From Gaming to Finance: GameFi Is Changing the Way We Play Games

In 2021, a series of blockchain-based gaming projects created an unprecedented phenomenon. The numbers tell all: transaction volumes from blockchain games like Axie Infinity, Upland, and other projects surpassed $500 million within one month. These are not just economic figures but also signals of a revolution in the gaming industry—and the heart of this revolution is GameFi.

GameFi: When DeFi and NFT Meet the Gaming Arena

Simply put, GameFi is the inevitable result of combining decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFT), and the traditional gaming world. But it’s not just a simple mix—it’s a leap forward.

In traditional games, players spend money for developers, then spend more within the game to enhance their experience. Characters, items, assets—all exist only on the studio’s servers. When the server shuts down, everything disappears.

GameFi reverses this situation. All in-game assets are encoded as NFTs or tokens, managed by smart contracts on the blockchain. Players not only fully own their characters and items—they can also trade them on external markets. Even if the studio closes, assets remain in players’ wallets, entirely under their control.

Play-to-Earn: Playing Games to Make a Living

What makes GameFi truly “hot” is the P2E (Play-to-Earn) model—meaning “play to earn money.” This isn’t a new concept, but it has never worked as effectively as it does now.

In P2E, players don’t just receive virtual money for in-game use—they receive real tokens or NFTs with market value. You can play, earn rewards, and then sell them for real money.

Result? Many players have turned gaming into a primary source of income. On Axie Infinity, some players earn between $200 and $1,000 per month just by mining the SLP token. With average wages in some countries, this amount can be a full-time income.

In the Philippines, Axie Infinity has become a social phenomenon. When the pandemic increased unemployment, hundreds of thousands of people entered this game—not for entertainment but to earn a living. Some players even earn more than their previous jobs.

Blockchain Makes Everything Possible

Why is GameFi different from old money-making game models? The answer is blockchain.

Blockchain ensures digital scarcity. An item in a GameFi game cannot be copied or duplicated like in traditional games. Each NFT is unique and verifiable. This creates a real economy—where supply and demand determine value.

Moreover, blockchain technology enables peer-to-peer transactions. You don’t need to go through a centralized trading platform. Players can buy and sell directly with each other, both in-game and outside of it. When you want to cash out, you send your NFT or token to a trusted exchange, swap it for stablecoins, and then convert to your desired fiat currency. The process is simplified, transparent, and without intermediaries.

GameFi and the Metaverse: Building the Future

2021 was not only the year of GameFi—it also marked the year the Metaverse became a buzzword in the industry. And their connection is very close.

The current Metaverse is mainly built from these “play-to-earn” games. Virtual worlds like Ember Sword (where 12,000 virtual plots have been sold and generated over $400 million), Treeverse (with a market cap of $71.8 million), Somnium Space, CryptoVoxels, or My Neighbor Alice—all operate based on the principles of GameFi.

The future image is not too hard to imagine: in tomorrow’s Metaverse, people will collect, trade, manage finances, save, and shop—all through games. Individuals can create their own worlds, play with others, and profit from their contributions. GameFi is not just a game genre—it’s a platform for a new digital economy.

Practical Limitations

However, GameFi still faces challenges that need addressing.

First is startup cost. To participate in Axie Infinity, you must buy 3 pets, and their prices are not cheap. This creates a barrier for players without sufficient capital. Some projects have tried to solve this through lending models (“scholarships”), but the issue persists.

Second is technical performance. Current blockchain networks have limited transaction speeds (TPS—Transactions Per Second). When too many players perform transactions simultaneously, the network becomes congested. This affects the gaming experience. To address this, developers need to carefully choose suitable blockchains—those with lower transaction costs and higher speeds, such as Avalanche or Polygon.

Third, playing GameFi requires a certain understanding of blockchain, wallets, tokens. This is a barrier for ordinary users. In the future, GameFi needs to become more accessible—ideally, just a single click on a link without downloads or configurations.

A Bright Future Ahead

Despite these challenges, the prospects for GameFi remain very promising. As decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to grow, GameFi will serve as a powerful catalyst to bring blockchain users to a new level.

The key features of GameFi—full ownership of assets, governance through token voting, decentralized operation—all encourage deeper participation in the ecosystem. Early players who contribute to a game’s success will be rewarded accordingly.

In summary, GameFi is not just a new game genre. It represents a turning point—where gaming, finance, and blockchain technology converge, creating unprecedented opportunities and value. Whether GameFi can become mainstream remains to be seen, but this first step has certainly opened up a whole new world.

Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks and may lead to the loss of your investment. The provided materials are not related to investment advice, tax, legal, financial, accounting, consulting, or any other services. The information is for educational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any assets.