The founder of Crypto Unicorns, Aron Beierschmitt, talks with NFT Steez about the essential elements blockchain games need to create enduring 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.
The CEO of Laguna Games and founder of Crypto Unicorns, Aron Beierschmitt, discusses the viability of P2E-focused blockchain games on the most recent episode of NFT Steez with Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond.
According to Beierschmitt, the transition from a play-to-earn to a play-and-earn paradigm indicates that there is still room for experimentation and growth in these games. “Nothing has changed in terms of producing games,” Beierschmitt stated. However, with blockchain technology, crypto natives and gamers may now play, own, and possibly monetise these play-and-earning models. The broader concern is whether it is sustainable.
The Paradigm And Emotion Shift In P2E Gaming
In response to the shift in sentiment toward P2E and how Crypto Unicorns is approaching it, Beierschmitt stated that the company is “charting a path to sustainability through the combination of economic farming simulation” and real-time “skill-based gaming loops” to attract more users into its ecosystem. According to Beierschmitt, these gaming loops must not only have a semblance of structure and purpose but must also be exciting and engaging for players.
The target audience for Crypto Unicorns is more closely aligned with individuals native to the cryptocurrency industry, he noted, and blockchain-based games are not for everyone.
Beierschmitt asserts that there is a lack of “incentive alignment for free-to-play,” which would enable producers to optimise the value they derive from the small percentage of players who spend money on free-to-play games. This gap causes a “paradigm mismatch,” in which Web3 gaming allows players to achieve a new level of autonomy and ownership of in-game products, assets, and expertise.
Since gamers may earn money while enjoying their favourite game, according to Beierschmitt, this is what makes the play-and-earn model “compelling.” Web3 not only provides player provenance and ownership, but with governance models, players and participants may now assume “control of the game, ecosystem, and IP [intellectual property],” according to Beierschmitt.
The In-game Economy Is Still A Work In Progress
Most play-and-earn games have had difficulty with in-game economics. Beierschmitt said that one thing assists the dynamic between passive and active players while examining the characteristics required for in-game economies to be viable in the long run. Passive players make investments in active players to advance in the game.
However, Beierschmitt stressed that for the dynamic to be sustainable, “skill-based gameplay loops” and “token sinks” must be introduced since this returns the player to the economy and ecology. Most play-and-earn games, according to Beierschmitt, are still in the process of transitioning from the “growth phase” to the “maturation phase,” but he believes there are “promising futures in the days ahead!”