What is Axie Infinity? Review of the biggest crypto game
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Axie Infinity is the next app to break the crypto ecosystem. What’s it about? How can you get in it?
Crypto videogames have really caused a boom during last year. It might as well be the wealthiest sector of the dApps ecosystem, alongside decentralized exchanges.
Starting with CryptoKitties and its network-breaking fame, the popularity of this new application of blockchain technology is soaring. The latest big name in this arena is Axie Infinity, a Pokemon-like RPG powered by Ethereum tokens.
Axie Infinity is already the top dApp with over 19,000 monthly active users. The game’s marketplace has already traded over 25,000 ETH, according to info posted in their webpage.
The game was created in 2018 but only gained traction in the last year. The project is maintained by Sky Mavis, a company based in Vietnam and founded in 2018. It’s focused on building “products that allow anyone to truly own their digital identity and game assets”.
Members of the team have been both in the gaming and blockchain industry for many years. Masamune, the AI Art Director, has been a competitive Pokemon player since age 13.
It made it to the news in the past weeks, because an user bought 888.25 ETH in tokens. The sale equated to $1,5 millions, the largest anyone has ever paid for NFTs.
How does Axie Infinity work?
The game is similar to Pokemon or other RPG games. You own little characters, called Axies, that you can breed, raise and battle with one another. These characters are all unique and comprised of six different body parts: back, ears, eyes, horn, mouth and tail.
Similar to CryptoKitties, Axies can be common, rare, ultra rare and legendary. The different combinations of body parts available make them all different and their rarities affect their market price.
The network is fueled by three different tokens: Axies, Small Love Potions (SLP) and Axie Infinity Shards (AXS). The first one is an NFT token, while the other two are ERC-20 fungible coins.
The Axies are the main characters of the game, used to perform all the actions. You can also find land plots and items that you can use and trade in the marketplace. These are all NFT tokens.
You can battle the Axies in the PvE arena, against Ai opponents, or in the PvP one, against other players.
SLP are ERC-20 tokens that you get as rewards for winning battles, but you can also buy them in exchanges. Their main in-game function is to breed Axies, but you can sell them in Binance or Uniswap. At the time of writing, they have a value of $0.03 according to CoinMarketCap.
Lastly, AXS are also ERC-20 tokens used to participate in governance votes. By staking the coins, holders can decide how the Axie Community Treasury is allocated. When the ecosystem is fully functional, they will be able to get staking rewards.
Ronin
Due to network congestion, the fees and gas prices on Ethereum got really expensive in the last weeks. This hurdle has affected the usability of dApps and has made users move to other blockchains, like BSC.
To escape from that, Sky Mavis released a project they had been working on for a while. Ronin, an Ethereum sidechain, launched on February 1st.
😱 Is this real life?!
🎊 Congrats to @Its_Falcon_Time and @seedphrase for making NFT History!
9 Genesis plots. 888.25 ETH!
$1,500,000
The. Largest. NFT. Sale. Ever
Why? 👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/WcIbg6X1Z3
— Axie Infinity (@AxieInfinity) February 8, 2021
With this implementation, in-game transactions will be almost instantly confirmed with low fees. This way, Axie Infinity can scale and be prepared for new users in the coming months.
How can I play Axie Infinity?
All Axie Infinity tokens run on the Ethereum blockchain, so you can store them in any compatible wallet. However, to play the game you need an interface like MetaMask.
The MetaMask app is available on both Android and iOS phones, so you can use it on any device.
To start playing you need to buy at least three Axies in the marketplace. At the time of writing, the cheapest ones are about 0.05 ETH, equivalent to $70-$80. After doing that, you just need to download the Axie Infinity app and log in.
The best M.O. is to start doing some PvE battles in order to get some SLP tokens and get the feel of the game.
How much is Axie Infinity worth?
The different tokens of the Axie Infinity ecosystem have gained a lot of value. SLP, the reward you can earn by winning battles, are priced at $0.03 at the time of writing. It has risen 303% since its lowest point of $0.009 on July 16th, 2020.
AXS, the governance token, was launched through an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO). The sale was conducted on Binance Launchpad, following a lottery-format ticket claim, and started on October 27th, 2020.
It had a starting price of $0.18, as marked on CoinMarketCap. Since then, it has risen 1,274%, to a current price of $1.73.
NFT prices
The cheapest Axies, as I said, range from $70 to $80. The most expensive, on the other hand, is being auctioned and has a current price of 999999 ETH.
Land plots are a lot more expensive. The cheapest one is 0.4906 ETH, equivalent to $726. The most expensive, however, is worth 10000 ETH, less than the most expensive Axie.
Conclusion
Axie Infinity is already the biggest Ethereum app, with the most active users. With all the upcoming features and the Ronin sidechain to handle the traffic, it is only poised to keep growing.
The only current disadvantage might be the entry price, since you need to spend at least $300 to get decent starting Axies. However, you can consider this a great investment, since you’re going to get money while having lots of fun playing the game.
Featured image: Axie Infinity.