The pandemic was the perfect environment for this game to attract players from all walks of life, said Leah Callon-Butler, a blockchain consultant based in the Philippines. He has used Axie Infinity earnings for his sister’s university fees, groceries and bills - expenses his father’s struggling electrical repair business cannot cover. Lumabi plays for two hours a day in the tiny house he shares with his parents and four sisters, earning 8,000 to 10,000 pesos ($155 to $195) per month - nearly half of what he makes at his current job as a content moderator working nine-hour graveyard shifts. In Axie Infinity, players participate in battles using colorful blob-like Axies, and are mainly rewarded “Smooth Love Potion” (SLPs) that can be exchanged for cryptocurrency or cash - or invested back into the game’s virtual world Lunacia. “At first, I was skeptical because I thought it was a Ponzi scam,” said Lumabi, 26, who began playing last June after losing his job at an advertising firm and making a failed foray into online selling.Ībout 35% of Axie Infinity traffic - and the biggest share of its 2.5 million daily active users - comes from the Philippines, where high proficiency in English, strong gaming culture and widespread smartphone usage have fueled its popularity, Sky Mavis said. Its fans, financial backers and creators - Vietnam-based Sky Mavis - say it is a revolutionary step towards the future of the internet.ĭetractors warn the game is a “house of cards,” some likening it to a fraud scheme driven by hype and speculation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |