Play-to-Earn Is Flawed
Creating an environment where players earn virtually limitless rewards is not sustainable. Granted, most will try to sell off assets to recuperate their initial investment as quickly as possible. However, they will keep earning rewards afterward, which will likely end up on the secondary market.
If there isn’t sufficient demand for these assets, prices go down, earnings drift lower, and players need to sell more assets to make money. It is a vicious circle that spirals out of control quickly and can quickly destroy a play-to-earn economy.
Moreover, there isn’t necessarily an incentive for players to remain engaged in play-to-earn titles. With rewards losing value every day, grinding these games becomes a job.
ICE Poker Goes A Different Route
To be precise, players can convert “banked” ICE to the real token. However, it incurs a 70% penalty on holdings and requires a threshold of at least 6,666 tokens. There is more incentive to upgrade one’s avatar and play tournaments rather than focusing on the ICE rewards. Moreover, it allows ICE Poker to become player-owner-based and fuel long-term commitment. Removing the ongoing value extraction from the equation is crucial to achieving economic sustainability.
Changing Emissions Is Beneficial
That day saw more tokens burned than the current daily emission of ICE, which hovers near 1.28 million. It is an excellent example of how players will burn in-game earnings if they can reap long-term benefits. In addition, Decentral games buy back tokens through native earnings to further create sustainability.
Unfortunately, such a long-term mindset is absent in nearly all play-to-earn titles, but it is not too late for projects to embrace a play-and-own focus. Introducing effective token sinks generates value for holders, a concept found in most traditional online video games.