Disclaimer: Cryptocurrencies are still considered highly speculative. Please consult a qualified financial advisor before investing in them. This article is not a recommendation by In Real Life or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies. As of the date this article was written, the author does not own cryptocurrency.
In the Philippines, Axie Infinity has been used as a way for people to pay for their bills, nappies, school fees, mobile phones, even renovate their house. One guy apparently even used it to buy a plot of land.
This made me wonder: how viable is this crypto game for making an extra buck? Or is it all a scam or a ponzi scheme?
So with what seemed like a good promise for extra cash – especially during the current condition Malaysia is in, I tried Axie Infinity and interviewed a few Malaysians who played it.
So how much can you really earn from playing Axie Infinity?
This is the controversial and anecdotal part, so take it with a pinch of salt. I’ve interviewed people who have said they earn anything from RM1000 to RM4000 a month.
Ross Stephenson, a Malaysian crypto investor and Axie player since June 2021, says his average monthly earnings are between RM1000-2000.
To give you an idea of how much of a time investment this requires, Ross plays Axie Infinity for an average of 2-3 hours a day. For each game he wins at his skill bracket, he earns 8 SLP.
1 SLP (at time of publication) is worth USD 0.18, i.e. RM 0.75. This is assuming the price of SLP remains stable at RM0.75.
The price of SLP is constantly fluctuating between 0.45USD and 0.19 USD daily, but to be safe, I’ll be using USD0.18 as the metric for my calculations. Source: Crypto.com
So how does he arrive at that monthly income figure? Let’s do a bit of calculus:
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If you played like this consistently for 20 days a month, you may potentially earn RM3450 (not including transaction fees when converting SLP to Ringgit.)
That’s more than my first drawn salary when I was a fresh grad!
Buying your first team of Axies is mad expensive
So what’s the catch? The answer is the price of the upfront cost: Each Axie is currently worth upward of RM1500.
Yup, just one Axie costs more than a new Nintendo Switch. To provide a bit of perspective, back when Axie Infinity was literally unheard of, each Axie was going for RM7.
Image via Axie Infinity Marketplace.
As of July 2021, the average prices listed on the Axie Marketplace are between USD 350 – USD500 USD. Since you need 3 Axies to start, that’s a total investment of USD 1050 – USD 1500 for your first team.
And furthermore, these aren’t even the best Axies for competitive play. Buying a meta team can set you back up to a whopping USD 14,000 if you really want a top-performing team.
Is it worth buying the equivalent of two PS5’s for a crypto game?
Ross says, “If you see Axie Infinity as a long term investment, then it’s never too late to enter. However, right now, if you do not have the finances to invest into your own team, it would be better to join a scholarship program.”
Axie Infinity rose to popularity after poor Filipino fishermen played it for extra income
Axie Infinity was created by Vietnamese developer Sky Mavis in 2018 as part of this wave of crypto games, but it didn’t pick up until late 2020, when poor Philippino fishermen started playing it as a supplement to their main income.
Image via PlayToEarn.net.
As of 10th July 2021, Axies Infinity is currently in the top 5 crypto games according to PlayToEarn.net and DappRadar. (Information on crypto is constantly fluctuating, so this ranking will probably be outdated a week after publishing.)
How do you play Axie Infinity?
Adventure mode on Axie Infinity. Image via Axie Infinity.
Axie Infinity is a turn-based card game where you use a team of cute pixel art monsters called “Axies” to fight other teams of “Axies” led by real-world opponents.
There are 2 gameplay modes:
- Adventure – fight against monsters
- Arena – fight against other players.
If you win, you earn SLP (Smooth Love Potion), their in-game currency, which you can use to convert into cash.
Image via The Lunacian on Axie.Substack.
You can also breed Axies to sell their eggs to other players on the marketplace. Breeding itself is fairly complex.
There’s no guarantee that the breeding will produce a desirable Axie that sells at a profit. But if you succeed at it, you can easily “rent” them out or sell them to new players.
What are the downsides that no one talks about?
Axie Infinity gameplay screenshot from gaming channel Bittrio.
So far, everything I’ve reported here on Axie Infinity paints a rosy picture, with a healthy competitive ecosystem, a quickly-growing playerbase, scholarship programs aimed at potential players with no capital, and real money being earned.
However, there are inherent risks to getting started in Axie Infinity, similar to risks investing in any crypto currency.
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The market is very unstable, and there’s no legal backing for investors.
For example, if you find yourself buying your first Axies at the height of the craze, and after the hype dies down, sell off your Axies for cheaper than what you bought them for, you will incur further losses.
If you lose your initial investment, there’s no legal recourse for you to sue the developers of the game. After all, it’s crypto.
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The game is more difficult than it looks.
Whether you can really earn SLP depends on how good a player you are. Your ranking determines the amount of SLP dropped. Any rank below 800 gets 0 SLP. Yes, even if they win.
The Axie-buying process is also complex. If you buy random Axies based instead of researching what exactly you’re buying, you may end up with a useless Axie not worth the trouble.
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Gameplay updates
The developers, SKy Mavis, can potentially tweak the rate of earning in the future at any given moment; which would make it harder to earn SLP.
For example, you might earn USD10 for every 2 hours you play now, but in 6 months, you may end up earning USD 2 instead.
Should you get into playing Axie Infinity?
So to wrap up, the big question on your lips is probably: Is it worth it?
As of July 2021, Axie Infinity is experiencing a boom. According to Delphi Digital’s report, Axie Infinity’s marketplace volume increased from USD 8 Million in April this year to USD 96 Million in June.
My personal unsolicited advice? Don’t get caught up by greed from looking at the highest potential earnings, the users who show off their pie-in-the-sky numbers. First think about your own personal habits and risk appetite:
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If you can commit to the daily grind of 3 hour gameplay of Adventure/Arena games, you have a chance of earning back your investment within a few months. Going by Ross’s example, you need to be earning the equivalent of RM120 of SLP in a day for it to be worth your while.
There’s also a scholarship program you can try with Lorcan Gaming. You can follow their Twitter and Facebook page for updates.
Where you go from there is up to you.
P.S. While researching this article, every person I spoke to talked about the opportunities without dwelling too much on the risks. If you are one of those who have tried and failed at Axie Infinity, please reach out to me at gabriel@inreallife.my, I’d love to hear about your experience.
For more stories like this, read: I Started Investing When I Became A Father. I Wish I’d Began Sooner and Investing My First RM1000 Into The Stock Market —How I Got Burned And Made It Back In A Year
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