Following the “play to earn” (P2E) trend, a growing number of “move to earn” (M2E) blockchain video games are being created in a Vietnamese population that is becoming more health concerned. After the release of the online video game Axie Infinity, which was based on non-fungible tokens (NFT), a new trend began to develop around the middle of 2021.
The players of an NFT game have more influence over in-game assets including skins, characters, weapons, and virtual territories as a result of the game’s innovative gameplay mechanics, which are a combination of traditional gaming concepts and non-traditional gameplay elements. This year has seen a proliferation of M2E games enter the market, many of which have quickly gained favor among enthusiasts of blockchain technology.
According to Minh Thanh of HCM City, he runs around 40 kilometers every week. When the running app StepN was released a month ago, he was hesitant to join since users are required to spend a minimum of one thousand United States dollars in order to get NTFs in the form of footwear. He only just downloaded a domestic running software since it offers free trials to participants before to formal registration and he wanted to take use of this feature.
More than 50,000 individuals have downloaded the M2E program known as Calo Metaverse, and around 7,200 people use it on a regular basis. A other app called Run Together claimed that it had sold all 7,413 ShoeBox NFTs within the first half an hour of its introduction. After just six days, it had already been downloaded more than 15,000 times, and more than 3,000 people were using it on a regular basis.
A number of new M2E initiatives are ready to begin. Vietnamese M2E applications have a greater emphasis on community and boosting interactions among users and groups of players. Calo Metaverse CEO Phan Tuan commented: “Calo is an ecosystem, not an app, according to our definition. It will focus on constructing a virtual environment to connect and practice after growing its user base using the M2E mechanism.”
Run Together connects gamers with local running groups and hosts marathons. According to Le Khai, CMO of Run Together, Vietnamese operators of M2E applications focus on player interaction rather than just allowing users to run for money.
“Can Tho, which is located in the Mekong Delta, will play host to our organized competition towards the end of May.”
There are also several initiatives in Vietnam that establish their own platforms, which enables professional athletes to participate and inspires others. Tuan said: “Athletes often have a very short professional career. Therefore, we establish an additional playground for superstars in the sports sector to change products and trophies in their competitive career into NFTs to boost revenues and lead the community.”
Thanh Binh, the administrator of an M2E running club that has more than 7,000 members, said that the majority of investors first put their money into StepN, but that more people are now joining Vietnamese projects. Binh believes that domestic M2E programs are appealing for two main reasons: first, they are less expensive to join and understand local communities; second, they place an emphasis on community development; and third, they allow for direct connections.
“In order to participate in StepN, you will need to spend close to a thousand dollars on shoes. On the other hand, participants in Vietnamese initiatives require simply $100 in order to take part. There are several programs that provide free NFTs for an extended period of time.”
According to Wu Blockchain, a website that analyzes cryptocurrencies, a blockchain game would be considered a pyramid scheme if there were an excessive number of people making money rather than spending it. This would mean that the funds collected from previous players would be used to pay new players. But M2E ventures also have hurdles, such as the difficulty of persuading the community that they are not frauds and the fact that blockchain technology, non-fungible tokens, and cryptocurrencies are too new for many people to understand.
After P2E established Vietnam as a prominent location on the global blockchain map, observers believe that it is too soon to determine whether or not M2E is only a passing trend or a new course of action. Skeptics warn that the M2E ecosystem will remain unstable as long as the earnings aspect is not matched with the community’s physical activity objectives. It is anticipated that many M2E apps will be the next Axie Infinity.
