues in the last 30 days. In the month of June, Axie Infinity revenues surpassed revenues of Aave and Uniswap.

Axie Infinity not only allows you to play and enjoy the game but also gives you ownership of the Axies. There are two tokens available for gamers; Axie Infinity Shard (AXS) and Smooth Love Potion (SLP). You can earn them as rewards by breeding Axies or battling Axies. Alternatively, you can buy them in the marketplace. However, Axie tokens are not available on the major US Cryptocurrency exchanges. Industry experts opine that when the tokens are listed in US exchanges, the price is sure to jump up. 

Lunacia is the virtual land of Axie Infinity that is divided into plots called Terra. You can purchase these plots, rent them or sell them to earn money. The platform will charge a 4.25% fee while the remaining revenues are enjoyed by the users. In February 2021, the platform recorded a notable sale wherein 9 plots were sold for $1.5 million. Another notable sale was of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey NFT that saw a $3 million transaction. These numbers tell us that not only fun and tokens, you can also earn land and gain profits too. 

Play to Earn in 3rd World Countries

The recent pandemic has forced everyone to work from home. However, not every job offers the luxury of working from home. Especially in the 3rd world countries, people are reeling under severe debt, owing to the lack of work. For such people, Axie Infinity has become a great opportunity to make a living. According to a YouTube video, a small community in the rural Philippines has turned this video game into an income generator. Housewives, mothers, cab drivers etc. are some of the people from Cabanatuan city benefitting from this play-to-earn gaming project. In addition, people are playing this game while doing their regular work too. CNBC published an article about how Axie Infinity is changing lives in the Philippines, Indonesia and Southeast countries.

Axie Infinity Play-to-Earn Alternatives

The popularity of Axie Infinity brought in several players into this Play-to-earn NFT segment. 

Here are the top 5 play to earn NFT games

1. Axie Infinity: Battle game
2. Sorare: Collectible card game
3. Lost Relics: Battle game
4. Splinter Cards: Collectible card game
5. Town Star: Competitive farming game

Is Axie Infinity Sustainable?

Axie Infinity’s sudden popularity is not just hype for the following reasons. Firstly, though the game was introduced in 2021, the team behind the project has been working on it since 2017. Moreover, the team is highly experienced in the gaming industry as well as closely associated with the crypto world. Axie Infinity offers a detailed white paper with a clear roadmap. The fact that billionaire Mark Cuban is now part of the stakeholders adds weight to the project.