Axie Infinity, the blockchain-based game that has popularized the play-to-earn gaming model, often invites awe and suspicion. The game has created a new type of job market and allows a quick return for game investors. However, its highly volatile in-game crypto (the Smooth Love Potion, or SLP), the hacking of its Ronin chain, and the resulting new digital inequality pose threats to its existence. Axie is a form of “extreme entrepreneurship,” wherein success and failure can happen almost overnight, subject to the dynamics of SLP. Many predictions have been made regarding Axie’s coming collapse and lost trust among its players. Can Axie rise to its former glory amid the crypto winter and uncertain global economy?
As a game lover myself, I was very intrigued regarding Axie Infinity’s future, which led to my desire to research and study it. I interviewed more than a dozen Axie managers, guild members, and scholars –– some are still active while others have quit or gone dormant –– throughout the first half of 2022. I also watched them playing Axie Infinity while asking them questions to make sense of the nitty-gritty issues in the game and assess Axie’s mistakes and potential. I offer some strategies for how Axie can re-engineer its destiny and move forward.
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