Earn money by playing games? What you need to know about the play-to-earn revolution

Video games have usually entertained you without financial benefits. But now there are games that make money – really. Thousands of players are currently earning thousands of dollars a month by getting paid for their gaming time. However, this does not come without risk – you need an initial investment, and many of these games are high-risk.

How do money-making games actually work?

The concept is called GameFi and it is a combination of the gaming world with finance. In the game, you move around, complete tasks, and collect rewards. There are several types of these rewards:

Game Tokens – When you play, you collect special cryptocurrencies directly in the game. A typical example is SLP (Smooth Love Potion) from Axie Infinity. You earn it by completing daily tasks or fighting enemies. These tokens can be sold on cryptocurrency exchanges.

Collectible NFT items – During the game, you will acquire unique digital items: characters, weapons, costumes. Each of these items is unique thanks to NFT technology (non-fungible tokens). If a certain item doesn't suit you, you can sell it.

Staking as a third path – Some games allow you to lock your NFTs or tokens in a smart contract and in return, you receive rewards. For example, MBOX tokens from the MOBO game generate Mystery boxes – boxes filled with random NFTs of varying quality.

The idea is simple: the more you play, the better you build your characters and items, the more money flows to you from the game. This is the attraction of play-to-earn models.

Why does blockchain enable crimes to be prevented?

Older online games had auction houses and secondary markets. But there were a lot of scams: item duplication, hacking, fraud. Blockchain changes everything.

Blockchain is simply an immutable database managed by thousands of computers at the same time. Once something is written on the blockchain, no one can change, delete, or duplicate it. If your NFT in the game is unique, there is only one copy of it – on the blockchain. It cannot be copied.

This creates true digital scarcity. Game items are not virtual insignificant things, but digital assets with real value. Blockchain guarantees this.

How much do people really earn?

Reality is fascinating. Axie Infinity has become an alternative to social assistance in the Philippines. Players earn between 200 to 1000 dollars a month through farming. This is a solid income in developing countries.

How high is your earnings? It depends on:

• Game price – When the price of SLP is high, you earn more
• In your time – The more you play, the more tokens you collect
• Your skills – Better players go further and collect better

Trading with NFT creations (, for example breeding new Axies ) can yield more, but it's a lottery. The most expensive Axie was sold for 131,970 dollars, but that is an exception among millions. Farming tokens is safer for those who need a regular income.

Real numbers: what does it cost at the beginning?

Here is the catch. Games that make money are usually not free. In Axie Infinity, you had to buy three characters for approximately 600 dollars in October 2021. Only then could you play and collect SLP.

Over time, you will get your money back, but the entry barrier is high. For many people, this means borrowing Axies from a more experienced player (manager) and sharing the profits with them. This is how the scholarship system works – newcomers play for free, but a portion of the earnings goes to the character owner.

How do you convert to cash?

Once you have accumulated tokens or NFTs for hours, how do you convert them into money?

Step 1: Prepare a cryptocurrency wallet – You will need a wallet where you can download NFTs and tokens from the game. Anything works – just make sure it is compatible with the blockchain network where your game runs (Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, etc.).

Step 2: Send items to the exchange – You will place NFTs and tokens on an NFT marketplace or cryptocurrency exchange. There you will sell them out.

Step 3: Sell for stablecoin – Instead of selling SLP or SAND directly for dollars, you first convert it to a stablecoin (, for example, BUSD). Stablecoins are stable – their value hardly changes, so you are not trapped in volatility.

Step 4: Deposit into the bank – You can easily convert the stablecoin to fiat currency in your bank account. Or keep the remainder on the cryptocurrency card (, for example a certain Visa card ), and make payments directly with it.

It's not a direct path – you have to go through several steps. But it's understandable when you want to transform the digital world into the real economy.

Starting now? Here is your plan

Each play-to-earn game has slightly different requirements, but the basic steps are:

1. Choose a game (Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, MOBOX – there are dozens of options)
2. Get a cryptocurrency wallet
3. Decide whether you will invest on your own or borrow characters through the scholarship program.
4. Register an account on the exchange where you plan to sell (some NFT marketplace or cryptocurrency exchange)
5. Start playing and collecting

But remember: when you decide to sell for fiat currency, check the tax implications in your country. Cryptocurrency gains may be taxable.

Beware of risks – not everything is rosy

Games that earn money are new, and therefore everything that applies to new and experimental things applies to them. Many games can fail due to:

• Poor tokenomics – When the game is not economically sustainable, the token price drops, and your income disappears.
• Fraud – Not all projects are legit. Someone will take your money and disappear.
• Volatility – The prices of gaming tokens are lightning fast. What cost 100 dollars last month, costs 10 next month.

The rule is simple: don't invest more than you can afford to lose. Blockchain prevents duplication in the game itself, but normal market logic applies in the markets – prices fall, bubbles burst.

The Future of Play-to-Earn: Is It Sustainable?

The play-to-earn revolution is real. Thousands of people are actually making money from games. But it's not a gold mine – it's a business with risks like any other. The fundamental difference from the past is that blockchain has allowed players to own their digital assets and trade them on an open market.

Games that earn money will continue to exist, but it is said that the most successful ones are yet to come. If you are interested in GameFi in more detail, take a look at the available NFT marketplaces – new projects and Mystery boxes regularly appear there to help you enter the game.