Axie media hate has been rife on social media with headlines about ‘promised riches and delivered disaster’ making the rounds. And earlier this week, Axie Infinity’s co-founder Aleksander Larsen hit back at criticisms.
The game has changed some people’s lives. A huge proportion of players come from the Philippines, and many were able to earn thousands of dollars per month through Axie Infinity. In fact, most players in the Philippines made at least above the minimum wage in the country between May and October of 2021.
This was achieved primarily through obtaining Smooth Love Potion, the in-game cryptocurrency, and exchanging it for fiat currencies. The game soared in popularity last year and SLP reached an all-time high of $0.399.
But the incredible results did not last. Like most cryptocurrencies, Axie Infinity’s Smooth Love Potion (SLP) reached new heights last year only to crash spectacularly this year.
The Axie media hate debacle
The highs of last year’s crypto market made many Axie Infinity players a living. But the subsequent loss in value caused people to lose their livelihoods and investments almost overnight.
Prominent media outlets published several damning reports as a result.
For example, this Bloomberg article said the game ‘delivered disaster’ for most of its players.
What did Axie say in response?
Larsen released a Twitter thread outlining his frustrations with recent news articles, which he described as ‘hit pieces’.
He said:
“It’s frustrating to see titles like ‘promised riches’ or ‘promised to lift people out of poverty’ since it does not reflect our messaging.
“While sometimes it’s possible for some players to make a living, we have never made financial promises.
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It's frustrating to see titles like ‘promised riches’ or ‘promised to lift people up of poverty’ since it does not reflect our messaging.While sometimes it is possible for some players to make a living, we have never made financial promises.https://t.co/Wt01wRQJxU
— Psycheout – Aleksander | Axie Infinity (@Psycheout86) July 27, 2022
The distinction between Play-to-Earn and Play-and-Earn
The co-founder of the popular game also made a distinction between the game’s view of ‘play-to-earn’ and the public’s understanding of what the concept actually means.
He said: “In our opinion, “Play-to-Earn” means that players are able to earn Fungible and Non-Fungible tokens in a gaming universe, which may or may not have value.
Over time we noticed that players viewed it differently, hence the change to “Play-and-Earn”
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In our opinion, "Play-to-Earn" means that players are able to earn Fungible and Non-Fungible tokens in a gaming universe, which may or may not have value.Over time we noticed that players viewed it differently, hence the change to "Play-and-Earn"
— Psycheout – Aleksander | Axie Infinity (@Psycheout86) July 27, 2022
Here, Larsen clarified his vision for his play-to-earn game, which is certainly different from that of many players who used Axie Infinity as an income-generating platform. To Larsen, the concept of play-to-earn was more about earning tokens in-game; their outside value was secondary.
This sheds some light on the subtle but important shift from play-to-earn to play-and-earn, where the main objective isn’t about making a full-time income.
Axie Media Hate: Co-founder remains positive despite fluctuations
Despite current crypto market conditions, Larsen remains positive about Axie Infinity’s future. He said:
“Our heart goes out to those who are feeling the effects of the crypto market crash, and the drop in SLP prices, but short-term fluctuations in price do not affect our mission.”
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Our heart goes out to those who are feeling the effects of the crypto market crash, and the drop in SLP prices, but short-term fluctuations in price do not affect our mission.— Psycheout – Aleksander | Axie Infinity (@Psycheout86) July 27, 2022
The co-founder is focusing on the long-term objectives of the game. This is an understandable viewpoint, but it is at odds with the expectations of some players who are currently struggling to recoup losses.
Larsen went on to tout the many positives that Axie has experienced despite the fledgling crypto market. He said: “Recent hit pieces never tell the full story and fail to address our strong stats such as the 400,000 Axies that have been purchased in the last 30 days, or that we have over 3.78M installs on the Ronin Wallet, with 800k monthly active users.”
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Recent hit pieces never tell the full story and fail to address our strong stats such as the 400,000 Axies that have been purchased in the last 30 days, or that we have over 3.78M installs on the Ronin Wallet, with 800k monthly active users.— Psycheout – Aleksander | Axie Infinity (@Psycheout86) July 27, 2022
Will Axie ever provide a full-time income for its players?
Axie Infinity was accused of back-tracking when it started referring to its model as play-and-earn rather than play-to-earn.
And certainly, tweets from the company two years ago suggest it viewed Axie as ‘an attractive side-hustle’ for people from certain countries.
An incredible story from Venezuela!
Public employees make 10$ a month there, making Axie's play to earn economy an attractive side-hustle for Venezuelans.
Axie stands for economic freedom for gamers, but also for oppressed people across the world!https://t.co/nwRERNelAN
— Axie Infinity🦇🔊 (@AxieInfinity) February 7, 2020
But is the Axie media hate justified?
Whether the game explicitly promised its users a full-time income or not, the fact remains that a large chunk of its users played primarily to earn.
And many may hope to achieve similar results in the future.
But Larsen’s recent tweet hints at far less opportunity for earning than some players may have expected.
He said: “We still believe that Axie Infinity will be a community-led digital nation that educates gamers on Web3 and provides opportunities for wealth creation and new jobs.
“It will take time to build and won’t impact all players
“But Axie will likely have more pro gamers than most games.”
We still believe that Axie Infinity will be a community-led digital nation that educates gamers on web3 and provides opportunities for wealth creation and new jobs
It will take time to build and won't impact all players
But Axie will likely have more pro gamers than most games
— Psycheout – Aleksander | Axie Infinity (@Psycheout86) July 27, 2022
Larsen’s bold promise of jobs and pro-players still falls short of making any claims about the mainstream player earning a full-time income from Axie Infinity moving forward.
Note, how he particularly stresses that it will take time to build and ‘won’t impact all players’.
This is in line with the company’s pivot towards play-and-earn, where earning as a concept is taking a bit of a backseat at the moment.
Should you expect to earn a living through P2E generally?
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt are running rampant as investors and enthusiasts across the crypto space are losing out.
But despite this, P2E gaming will likely emerge from the ashes stronger than ever.
After all, let’s not forget that just a few months ago, Reddit co-founder Alex Ohanian predicted that in 5 years 90% of all games will be blockchain-based and P2E; people will expect to earn from their games.
Here’s what he said during the ‘Where It Happens’ podcast: “In five years, 90% of people will not play a game unless they’re being properly valued for that time.
“You will value your time properly. Instead of being harvested for advertisements, or being fleeced for dollars to buy stupid hammers you don’t actually own, you will be playing some on-chain equivalent game that will be just as fun.
“And you will be the harvester.”
While there is no guarantee that everyone will be able to make a full-time living through gaming, many people earning while gaming could become a reality in the next few years.
