Despite widespread criticism of the play-to-earn (P2E) model in 2023, some pioneers in the Web3 gaming industry continue to believe in the potential of this model, seeing it as a “superpower” unlocked by the crypto space.
In 2023, play-to-earn was widely criticized and widely regarded as a “flawed” system. Atari founder Nolan Bushnell stated that this model is the reason why gamers are averse to crypto. Some even predicted the demise of the Web3 gaming model.
Competitive Advantage of Web3 Games
Despite this, Luke Barwikowski, CEO of Web3 massive multiplayer online (MMO) game Pixels, continues to look for ways to make P2E work. He believes that Web3 games can have a competitive advantage over their Web2 counterparts.
In an interview, Barwikowski explained how the Pixels team continues to explore the blockchain gaming space and try to make P2E gaming more sustainable. “We’re trying to figure out how to make play-to-earn work and how to make it sustainable. We know we have to make changes to the way the game works,” he said.
According to Barwikowski, Pixels’ Chapter 2 introduced major changes to gameplay and systems that affect player progression and interactions. He believes these changes will bring them closer to their goal of making P2E gaming sustainable.
Despite the criticism of the P2E model, Barwikowski remains confident that it is one of the best innovations in gaming and Web3. “Play-to-earn is the single biggest innovation that Web3 unlocks, and it is the biggest superpower of Web3 gaming,” he explained.
Coordinating incentives to maximize specific ecosystem goals
Barwikowski emphasized that Web3 is about coordinating incentives to maximize specific ecosystem goals. It’s up to Web3 and gaming projects to figure out how to make it work.
He pointed out that Web2 gaming companies are inherently profit-driven, with significant budgets for advertising and ecosystem growth. Web3 gaming, on the other hand, seeks to give this money directly to players, without simply issuing tokens without generating revenue. “Our job is to build a technology to figure out how to do this coordination,” he said.
Barwikowski believes that play-to-earn is an innovation for user acquisition that is hyper-competitive to Web2 gaming. However, there needs to be a fun game that generates revenue in the same way that Web2 games do.
Shift in the gaming paradigm
Additionally, Barwikowski noted that Web2 games are starting to wake up to this shift in the gaming paradigm. He added that Web2 game companies are starting to “fear” this innovation, and that once Web3 finds the right balance, it will be very difficult for Web2 games to compete with Web3 gaming.
Barwikowski remains steadfast in his mission to make P2E gaming sustainable and is convinced that this model can revolutionize the gaming industry.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/web3-gaming-blijft-optimistisch-ondanks-kritiek-op-play-to-earn-model/
