Thread by @amrali0fx

#Week_3: #P2E, Day 2: Level 2: Game Monetization, The Promise of Play-And-Earn by @0xRyze

A glance into Game Monetization & how to keep games running

@AxieInfinity has been making headlines in the news for variety of reasons: its token’s price action, how it creates work-

2- For people globally and its incredible profit surge, surpassing the revenue of big projects (84.9 million USD in funds for its treasury! as of jul 2021)

Games as Products, server costs, the cost of hiring engineers and developers to build them, etc.

3- Keeping a (Game’s) Engine Running;

Game developers have a choice of how to monetize and fund their games. They must find ways to (1) fund initial development, (2) make revenue from the game that outstrips expenses.

Breaking down different incentives to monetize it;

4- Depending on that the mode of monetization in video games can drastically affect the end-user experience of the video game

There are free-to-play games (F2P), and there are premium (P2P, or pay-to-play) games. We define free-to-play as ‘free-to-start’-

5- providing some level of gameplay without requiring any cash investment from the player. In contrast, a P2P game requires you to invest up-front in order to meaningfully engage in the game

Free-to-Play games monetize in a variety of ways — sponsorships, advertisements-

6- And most important, in-app purchases which can be either cosmetic or have an effect on gameplay.

Some challenges for this model; advertisements can break the flow of the game, Rewarded ads are better, but still take away from play-time. Selling cosmetics isn't enough either

7- Premium Games; they are games that you pay upfront for.

When you want to play these games, you might go to GameStop to buy The Witcher 3 for 18.99, or you might buy Minecraft from the Microsoft store for 19.99, or download Stardew Valley on your iPhone for 7.99 USD.

8- Some others you pay a subscription to continue playing in the game, like World of Warcraft (9 billion USD of revenue as of 2017)

Some examples: F2P game can be free-to-start while allowing membership subscription (Runescape) -

9- or be F2P while allowing a one-time membership purchase for more content (BattleOn). A F2P game can show you advertisements (any hypercasual game on your phone) and allow you to buy cosmetics (DotA 2, League of Legends).

*The Challenge of Monetization;
1st: In-App Purchases=

10- Or what's called: microtransactions;
Either it is a pop up offering you energy to continue playing or want to look cooler one (offering Cosmetics) powerups to be stronger etc,

If we stop focus on forcing the player to pay by all ways, we can find new ways of monetization-

11- That 1) grow game communities and 2) derisk the game development process. Relying solely on monetization via microtransactions can erode trust of players over time.

Microtransactions aren’t terrible, but game devs have to be very careful when using them, check this insight👇

12- Combating Dissonance;
Monetization often is something the player would hate, he needs to feel while playing the game, it draws him away from their financial goals, have fun and relax.

We are in an era of re-valuation of values-

13- It is an opportunity for designers to pave the way for game economies that allow skilled users to engage in high leverage work, and regular users to enjoy the game,

Play to Earn games can help resolve that dissonance.

14- *On Gold Making, and Leveraged Work;

In World of Warcraft, there are many ways a player can make gold. In fact, there are entire websites dedicated to how you can make more gold! Killing monsters one by one is one of the slowest ways to do it, some others are:

15- Farming specific items (Bind on Equip Items or Pets that sell well)

AoE mob farming (killing in bulk at once)

Mastering the Auction House (trading items to other players, engaging in commerce)

Selling runs (pay me 50k and I’ll bring you in a group to kill this boss for you

16- Focusing on the last one; ppl organize themselves and pay gold upfront, kill a Big monster together and divide the final prize after selling it in the market,

Self-organizing and networks of legitimacy worked in games like World of Warcraft-

17- So I believe they can work in the metaverse too. In fact, it might work even better: one could write a smart contract that automates such a process, so you wouldn’t even have to trust someone to distribute that gold.
We will see people learning to write bots, nice outcome :D.

18- Play to Earn games have complex digital economies, just like World of Warcraft. There are many different ways to make and spend in-game currency. you can get a good understanding of the potential impact of developing more play-to-earn experiences here

19- Some interesting Quotes:
“At first, it looks easy because there’s a cute Axie… but when you’re in the game it’s like playing chess. It’s strategic.”

“(Playing Axie) is his hobby. Even when he loses, he would still play even without getting anything.” Lola 65 and her partner

20- “Crypto based games are community owned. Everybody in the community gets to share in the revenues and the upsides which means that participants, people who play, get a chance to play to earn.” - Mark Cuban

Building a game with P2E in mind means=

21- bringing in the larger community and allowing them to benefit from the game’s growth. It is incentive alignment.

When devs design games that are P2E, it feels less like a zero-sum game between devs and players, you’ll be working together with players to create new value

22- 'Play to Earn' suggests that one plays in order to earn, which can feel dystopian. Reminding one of click farms.

'Play and Earn' suggests the collaboration of play and earning. They are two equal actions. Playing a game for enjoyment, and earning money as well=

23- =Just by the value you create while playing.

The challenge of game designers in a play-to-earn, or play-and-earn is to help shape the player’s perception of the game’s utility to them. Designers charting in this new space must be able to articulate the value a game provides=

24- beyond entertainment by game mechanics and economy design.

Allowing players to monetize their value can add another dimension to the game, and a degree of motivation.
We won't replace monetization via microtransactions, or other forms, but there is potential here!

25- because there exists new ways to create values for both the players and the devs.

link to the full article which worth reading for sure: metaversus.substack.com/p/play-and-ear… Thanks for @0xRyze and his public contributions :).