Video games have had an impact on Alejo Lopez de Armentia’s personal and professional life. The game appealed to the player’s sense of adventure, competitiveness, and, most all, the need to pass the time. During his early twenties, he utilized video games to stay in touch with pals back home in Argentina while working for a solar panel firm in Florida and feeling lonely and alone.
Armentia, 39, found a new game and a new motivation to play it around ten months ago: to make a livelihood. Axie Infinity was a breath of fresh air compared to the massively multiplayer games he was used to. Battles between three-man teams of digital monsters are fought out on the battlefield by the players. Figures like Mr. Potato Head may be customized by swapping out different pieces of their body, like a blob. While waiting for their time to use magic, they dance about the “battle” arena. Three members of a team are wiped off when a member succumbs to the repercussions of defeat. Five minutes is all it takes to finish a game.
There is no stopping gamers from studying techniques, lurking in Axie-themed Discord channels and Reddit forums, and spending money on software that helps them build better teams.. He claims he enjoys the game, but he never meant to play it for pleasure. He has spent roughly $40,000 on his habit since August of last year. A desire to make this his full-time career is what he claims he had at the time.
Since it was related to the crypto markets, Axie seemed to be able to do this briefly last year. If you’re competing in a smaller tournament, you’ll get Smooth Love Potion tokens (SLP) instead of Axie Infinity Shards (AIS) (AXS). Because they may be exchanged like cryptocurrencies because their ownership is recorded on a blockchain, Axies are nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
There are several methods for Axie to earn money. For Armentia, one of the most important goals was reproduction, which involved a reduction in in-game activity and an increase in forward-looking planning. New Axies may be created by existing Axies’ owners by selecting two of their own to serve as parents and paying a fee in SLP and AXS for each additional one. With this new identity comes qualities from both of the parents.
Since new Axie players need Axies to play, the price of Axies is continually on the increase. Last August, Armentia began reproducing at a time when conventional economics seemed to have no bearing. Consequently, he promises that “You will be assured to make 300 percent or 400 percent on your money in only five days.” I thought it was a waste of time.
‘Play-to-earn’ video games were pioneered by Sky Mavis Inc., the company behind Axie. “We believe in a global future where work and pleasure become one,” reads their website’s mission statement. We use the terms “player empowerment” and “economic opportunity” interchangeably. Our revolution is only getting started. In addition to Andreessen Horowitz and the crypto-focused startup Paradigm, the business formed in Ho Chi Minh City by a collection of Asian, European, and American entrepreneurs received $160 million in investment. Axie Infinity, according to Sky Mavis, had 2 million daily users in the same month as its launch.