Sky Mavis, the company behind the popular play-to-earn (P2E) blockchain game Axie Infinity, has announced a partnership with the Ethereum-based nonfungible token (NFT) collection CyberKongz to create a more comprehensive gaming ecosystem for the Ronin blockchain.
In the announcement, the company also teased the creation of a new game, though it only provided scant details about the upcoming game development. However, Kathleen Osgood, the head of business development at Sky Mavis, told Cointelegraph in a statement that the new game will be interoperable by integrating with existing Axie Infinity experiences.
Apart from a new game, the announcement also highlighted that CyberKongz’s Play & Kollect game — a Polygon-based blockchain game that integrates soulbound tokens and allows players to collect NFTs from within the game — is also migrating to the Ronin blockchain. According to the announcement, the move to the Ronin blockchain will allow CyberKongz to expand its user base by accessing Ronin’s core gaming community.
Axie Infinity became popular in 2021 for introducing a new paradigm in gaming called the “play-to-earn.” This allowed players to earn crypto tokens for playing the game. The game remains the top project by sales volume, according to the NFT data tracker CryptoSlam. On the other hand, CryptoKongz also hit the headlines in 2021 for burning $4 million of Ether (ETH) in five hours during its minting event.
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Compared to the NFT craze in 2021, interest in blockchain gaming has been lower recently, with some crypto-based games like Neopets transitioning to a non-crypto approach.
Earlier this year, Aleksander Larsen, the co-founder of Sky Mavis, told Cointelegraph that the play-to-earn model “does not work in its current state.” Larsen highlighted on Jan. 12 that games must be fun first and require a solid economic backing enabling players to earn.
Despite this, Osgood remains positive that the catalyst for the revival of the blockchain gaming space will come from a game or an experience that “truly understands the underlying motivations driving users towards Web3.”
According to the exec, many teams within the space have only been trying to copy and paste what has worked in Web2. However, Osgood believes this will not be the catalyst for explosive growth. She explained:
“The potential to attract a massive audience lies in the innovative approach of leveraging Web3 as a new experience while effectively tapping into users who are inherently drawn to its unique offerings.”
Osgood also told Cointelegraph that Sky Mavis has started to open up its infrastructure to the Web3 ecosystem through the Ronin blockchain. The exec said this might lead to the creation of gaming communities that are more rewarding and longer-lasting.
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