In today’s Play-to-Earn (P2E) gaming industry, most of us spend a lot of time thinking about who is who. actually Play the game. In other words, who is the target audience now and who we are trying to bring into the fold to grow the gaming ecosystem in the future.
But to really understand who is currently playing these games, how different trends have been formed and evolved in the crypto industry in the past, and how P2E growth reflects them. It helps to find out if you are doing it.
Current P2E industry stage: Survey of digital asset trends
Whether it was Bitcoin, the dApp ecosystem, NFTs, or any other major cryptographic technology, each of them seemed to go through a five-step cycle.
The first is the birth of Niche community A small group of very passionate individuals who build and experiment with emerging technologies. These types of communities were formed around Bitcoin in crypto groups and then in forums like Bitcoin Talk. Similar groups are formed around other new cryptocurrencies and decentralized platforms.
Once the niche community is large enough, their passion for the technology of interest begins to grow. Word of mouth.. This leads to a kind of “snowball effect” when community members start involving friends, colleagues and online followers. After enough time in the word-of-mouth stage, the technology saidNext best measure“Stage. This is when hype takes root on a large scale and technology changes from a niche interest to something that” changes everything. ” This is usually when user numbers, asset prices, and news coverage begin to explode.
Of course, what goes up must go down. And after technology has reached its “second best” moment, hype inevitably subsides.This leads to the moment realization The tech community and the general public begin to realize that they never get rich overnight and that true innovation takes longer than expected.
After these four early stages, technology finally Maturity.. It’s no longer a block new kid, or a taste of the week. Rather, this technology is an established part of the Web3 landscape. This is the end of these five stages, but I believe this is where the actual audience of technology begins to form. This is the point where technology has real potential to grow and become more visible to the general public. Beyond the cryptographic area.
P2E hype cycle
Where is P2E currently fit in this cycle? In my opinion, we are in the middle of the “next best” and “realization” stages.
At this moment in 2022, Axie Infinity has escaped from the many hype around P2E in 2021, which suddenly gained a large number of new users and new capital. However, widespread criticism of the game, coupled with a plunge in token prices and major technical failures, has caused some disillusionment in the space.This has created sound skepticism enough to give us the momentum needed to move towards us. realization..
So the next question is: What does P2E’s current trajectory mean in terms of who is actually playing and investing in the game?
A closer look at the five-step hype cycle reveals that the users who participate in a particular technology in the first four phases are generally the same type of people. These are “true followers” and are natives of cryptocurrencies who are willing to invest their time and money in technology while it is emerging. They ride along the bumps of the road and experience the bad as well as the good.
On Web3, maturity can feel like a stagnation
In Web3, many of these people can panic as they enter maturity (often accompanied by a major market downturn). The stage of mature technology does not work in the hyperbolic way that Web3 technology is commonly known. It doesn’t “go to the moon” as people with “Web3 brains” usually use to define success. In fact, the reality is that soaring token prices are not an indicator of actual long-term value. Instead, they are simply a sign that a particular segment of the market is getting a lot of attention at a particular moment. In some cases, soaring prices can even signal future problems.
However, the excessive fixation to high token prices found in much of the Web3 culture means that the long-term relative stability that follows the maturity stage can feel like the end of innovation. Therefore, early adopters may feel that they tend to leave. But in reality, maturity is not the end of innovation. It’s just the beginning..That project that is Understand that in order to be successful, you need to focus on building an ecosystem that will survive in the future during this maturity phase. in the end, Web3 is not a charity And without good products, even the most exaggerated hype can’t ultimately save you.
Looking to the future
Currently, there are no completed games in the Web3 space. As such, Web3 games only attract native Web3 cryptocurrency players who are willing to punch and roll during the development of this technology. They are here for the opportunity to make money. However, when the game actually ends, non-cryptocurrency natives will begin to participate in the fun.
As we move further toward maturity, wheat is separated from the rice husks. After 24 months, the actual studio will continue to be created. The rest will go on the path of dinosaurs. User acquisition strategies and business fundamentals ultimately reveal the real thing from the fake. In the meantime, we need to bow down and continue building.
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* All investment / financial opinions expressed by NFT Plaza are from the site moderator’s personal research and experience and are intended as educational material only. Individuals need to thoroughly investigate every product before making any kind of investment.
Corey Wilton is the co-founder of Pegaxy, a play-and-earning racing game with futuristic mythical styling.