If you've been a believer in the future of crypto, this week has surely been a tough one for you.
Once loudly proclaimed as the future of the investment world, the crypto industry has been hit hard by a string of unfortunate events, including bitcoin value plummeting to new lows and key trading platform Binance pausing withdrawals.
Once-crypto billionaires are also bleeding money.
Finance experts that were never convinced about the viability of crypto in the first place, such as global strategist Peter Schiff, have been quick to predict that more doom and gloom is on the way.
Microsoft (MSFT) boss and well-known billionaire Bill Gates also made a point of speaking out about the state of crypto back in May before the plunge, making clear that he did not own any because, as he put it, "I like investing in things that have valuable output."
Ouch.
Games That Promise Financial Return
So while this whole crypto market dumpster fire might mean the endless waterfall of celebrity NFTs might finally start to slow down, there's another group of investors that's still passionate about combining their financial interests with their love of video games.
That's led to spawn several blockchain games that actually have a decently-sized player base. "Axie Infinity," a "Pokemon"-esque game that uses what's called the Play To Earn (PTE) business model, allows players to collect cute little NFT creatures called Axies, which can be collected, bred, and sold in-game.
"Decentraland" is another popular title. Built on ethereum and fully owned by its users, the game features a metaverse which users can buy and sell property, hang out with friends, and explore. Kind of like Facebook's metaverse, but not owned by Mark Zuckerberg (phew).
Many have been drawn to try blockchain gaming out because many games promise potential investors that they can make money by playing.
But with crypto tanking the way it has been, what does that mean for the future of these games?
Will Blockchain Games Fall Apart?
Many investors may feel its time to pull back on crypto, but there are quite a few blockchain gamers that still feel differently.
In fact, they poured $2.5 billion worth of investments into blockchain games in the first quarter of 2022 alone, DappRadar reports.
That said, the blockchain gaming scene has been rife with its own problems. "Axie Infinity" suffered after an ethereum sidechain built for it, Ronin Network, was hacked in March 2022, leading to $600 million worth of assets lost.
After heavily marketing the game as a way to make money, "Axie Infinity's" creator says it was "never about the money," leading many to feel as if they'd been lured into a crypto-flavored pyramid scheme.
While "Axie Infinity" may be one of the better known blockchain games, there's no shortage of them, both already established and brand new to the market.
Whether or not any of them make money for their users remains to be proven, although there are plenty of evangelists on social media swearing up and down that they'll be billionaires in the very near future.
And it's not hard to see why. The idea of playing games and getting paid for it without having to compete on an esports team under grueling pressure to win has a lot of appeal for some.
Whether these early Web3 efforts can actually follow through and make the dream a reality remains to be seen.
