If you could do anything to make a living, would you do what you are doing right now? If not, what would you do?
If gaming is your hobby, the play-to-earn market might make your dream a reality: you can finally make money doing things you love. At least this is what play-to-earn games are claiming to offer. This article will look through the cases of Pegaxy and the upcoming Mars Metaverse, how these games fulfill the promise of giving players tools to earn money, and whether these games differ from gambling.
The essence of play-to-earn games
Play-to-earn gaming is synonymous with NFT and crypto gaming. It is not surprising as NFTs and cryptocurrency are excellent tools that can be used to create play-to-earn mechanisms. First of all, they are digital making it easy to integrate them into video games. Secondly, they correlate with the real-life economies, thus have a value outside the games, and can be easily transformed into earnings that can be used to pay for any of your expenses. And lastly, they are secure and guarantee users full control of their assets meaning you will not be losing your funds if you get banned.
Many people around the world spend hours playing video games getting one thing in return: entertainment. Some of them have managed to earn from their hobby. We do know that eSport players or streamers, for example, can earn from gaming and even become rich doing it, but these activities require an enormous amount of skills and dedication. A Regular Joe who plays games leisurely won’t see such opportunities and can only dream of earning from gaming, right?
Not anymore - thanks to blockchain, the gaming industry is changing. A simple innovation like NFT has changed the world as we know it. Thanks to NFTs, many people worldwide can turn their hobby into an income source.
Many crypto games have emerged since the start of blockchain gaming in 2017. Decentraland, The Sandbox and Axie Infinity are the giants of the market, but they are just the tip of the iceberg in the play-to-earn genre. There is no denying it: NFT games are taking up the market, gradually changing it and improving it for the players.
But many skeptics out there do not believe in the future of P2E gaming. One argument against crypto gaming is straightforward: these games are gambling. Is there any truth to that?
Pegaxy: World's leading play-to-earn horse racing game
Ever dreamed of having a horse, watching it race and even win? Now you can achieve that without leaving your home: Pegaxy (coined from Pegasus and Galaxy) is a game that allows players to own NFT horses, put them into races, breed them, and, of course, earn cryptocurrency from winning and trading assets.
The premise of the game is quite similar to Axie Infinity: both games involve virtual pets that can be used to compete with other players. Pagaxy was inspired by Axie Infinity, thus the similarity is not a coincidence.
When you think of racing games, games like Need For Speed or the Mario Kart series come to mind. Most of them are grounded on the same basic principle: you pick a car and race against other cars by controlling your machine. It requires skill and effort to win these games and the outcome is fully up to you. Is Pegaxy similar to these games?
Not exactly. All NFT horses carry attributes that can help you win the race, making some horses more powerful than others as they are more likely to win a race. Unsurprisingly, the higher the chance of winning, the more expensive your horse is. It means your quest to win races on Pegaxy starts from opening your wallet - the more you are willing to invest, the more you earn. After you have put your horse into a race, there is nothing you can do to increase your chances of winning. That way it is similar to betting.
This style of gameplay raises an important question: are NFT games just gambling in disguise?
While Pegaxy does not strike as a video game people would play if they didn't offer cryptocurrency, it is not gambling. The reason why Pegaxy could not be put into the gambling category is that it is free to start a race with your horse. On the other hand, it does cost to buy yourself a horse NFT, so you could claim that the charge is concealed and the line between lottery and gaming is blurred. While categorizing things is not easy and people will disagree, one thing is certain: Pegaxy lacks the fun element that is crucial for the game to be successful. So how is it successful?
Like many P2E games, Pegaxy allows you to rent out NFTs to other people. This way you can earn passively from your investment. You can even find bots that will play Pegaxy for you - people are not investing their time in the game for the fun of it, but for the cryptocurrency that it offers. It is clear why it is so - the game might raise your adrenaline levels the few first times you put your horse to the race, but it becomes tedious very soon as the game is repetitive and hardly gives any satisfaction from itself.
But nonetheless, winning a game on Pegaxy will fill your wallet with Vigorus, the cryptocurrency of the game. This, of course, makes players come back for more. Vigorus did in fact skyrocket in 2022, February but has been dropping since without much hope to rise again. And since all the earnings from the game are in Vigorus, players are dependent on its price - the more it falls, the fewer earnings can one accumulate.
