The world's leading crypto launchpad, Polkastarter, has officially rejected the traditional "Play-to-Earn" terminology within its ecosystem. Instead, they're shifting focus to what they call "Endeavor & Acquire" when discussing Polkastarter Gaming initiatives.
Polkastarter co-Founder Daniel Stockhaus explained to CryptoSlate that gameplay should come first, with earning opportunities following as a secondary benefit. He stated:
“I don't believe it should be about earning simply for clicking within the game. For me, the real opportunity is that with the assets you acquire within the game to enhance your metaverse experience, you should have the ability to utilize them again when you exit that space.”
Stockhaus shared how Polkastarter introduced their first blockchain game in February 2021, before many in the industry were discussing blockchain gaming. He mentioned that at that time, meetings with gaming projects were four times longer than discussions with other blockchain projects seeking to join the platform.
Following the launch of Axie Infinity, over 50% of applications to Polkastarter came from blockchain gaming projects. However, Stockhaus noted that most of these were companies attempting to take popular app store games and simply "tokenize" or "blockchainize" them, an approach he found "extremely disheartening."
Stockhaus firmly believes that "blockchain is made for gaming" when the technology is seamlessly integrated into the gameplay. He recalled how:
“95% of gaming projects suffer from poor tokenomics… and don't make enough effort to implement it correctly… they focus far too much on earnings.”
This excessive focus on earning leads to an oversupply of tokens that diminishes token value and leaves players frustrated and disinterested when earnings decline, according to Stockhaus. The alpha version of Polkastarter Gaming is now live, with a full release planned for October 2022.
To develop proper tokenomics, Stockhaus believes companies need to "build the game from the ground up" with blockchain integration in mind, as "implementing blockchain" into an existing game "is quite challenging."
He emphasized that "Endeavor & Acquire" is crucial because if players aren't primarily interested in earning, the focus should be on game quality and the overall gaming experience.
Stockhaus argues that when a player invests significant time and effort into something and pays for it, they deserve to recoup their investments when they finish playing. He noted that GameFi can't succeed without prioritizing players, as there would be no one to play without them.
“If I know that when I purchase an in-game asset, I can sell it later, then it's a completely integrated experience.”
Regarding concerns that developers might earn less by allowing users to monetize their investments, Stockhaus believes this is a misconception. He explained:
“If you create a robust economy around this and each transaction gives a percentage to the developer, I believe there will be a massive economy within the games for people to trade and sell these items.”
Stockhaus contends that when users understand they can sell something they purchased in-game, they're more likely to engage independently.
Stockhaus believes that people should play a game because they enjoy it, not because they want to earn money. He expressed:
“I get very upset when I hear the narrative that companies believe they can sell their games by giving opportunities to those underprivileged people in developing countries to improve their lives. I don't want to see a generation of gamers making a living by clicking. That's not providing value—that's not creating a better world or better economy.”
Play-to-Earn gaming indeed faces significant challenges when it comes to tokenomics. There needs to be utility for the token beyond simply selling it for fiat if a company wants to create a game that can serve as a daily income source for its players.
We live in a world where blockchain gaming tokens cannot be used to buy groceries at the corner store. Therefore, games that promote play-to-earn must create substantial demand for their token's value through gameplay.
Stockhaus noted that games aren't adding real value to the world if gamers are simply repetitively clicking to generate income. He stated that such concepts are merely creating work for its own sake.
The "Endeavor & Acquire" approach emerges as a much cleaner solution to blockchain gaming since it allows users to recoup their investments in a game that requires them to engage and progress.
Many games struggle with user retention beyond the first few months of launch. Perhaps a well-designed Endeavor & Acquire model could help address this issue.
Imagine a user knows that any money they spend on a game can be recovered when they no longer want to play. In that scenario, they might be more willing to invest time in the endgame content that developers currently struggle with.
Additionally, taking a percentage of each transaction is a model that can generate substantial returns. It's how most prominent crypto exchanges earn their revenue, so why couldn't it work for blockchain gaming?
UPDATE August 3, 2022: Additional Polkastarter Gaming information
