Video games are something that everyone can relate to while growing up. It was the best stress buster after school and an exceptional way to explore a parallel universe within a digital space. Perhaps, everyone recalls those wonderful Mario moments or Contra quests. As a result of increasing fascination to entertain oneself through role-plays, action & adventure, the gaming industry turned massive, amassing $170 billion and expected to breach a quarter trillion within the next five years.
Those numbers certainly establish that the gaming economy is the next big thing to watch out for. However, players who are the prime drivers of the economy have very little to claim, apart from just entertaining themselves. What if players could take a share of their contribution towards making the gaming economy where it is now?
It may sound a little out of the box for you, but Web 3.0 by harnessing NFTs and blockchain technology aims to achieve that. And to an extent, that trend has already started in South Asia at a mass scale since millennials have either started playing video games along with their day job as a side hustle; or some of them have quit their day job and dedicated all their hours to gaming.
So, it is not surprising when some gaming cryptos record a 300% to 500% increase in value. Since most gamers are busy interacting with those environments by locking their gaming crypto as fuel to mine NFTs, upgrade skins or build unique avatars. That makes us question what gaming cryptos are in the first place.
What is Gaming Crypto?
Gaming crypto is a gateway to experience the true essence of Web 3.0 where players get full control or ownership within a game environment using them. In erstwhile centralized gaming, players couldn’t own and monetize rare weapons, skins, and characters they have created within the game environment. Through the help of gaming cryptos, they can do so using NFTs and blockchain technology. These tokens are fuel running the game environment, where players take part in quests, interact with the game environment and win rewards. The upside here is that rewards can be encashed for real money in the physical world.
Why is Gaming Crypto such a FAD?
Gaming crypto has turned into a fad because it is incentivizing the users for their time within the game environment in a variety of ways. Thus allowing gaming to evolve beyond a source of entertainment to an income-generating economy for gamers, developers, and gaming companies alike. To validate this point further, take for example millennials who are actively engaging in these games and earning a good income.
In the Philippines, more than 60,000 people are playing Axie Infinity as per Axie Infinity’s head of growth Jeffrey Zirlin and they are making as high as $2000 every month mining rare NFTs within the game environment. The ecosystem witnessed a massive surge in active users which jumped from 4,000 to 2 million in months due to such heavy rewards.
Hence, it is much justifiable why the AXS price shot for the moon in a few months from a few dollars to as high as $165.37. As a result, people turned crazy investing in gaming cryptos allowing gaming companies to raise as high as $476 million only within the first 6 months of 2021. The trend would follow for the rest of the year and could even stretch beyond 2022 citing a lot of metaverse activities and the rise of metaverse gaming. Having that said, as it is a common saying, the trend is your greatest friend, if you want to cash in on this opportunity, here are a few top coins you should keep on your radar for 2022 while choosing gaming cryptos.
Top 5 Gaming Cryptos To Purchase in 2022
#5 Gala
In November 2021, Gala recorded an unprecedented 550% rise; however, recently due to the Fed’s tapering and pessimism in the crypto market, the token is down, establishing a very good entry point. With the Metaverse concept likely to explode in 2022, Gala could be a top choice to capitalize upon at the moment.
#4 Star Atlas
There has been a lot happening in the metaverse and crypto gaming is on fire, when both of these revolutionary technologies converge, the sky’s the limit for growth. Having said that, Star Atlas is a perfect amalgamation of both of these concepts fusing together. Within the Star Atlas gaming verse, players can build, mine, explore and trade rare NFTs within a metaverse gaming environment.
The great visuals of the game environment would keep gamers fixated on the environment. On top of this, there are ample opportunities to cash in for gamers while making skins, indulging in quests, and doing a lot of activities within the ecosystem. With that said, Star Atlas could potentially explode in 2022 seeing the craze for gamification reaching a new pinnacle in 2021.
#3 Yield Guild Games
Axie Infinity was indeed the best choice to participate in gaming cryptos when it was very new to the market. But at present, when you realize you need 3 Axie’s to participate in the game environment, it becomes hard to let that fact sink in deep. The reason is per Axie, at the moment costs $50. So, if you want to participate in the Axie Infinity play-to-earn game environment, it is mandatory to spend $150.
The YGG token breaks such barriers to entry by establishing the concept of a shared economy for gamers. In this model, the gamers guild would provide the necessary assets to facilitate smooth entry within the play-to-earn gaming environment. In return, they would simply ask for a cut from your net income earned within the game environment. Perhaps, it wouldn’t be a bad bet considering the craze for play-to-earn games and the high entry costs involved for gamers.
#2 Immutable X
Immutable X is the next innovation that the play-to-earn gaming ecosystem needs at the moment. Using the Immutable X ecosystem, NFTs can be minted at nearly zero fees. Juxtapose the same using the Ethereum chain, users have to pay as high as $100 as gas charges.
Moving forward in 2022, play-to-earn games would turn more mainstream than it is now and frugal solutions would be required to mint rare NFTs. At such times, this ecosystem would unequivocally be a hit since it can interoperate with multiple game environments built on top of different blockchains and at a fraction of the cost. In a way, unifying the entire game verse under one ecosystem for minting NFTs in a cost-effective and environment-friendly manner.
In 2022, these tokens do have a strong potential based on the use-cases and utility they bring to the gaming ecosystem. If you have bought them in smaller amounts, storing them on an exchange wallet or hot wallet is a good way forward. However, if you have purchased in large volumes, a cold wallet is a much better choice for storing your cryptos safely.
#1 Enjin Coin
Enjin has been a slow starter consolidating at a specific price point throughout 2021, but it will end up as a project which was considered underrated but with immense potential. To understand this, you have to understand that though you do well in a game environment, there’s no guarantee that the game will live forever or you may be interested to continue over there.
Having said that, at times you may feel what if I can move this asset which I have created all this while to a new game environment and realize their value there. Is there a solution present to help achieve that? Through the Enjin coin, you can very well move your NFTs across multiple gaming environments in a seamless and cost-effective way. Players would get more freedom as a result and they could literally consider gaming as a gateway to sustain their livelihood when they can realize true value for their collectibles irrespective of the gaming environment where they operate.
