Play and earn money. Why have P2E project tokens depreciated and what's next

Blockchain gaming projects have lost popularity, but does this area have prospects for further development? 

The rapid decline in the token exchange rate of most play-2-earn projects has also intensified criticism of these concepts as such. In addition to several devastating articles, popular documentaries and stories about gaming addiction to Web3 games have also appeared on the web.

The price of the P2E token, the first generation Axie Infinity project, has lost more than 90% of its peak. The asset became one of the biggest disappointments of investors last season. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the instant sale of an asset after breaking through important price levels was not available for many due to participation in fixed stacking for 90 or 180 days from Binance with the "most attractive" conditions of more than 100% per annum.

Smaller p2e projects suffered more than AXS in terms of capitalization: Aurory (AURY) on Solana lost more than 95% of the peak price, SolChicks (CHICKS) also on Solana lost over 98% of the maximum, and the liquidity of the asset almost completely disappeared from all centralized and decentralized sites. Gods Unchained (GODS) on Ethereum fell by 97% from the peak, Age of Gods (AOG) on Binance — by 96% from the maximum values.

Is gambling addiction dangerous for P2E users?
"At first I was glad, but soon I began to feel weak, insomnia began to appear," Filipino Orias, the main character of the Time magazine article, described his experience with Axie Infinity.

The material describes the stories of several Filipino families who tried to make ends meet with the help of additional earnings in P2E games, especially emphasizing the negative factors for the human psyche and pointing out the presence of a randomness factor in the game, which often leads to gambling addiction. However, the dramatic stories of many Filipinos hide the versatility of the issue and the lack of a comprehensive approach to studying the phenomenon.

It would be possible to talk about a special P2E gaming addiction only by getting to know a large part of the gaming community — did they have tendencies to other gaming addictions before the experience with the game, or did P2E games become the initial factor that formed the addiction? Even if we do not mention P2E, new users, when meeting with the web3 sector, may be tempted to solve their financial problems with the help of platforms promising rapid well-being. In the field of web3, cryptocurrencies, sweepstakes, as well as financial pyramids are extremely popular.

At the same time, even with the complete "cleansing" of the blockchain space from the above dangerous sources, users prone to gambling addiction will be able to use neutral market tools for unrealistic enrichment. So, for example, futures with a large leverage (10X or more) can be wisely used by traders to hedge the risks of long positions. The same tool can be used for absolutely game-like bets on the smallest movements of the course.

In addition to Time magazine, other publications criticized P2E games: CoinGeek, Bangladesh Times and others.

From P2E to X2E — a paradigm shift?
Despite the multiple drop in quotations of P2E projects, the outflow of gamers from existing projects and a wave of criticism in the media, the gaming industry may still be at the very beginning of its upcoming rapid development. The summer and autumn of 2022 were marked by a huge amount of investment in projects related to blockchain games: $500 million to create a venture fund for Web3 games from Immutable, $200 million for the blockchain games firm Limit Break, $100 million for the publisher of Web3 games Animoca Brands and many other deals.

Many developers and investors in the sector agree that the next billion Web3 users will come through gaming. This topic was actively discussed and on the agenda at the recently held World Blockchain Summit in Dubai. This statement is also supported by the fact that many gamers are already familiar with a lifestyle and behavior close to Web3 — the exchange and trade of game items, improving the characteristics of their characters by buying exclusive clothes and accessories for them and collecting them, joint attendance at major online events in gaming reality.

Along with the influx of new funds and developers into the field of Web3 games, the ideological component of the issue has not been left aside. The concept of P2E has been replaced by the abbreviation X2E, meaning that users should not just play, but do some (often socially useful) action to get the desired tokens.