Crypto Unicorns founder, "P2E gaming is in a long maturation phase."

Aron Beireschmitt, founder of Crypto Unicorns, chatted with NFT Steez about the key components blockchain games need to build sustainable play-to-play and win economies.

As the hype surrounding play-to-win (P2E) games and platforms began to wane in early 2022, Web3 participants began emphasizing the need for games to be more "fun" and less finance-driven. In the latest episode of NFT Steez, Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond spoke with Aron Beireschmitt, CEO of Laguna Games and founder of Crypto Unicorns, about the sustainability of P2E-focused blockchain games. According to Beireschmitt, the evolution from a "play-to-win" to a "play-to-win model" shows that there is still room for experimentation and maturity for these games. "Nothing has changed in terms of making games," Beireschmitt said, but with blockchain technology, crypto natives and gamers can now play, own and potentially monetize these games and earning models. The question is whether this is sustainable. Regarding the shift in sentiment around P2E and how Crypto Unicorns is approaching it, Beireschmitt said it is "charting a path to sustainability through a combination of economic farming simulation" combined with real-time "skill-based game loops" to attract more users to its ecosystem. According to Beireschmitt, these game loops need to not only have a similarity in form and function, but also be fun and engaging for players. However, he also acknowledged that blockchain-based games are not for everyone and that the Crypto Unicorns target demographic is more in line with crypto natives. According to Beireschmitt, there is a lack of "incentive alignment for free-to-play" where developers maximize to extract value from the minority of players who spend on free-to-play games. This inequality creates a "mismatch in paradigm" where Web3 games enable players to achieve a new level of autonomy and ownership when it comes to in-game items, assets and skills. According to Beireschmitt, this is what makes the play-and-win model "attractive" because players can potentially win while playing their favorite game. Beireschmitt said that Web3 not only provides players with resources and ownership, but with governance models, players and participants are now empowered to "own the direction of the game, the ecosystem and the IP (intellectual property)". In-game economies have proven to be a sticking point for most play-and-win games. In discussing the factors necessary for in-game economies to be sustainable in the long term, Beireschmitt explained that one factor that helps is the dynamic between passive and active players. Passive players are those who invest in active players to improve themselves in the game. However, Beireschmitt emphasized that for this dynamic to be sustainable, "skill-based game cycles" and "token sinks" need to be implemented, as this returns the player back into the economy and ecosystem. As Beireschmitt noted, most play-and-win games are still sorting out their transition from the "growth phase" to the "maturation phase", but he firmly believes that there is "a bright future for the play-and-win model in the coming days"!