Pay to Win is where a player can use additional funds outside the initial price of the game to gain an advantage against other players, usually in the form of loot and gear. We have mostly seen these models succeed as freemium games on mobiles and tablets. In these freemium games the barrier to entry is initially low/free, but to progress to ‘endgame,' developers put roadblocks in the form of gear checks or locked areas. This means that players must purchase the additional in-game items or upgrades to progress further or stay competitive. But how do pay-to-win systems differ from Web2 to Web3? And how can these systems help Web3 game economies? Let's take a closer look. <h2 id="looking-at-pay-to-win-in-web2-games">Looking at Pay-to-Win in Web2 Games </h2> According to <a href="https://www.gamedesigning.org/">Gamedesigning.org</a>, companies in Web2 can earn more income from eager players that are time-poor and want to avoid hours of grinding. For example, some players spend hours or even days/weeks acquiring the same weapons that a new player can just swipe their credit card for. To see this happening in the real world, just look at the popular mobile game Clash of Clans. One of the most famous Clash players has reportedly spent $3000 USD on the freemium game to climb to tops of leaderboards. But on the flip side, a player Jeorge Yao reportedly spent 48-hour sessions without opening his wallet for similar accolades. Those who have done the math on these games have worked out the dollar amount you could spend to face-roll end game ranges from $15,000-$18,000 USD in Clash of Clans to over $100,000 USD for the newest edition to the Diablo franchise, Diablo Immortal. While this seems unfair to disadvantage players that don't have or aren't willing to spend the money, it does open doors for how NFTs can really shine and how pay-to-win players can help support the current play-to-earn economy. <h2 id="how-can-pay-to-win-players-help-web3-economies">How Can Pay-to-Win Players Help Web3 Economies? </h2> Right now, the biggest problem we see in P2E is the <a href="https://wizardia.io/blog/understanding-the-dual-token-economy">collapse of in-game economies</a> and token prices, which impacts the ROI of managers and the earning capacity of scholars and players. Ultimately, these collapses will lead to the deaths of the games and their once-thriving communities. (See: Axie Infinity, Pegaxy, and Crabada) We know that there is a percentage of the gaming community that is willing to pay incredible amounts of money to a game company to have an advantage over other players. Going back to the last few topics we have discussed on the <a href="https://discord.com/invite/wizardia">Wizardia's Wisdom Labs Discord</a>, we know that the two-token model does not work without new money entering the ecosystem. We also know that <a href="https://wizardia.io/blog/web3-games-fun">most P2E games are not fun to play</a>. One of the main reasons why these mobile freemium games make so much money is because they are designed to have barriers that are not easily passed without hours of grinding unless you just open your wallet instead. They're also fun to play, otherwise, people wouldn't be spending their money through countless microtransactions. These microtransactions keep the game companies afloat with revenue, and they often end up more profitable over time than selling an $80-$100 release. What if Web3 games could harness these freemium whales and use the funds they inject to help stimulate the P2E economy? Instead of having the paywalls in place, you could replace them with NFTs that free-to-play gamers could grind for and then sell to the pay-to-win crowd. P2E is early, but most games have struggled with a stable economy. We know we have both sides of the coin, players who are time-poor and will happily spend money in-game to bypass hours of grinding. But we also have gamers who want to grind those hours in return for real world money. Matching these two player bases could be the first step in creating a stable P2E economy. <h2 id="final-thoughts">Final thoughts</h2> After discussing this topic in Wisdom Labs, fellow Wizardians chimed in with stories of paywalls and freemium models that they've experienced themselves in Web2 games. It's obvious that for a pay-to-win system to work well, the game needs to be interesting and engaging enough to make people want either to spend hours grinding for those elusive gems to upgrade their characters or open their wallets to bypass the time and effort needed to progress through the content. This week's discussion ties into the last topic on why Web3 games need to be fun. Making fun games that are addictive and have levels of progression attracts players that want to become the top “endgame” players. These gamers will happily spend money inside the ecosystem. With a major problem in P2E being low demand and high sell pressure on tokens, this could be a great way to match the two communities and build a symbiotic relationship. After being lucky enough to test some Alpha at Wizardia I believe that they are well on their way to making that fun game people will be willing to spend in. Join me and <a href="https://wizardia.co/wisdom-labs">get some Genesis NFTs</a> that are still available for early investors.