Mars Metaverse: Bringing fun to the P2E market
The biggest drawback to Pegaxy is the lack of entertaining mechanisms incorporated in the game. But not every play-to-earn game out there is boring.
Mars4 will be an immersive survival game set on the Red Planet. As a player, you will be collecting resources, constructing buildings, and terraforming your lands. Your adventure will include numerous tasks and quests across the Martian landscape - it is always busy on the Mars Metaverse.
You will not be playing alone on the Mars Metaverse - invite your friends and get ready to colonize Mars and earn from it. Just like with Pegaxy, the Mars Metaverse also has a cryptocurrency, MARS4 dollar, that can be earned from playing the game.
Besides MARS4 dollars, the Mars Metaverse is made from NFTs. A Mars4 NFT is a land plot of Mars. You can already pick a spot on the Mars Metaverse, your future home. Soon in-game NFTs will be released as well, so you will be able to prepare for your journey on Mars by obtaining vehicles and various tools to increase your productivity. The higher your productivity - the bigger your earnings! To learn about the upcoming Mars Metaverse in-depth, read the Mars4 Whitepaper.
The Mars Metaverse is being created by people who believe that we can achieve the best of both worlds: a financially rewarding game that is also enjoyable for the players. This is what Nick, the Game Development Director, has to say about the upcoming game:
My vision for Mars4 is an immersive experience of survival and triumph. I want to be a part of crafting an experience that is fun for a single player fighting against the elements, all the way to tens of thousands working together in a thriving ecosystem. The important word there is “fun.”
No one can explain the upcoming Mars Metaverse better than Nick himself - that is why Mars4 has regular AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions with Nick and other team members. You can watch the recordings of AMAs on the Mars4 YouTube channel.
Mars4 vs Pegaxy: The utility of the token
If you compare Mars4 to Pegaxy, the main similarity is the play-to-earn mechanism. Both games include NFTs and cryptocurrency allowing players to earn from the game. Other than that, the games do not look similar at all.
Mars4 will be a Mars metaverse, a unique game where players can visit each other and various public spaces such as shops, offices. In Pegaxy you cannot do much more with your NFT horses besides breeding and racing. While Pegaxy did allow players to earn, with dropping prices of their currency, it is unclear what the future holds for the company.
The constant drop of the Vigorus token can be explained by its lack of utility for it. After winning, players are quick to exchange the token as the only use case for it is breeding NFT horses. Similarly to Axie Infinity, after the drop of the token, Pegaxy's horses also lost their value and currently you can get a horse for as little as 15 USDT, so breeding is not profitable.
MARS4 dollars will be used throughout the game - from buying tools to increase your productivity to buying various cosmetic items, tickets to events. The Mars Metaverse will not stop growing after its release as the team's vision is to create an exciting virtual world that adapts and evolves, always bringing new experiences to the Martians. Soon you will be able to go to the first concert on Mars Metaverse as the team has plans to provide various entertaining events for the players. Activities like this will stimulate the economy, making MARS4 dollar prices grow.
If you compare the token prices of Pegaxy and Decentraland or the Sandbox, it is clear that the two later managed to rise and keep the token price above the coin's open position. It is because they are providing users with a game that allows you to have fun and earn cryptocurrency from playing - thus making it an enjoyable experience because of two reasons, not one like Pegaxy. Mars4 will be more similar to Decentraland and the Sandbox - by creating a Mars Metaverse, the project aims to develop an immersive virtual world filled with never-ending adventures where the MARS4 dollar is used as the main currency of the game.
Conclusion
NFT gaming is still in its early phase. Many market-leading games such as Axie Infinity and Pegaxy are simplistic and lack the fun element in them. The mechanism of these games can evoke the idea of gambling as the players cannot control the outcome of the game. For example, when you put your horse to a race in Pegaxy, the game does not allow any interference that can alter the result of the match. While Pegaxy is not gambling since you do not have to pay to start a race, it is still a game that is hardly entertaining. It is no wonder why the native of Pegaxy token, Vigorus, is dropping.
Mars4 is a new generation game that strives to give players various tools to interact with the Mars Metaverse. As a player, you will have to do whatever it takes to survive and thrive on Mars - and this will not be a walk in a park. The game will be challenging and entertaining while also incorporating play-to-earn mechanisms. The team behind the project aims to create a platform that can evolve and adapt creating a dynamic experience of the Mars Metaverse, the future of gaming.
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