This case is not a one-off outlier. Axie Infinity is a great game for people to get into NFTs and a play-to-earn ecosystem. In fact, I personally was able to pay for my wedding and my honeymoon just by selling the 3 Axies I bought way back in 2018.
You know I definitely flaunted that detail to everyone in my family who thought this was fake. Except for grandma—she thinks this stuff is cool. She doesn’t understand it, but she thinks it’s cool. Maybe go hug your grandma.
Anyways, instead of flipping digital collectibles, these people have been able to earn currency by playing and converting the in-game earned currency to the currency pesos, the main currency in the Philippines. The reason why this is so powerful is that the rewards people are getting are better than the income available to them. The $400 a month the people interviewed above are netting through Axie is more than many of them make in a month normally.
This demonstrates the opportunities that are available with player-driven economies and play to earn ecosystems created by NFTs. This is not the first time in history that a small city has an unlikely/uncommon form of an economy. While known for Margaritaville and Jimmy Buffet, Key West down in Florida was once the richest city per capita in the United States due to the era of salvaging shipwrecks and repurposing the cargo of ships that hit the nearby reef. The town prospered for decades as they were able to create an entire economy from this uncanny form of income.
We are opportunistic at our core. Some people sacrifice their opportunities for comfort, and that's okay! But for those who want to adapt or get ahead of the curve, this is a great example of what NFTs and earn-to-play games can enable. There are other examples of games like these, such as Lost Relics—a game where some players have grabbed loot items worth thousands of dollars on the open market. This is very early, but get excited!