4 min read

Sep 5, 2022

ShillBill

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Contents

Looking at Pay-to-Win in Web2 Games

How Can Pay-to-Win Players Help Web3 Economies?

Final thoughts

Pay to Win is where a player can use additional funds outside the initial price of the game to gain an advantage against other players, usually in the form of loot and gear.

We have mostly seen these models succeed as freemium games on mobiles and tablets. In these freemium games the barrier to entry is initially low/free, but to progress to ‘endgame,’ developers put roadblocks in the form of gear checks or locked areas.

This means that players must purchase the additional in-game items or upgrades to progress further or stay competitive.

But how do pay-to-win systems differ from Web2 to Web3? And how can these systems help Web3 game economies? Let’s take a closer look.

Looking at Pay-to-Win in Web2 Games

According to Gamedesigning.org, companies in Web2 can earn more income from eager players that are time-poor and want to avoid hours of grinding. For example, some players spend hours or even days/weeks acquiring the same weapons that a new player can just swipe their credit card for.

To see this happening in the real world, just look at the popular mobile game Clash of Clans. One of the most famous Clash players has reportedly spent $3000 USD on the freemium game to climb to tops of leaderboards.

But on the flip side, a player Jeorge Yao reportedly spent 48-hour sessions without opening his wallet for similar accolades.

Those who have done the math on these games have worked out the dollar amount you could spend to face-roll end game ranges from $15,000-$18,000 USD in Clash of Clans to over $100,000 USD for the newest edition to the Diablo franchise, Diablo Immortal.

While this seems unfair to disadvantage players that don’t have or aren’t willing to spend the money, it does open doors for how NFTs can really shine and how pay-to-win players can help support the current play-to-earn economy.

How Can Pay-to-Win Players Help Web3 Economies?

Right now, the biggest problem we see in P2E is the collapse of in-game economies and token prices, which impacts the ROI of managers and the earning capacity of scholars and players. Ultimately, these collapses will lead to the deaths of the games and their once-thriving communities. (See: Axie Infinity, Pegaxy, and Crabada)

We know that there is a percentage of the gaming community that is willing to pay incredible amounts of money to a game company to have an advantage over other players.

Going back to the last few topics we have discussed on the Wizardia’s Wisdom Labs Discord, we know that the two-token model does not work without new money entering the ecosystem. We also know that most P2E games are not fun to play.

One of the main reasons why these mobile freemium games make so much money is because they are designed to have barriers that are not easily passed without hours of grinding unless you just open your wallet instead.

They’re also fun to play, otherwise, people wouldn’t be spending their money through countless microtransactions. These microtransactions keep the game companies afloat with revenue, and they often end up more profitable over time than selling an $80-$100 release.

What if Web3 games could harness these freemium whales and use the funds they inject to help stimulate the P2E economy? Instead of having the paywalls in place, you could replace them with NFTs that free-to-play gamers could grind for and then sell to the pay-to-win crowd.

P2E is early, but most games have struggled with a stable economy. We know we have both sides of the coin, players who are time-poor and will happily spend money in-game to bypass hours of grinding. But we also have gamers who want to grind those hours in return for real world money. Matching these two player bases could be the first step in creating a stable P2E economy.

Final thoughts

After discussing this topic in Wisdom Labs, fellow Wizardians chimed in with stories of paywalls and freemium models that they’ve experienced themselves in Web2 games.

It’s obvious that for a pay-to-win system to work well, the game needs to be interesting and engaging enough to make people want either to spend hours grinding for those elusive gems to upgrade their characters or open their wallets to bypass the time and effort needed to progress through the content.

This week’s discussion ties into the last topic on why Web3 games need to be fun. Making fun games that are addictive and have levels of progression attracts players that want to become the top “endgame” players. These gamers will happily spend money inside the ecosystem. With a major problem in P2E being low demand and high sell pressure on tokens, this could be a great way to match the two communities and build a symbiotic relationship.

After being lucky enough to test some Alpha at Wizardia I believe that they are well on their way to making that fun game people will be willing to spend in. Join me and get some Genesis NFTs that are still available for early investors.