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NFT FEATURE Crypto Weekly
NFT Games Are Capitalist Escapist Fantasy Where Players earn big Money
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ore affluent players are becoming bosses in blockchain-based video games like Axie Infinity. In the Philippines, people are earning twice what they could in a regular job just by playing this game. Power fantasies are the focus of video games. The conventional wisdom says: Defeat enough dragons to reach level 99, sell enough wolf skins to buy a gaudy gold cape, and you will become rich or strong or accomplished in the world of
February 2022 | Volume 13
the game-despite not being wealthy or successful in real life. During her 30s, Catdicax, a Finnish woman, found that the online fantasy role-playing game Runescape was a place where she could earn more and more in-game items by working hard. Ten years of playing had paid off: She had amassed a collection of high-end relics. Eventually, however, Catdicax became restless. Working so hard for Runescape's digital axes or cloaks felt like a waste of
time. Then in 2019, Catdicax discovered Axie Infinity, a blockchain-based video game where players collect and level collectible Pokémon-like virtual pets, known as Axies. A player's Axies compete to win cryptocurrency tokens, which are then used for breeding new creatures using NFTs. Smooth Love Potion (SLP) is a token earned by defeating your opponents in Axie-fights. You can trade it on crypto exchanges or exchange it for legal tender. Even though the game is not about the game, it is about the
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