What is Axie Infinity?
Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based game where players can collect, breed, raise, and trade small round creatures called “Axies.” The core gameplay of Axie Infinity is similar to Pokémon; players have a team of 3 Axies with various skills, which they battle with against other players or computer-controlled opponents. Axies are digitised as non-fungible tokens or NFTs. Thus, an Axie you create in the game will be a unique and original digital object.
The gameplay of Axie Infinity centres around a mythical kingdom called Lunacia, which is a virtual fantasy world divided up into tokenised lands, called terra. Land is one of the assets in the game that can be purchased, rented out, and developed by players. Owning land in Axie Infinity comes with many benefits. Landowners can play around with their lands to increase value. They can set up rentals or rent the land out to get extra revenue. Additionally, each type of land provides special items that landowners can use in-game.
Besides monetising land, players can also earn money by simply playing. Axie Infinity uses a “pay-to-earn” model where players can earn a token that is traded as an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency on Binance. In addition, players can also exchange and sell other in-game assets like Axies as NFTs. With opportunities to earn revenue and passive income, having parcels of land in Axie Infinity can be seen as a great economic investment.
History of Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity was developed by Sky Mavis, a technology-focused game studio founded in early 2018. The CEO and Co-Founder of Axie Infinity, Trung Thanh Nguyen, was fascinated by the economy within CryptoKitties. And in 2017, after a few months into playing the game, he invested about 600 USD in playing CryptoKitties. He then realised that he could make his own blockchain-based game. Over the course of several months, with Nguyen’s friends’ help, Axie Infinity began to take shape. The game was founded to make blockchain technology accessible to anyone and give players true ownership of their game assets.
In mid-2018, the beta version of Axie Infinity was released. The game unexpectedly became a hit. Its revenue from pre-orders was enough to give the developers a full year’s worth of cash flow. Following its explosive popularity, the company has signed partnerships with big names like Samsung, HTC, and Klaytn. The company acquired its first institutional investment from blockchain investors and general investors in 2019.
In the past years, after the game’s desktop and mobile version release, Axie Infinity has grown from a gaming concept to a quickly developing ecosystem and movement that delivers entertaining activities for people of various backgrounds and interests. Today, almost 3 million users log onto Axie infinity to play daily, where they purchase land and gear, as well as feed, breed, and send their Axies into battles. It’s now one of the highest-grossing blockchain games globally, and it has collected revenues comparable to those of other DeFi Protocols.
Popular Areas in Axie Infinity
There are five different areas within Axie Infinity, including Luna’s Landing, Genesis, Mystic, Arctic, Forest, and Savannah. Marked red on the map, Luna’s Landing is the centre of Lunacia, and Lunacia’s High Council owns it. This area will be used to host a variety of world events and incentivise content creators.
Thus, the five of the areas where players can own plots of lands include:
- Savannah – Marked orange on the map, Savannah is the farthest away from the centre of Luncia. Over 5,300 lands have been sold at an initial price of 0.05 ETH.
- Forest – Over 5,300 lands in the Forest area have been sold at an initial price of 0.45 ETH. The area is marked green on the map.
- Arctic – Marked white on the map, more than 4,100 lands have been sold at an initial price of 0.45 ETH.
- Mystic – Mystic is located closest to the centre of the map. It’s marked light blue on the map, and over 2,300 land plots have been sold at an initial price of 1 ETH.
- Genesis – Genesis, a special plot located at the centre of the map edging Luna’s Landing, isn’t available to buy via the Axie Infinity marketplace. Players can only get them by chance when buying land crates, and there’s only a 0.07% to 1.4% chance, making lands within this area extremely rare. Players may purchase lands within this area through a third party or another player, but they tend to be very expensive. Only 75 out of 220 land plots are owned by players. Genesis is marked dark-blue on the map.
Types of Property in Axie Infinity
- Land – Land in Lunacia can be purchased, rented out, and developed by players. Each land plot is a non-fungible token (NFT), which means it’s unique and cannot be duplicated, much like land in the real world. Every land in Axie Infinity consists of 64 blocks (8X8). The value of a land plot depends on several factors, such as distance to the centre (Luna’s Landing), river, node, estate, and road. Players can purchase, rent out, and develop lands.
- Axies – Axies, the playable creatures in the game, are NFTs. This means that they’re unique, non-duplicable, and original digital objects. Each Axie has a distinct set of characteristics that makes it unique and determines its value. The game’s economy and gameplay revolve around these Axies. By playing and battling the Axies, users can earn tokens, which can be used to breed another creature NFT.
- Items – Items in Axie Infinity can enhance players’ lands or Axies. For example, players can buy items to increase their Axie’s HP when battling Chimera. Similar to land and Axies, they’re NFTs.
Native Tokens Used in Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity uses two native tokens Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) and Smooth Love Potion (SLP).
Axie Infinity Shards (AXS), or $AXS, mainly serve as the governance token for the Axie infinity protocol. Holders of AXS tokens will be able to play the game, claim rewards if they stake their token, and participate in key governance votes. Players will be able to earn $AXS when they play games within the Axie Infinity world and through user-generated content initiatives. In addition, landowners might also find AXS tokens on their land plots. AXS is an ERC-20 token, so anyone with Ethereum wallets can buy and sell it on a variety of marketplaces.
Smooth Love Potion (SLP) tokens can be earned by playing games within Axie Infinity. It’s a digital asset that serves as a replacement for experience points. This token can be used to breed new creatures or Axies. The cost of breeding Axies start at 100 SLP but increases gradually. Like AXS, SLP is an ERC-20 token. Players can accrue SLP through the game, but it might take a long time. Therefore, purchasing SLP on the open market can be a way for players to get a headstart.
Top 3 Reasons to Invest in Axie Infinity
- Re-circulating fees for players – Besides being incredibly entertaining, Axie Infinity allows users to gain profits. About 95% of the game’s revenue goes back to the players since the game takes 4.25% for players to buy and sell NFTs within the platform.
- The first one of its kind – Axie Infinity is among the first blockchain-based games, and it’s arguably the most well-performing of its kind. If the game continues to do as well as it has in the past years, it will continue to grow and will likely be more rewarding for players.
- Passive rewards for players – Since Axie Infinity offers lucrative ROI potential, a lot of people from many regions of the world use it as a way to generate passive income. Players of Axie Infinity can earn sustainable rewards by simply playing the game, and a lot of full-time gamers are making steady ROIs on the platform.