For many decades, gaming was just for fun. With the rise of blockchain gaming, video games became much more than that. More specifically, blockchain technology enabled players to become owners of in-game content and earn money by playing games.
While this new type of gaming is still in its infancy, there are already many ways to earn money with blockchain games.
Here are the best ones!
1. Play Games to Earn Rewards
Each blockchain game has its own play-to-earn system in regards to what exactly players need to do to earn rewards and what type of reward they get. However, generally speaking, they all follow the same concept – players play the game and interact with its ecosystem and get rewarded for it. That can include battling other players, participating in tournaments and events, completing tasks, etc.
Most commonly, the rewards come in the form of fungible and non-fungible tokens. Typically, every blockchain game has its native token, or several of them, each of which serves a different purpose.
Let me give you an example of how the play-to-earn model works in a popular blockchain game.
plants vs undead
In Plants vs. Undead, a game similar to Plant vs. Zombies, players need to protect a mother tree and fight off the undead. If they’re successful at this (or they complete other game tasks), players are rewarded with Light Energy tokens, which can be exchanged for the game’s native token, PVU. That token, in turn, can be swapped on exchanges for other tokens or fiat currency.
2. Breed Game Characters
Many blockchain games allow players to breed game characters. This is another way to earn money with blockchain games.
Here’s how it works.
In such games, game characters are NFTs, which means each of them is unique and has only one owner. By breeding two game characters, players can create a completely new and unique character and basically mint a new NFT. This brand NFT can be sold. Depending on the rarity level and the current market state, players might make a profit.
Here’s an example of a game that uses this model.
axie infinity battle
Breeding in Axie Infinity
In Axie Infinity, players can breed Axies – game creatures that are used for battles. While the breeding process enables players to get more Axies for battle, players can also sell them for profit to other players. When players breed Axies, genetics come into play, just like with humans or animals. Certain genes can be passed down to the offspring. To get an idea of which characteristics the offspring might have, players can use this breeding simulator.
By breeding Axies, players get the chance to get a rare offspring that will be worth a lot of money. However, that depends on which Axies are bred. In other words, which genes they have and how pure they are. Furthermore, AXS and SLP tokens are required for breeding, so it doesn’t come without a cost. Furthermore, the Axie Infinity market is quite unpredictable, which is another risk factor when trying to make a profit.
sandbox metaverse land map
3. Buy Metaverse Land
During the last couple of years, we saw a boom in the virtual real estate market. Metaverse land has become a hot commodity – everybody wants a piece of it.
There’s a good reason for it. Owning metaverse land can be very lucrative.
Let me explain.
Games like Decentraland and The Sandbox brought the new, blockchain-based version of metaverse gaming into the mainstream. These games enable players to explore a virtual world, interact with other players, build, and create. But most importantly, these types of games allow players to become landowners in the metaverse.
In 2021, everybody went crazy for the metaverse and we saw many celebrities and brands buying plots of digital land for insane amounts. Because there was such high demand and the number of available land parcels is usually limited in such games, it drove the prices up. Thus, owning land became very profitable, just like it’s often the case with real-world real estate.
Furthermore, virtual real estate owners can not only sell their land for profit but also rent it to other players. This is another way to earn a passive income.
It’s important to note that land in the metaverse is an NFT. As I mentioned, trading NFTs can be very lucrative, depending on their value.
Here’s an example of a blockchain game where players can earn money by owning metaverse land.
decentraland marketplace
Owning Land in Decentraland
Decentraland is one of the most popular metaverse games on the market. One of its main draws is the ability to own land in this virtual world. You can buy Decentraland land on the game’s official marketplace or secondary marketplaces like OpenSea. All purchases inside Decentraland are made with MANA, the game’s native token. There are several districts in Decentraland and the land price depends on which district it’s located in.
As the game becomes more and more popular and the limited land parcels become more scarce and exclusive, land owners can sell their parcels for a big profit or rent them.
