P2E gaming is in a protracted "maturation period," according to Crypto Unicorns' founder.
Aron Beireschmitt, the founder of Crypto Unicorns, speaks with NFT Steez about the essential elements blockchain games require to create enduring in-game play-and-earn economies.
Early in 2022, as the excitement surrounding play-to-earn (P2E) games and platforms started to wane, Web3 players emphasised the need for games to be more "fun" and less financially focused. Aron Beireschmitt, the CEO of Laguna Games and the creator of Crypto Unicorns, was interviewed by Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond for the most current edition of NFT Steez about the viability of P2E-focused blockchain games.
According to Beireschmitt, the transition from a play-to-earn to a play-and-earn paradigm indicates that these games still have room for experimentation and development. According to Beireschmitt, "nothing has changed about how games are made," but crypto-natives and gamers can now play, own, and even profit from these play-and-earning models because to blockchain technology. The main issue at hand is whether it is sustainable.
P2E gaming's paradigm and emotional change
According to Beireschmitt, Crypto Unicorns is "charting a route to sustainability through the mix of economic farming simulation" and real-time "skill-based gameplay loops" in order to lure more people into its ecosystem in response to the shift in perception of P2E. According to Beireschmitt, these gaming loops must not only resemble form and function but also be enjoyable and compelling for players. He did, however, recognise that not everyone would enjoy playing blockchain-based games, and that Crypto Unicorns' target audience is more likely to be crypto-natives.
In order to optimise revenue from the small percentage of players who do spend money on free-to-play games, developers need to have "incentive alignment for free-to-play," according to Beireschmitt. Web3 gaming enables players to achieve a new level of autonomy and ownership when it comes to in-game items, assets, and skill because of this discrepancy, which produces a "mismatch in the paradigm."
According to Beireschmitt, the possibility of earning money while playing a player's preferred game is what makes the play-and-earn concept "compelling." With the help of governance models made possible by Web3, players and participants may now assume "ownership of the direction the game, ecosystem, and IP (intellectual property)," according to Beireschmitt.
The in-game economy is still being developed.
Most play-and-earn games have found that their in-game economies are a major source of contention. Beireschmitt outlined the elements required for long-term viability of in-game economies, citing one of these elements as the interaction between passive and active players. In order to advance in the game, passive players make investments in active players.
However, Beireschmitt stressed that "skill-based gameplay loops" and "token sinks" must be added in order for the dynamic to be viable because this brings the player back into the economy and ecology. Although most play-and-earn games are still figuring out how to move from the "growing phase" to the "maturation phase," according to Beireschmitt, he is confident that there are "promising futures in the days ahead"!
