In what could be termed as a “Jio moment” for the South East Asian country’s economy, 2021 has seen 1.5 million Filipinos - from grandmothers to tech nerds - log on to a Blockchain-based game to not just entertain themselves, but also supplement their incomes in uncertain times.During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many parts of the Philippines economy came to a grinding halt. GDP contracted 9.6% in 2020, the largest annual decline ever recorded (since data collection began in 1946), according to IHS Markit. The lockdowns severely impacted 26 million people — nearly one quarter of the population.
Store owners, Lolo (75) and Lola (65), used to earn USD $50-60 a day from their business. However, during the pandemic, they were lucky to bring home even USD $5-6.
Axie Infinity – a Blockchain-based game created by Vietnam-based startup Sky Mavis – served as a means to not only supplement their income, but also foster a new hobby by exploring this virtual world.
Amid the lockdowns, almost one-third of young Filipinos were struggling to find work, especially new college graduates. Howard (22) deeply wanted to support his family by finding a job, but was unable to do so. That is, until “Axie University” hired Howard to play the game at a higher level for more in-game rewards.
While the digital game knows no borders, it has really taken off in the Philippines. During the height of the pandemic, DailyActive Users (DAU) growth was nearly parabolic, where many of the players from the Philippines were able to use Axie as a way to supplement their income during the uncertain economic times.
How It Works
Players of Axie Infinity battle their team of “Axies” - Pokemon-like digital pets that love to battle, build, and hunt for treasure - against other players, earning cryptocurrency that can be used in-game or traded on a cryptocurrency exchange. Each Axie is represented by a unique “Non-Fungible Token” (NFT), which players can trade and sell via an in-game marketplace that has seen over $3.8 billion in total sales since its launch in 2018. The marketplace is essentially a player owned economy where players own all the assets used in the game.
Leaving aside Sky Mavis’ success in crafting this impressive digital economy (the company has joined the coveted “Unicorn” Club – startups valued at over $1 billion – in 2021 attracting funding from highly respected US-based Venture Capital investors like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Accel Partners), the eye opener is the far-reaching impact that this one game has had. As per the blockchain credo, the players are citizens and become stakeholders of the games they play. Having over 2.8 million daily active users (DAU), each participant is estimated to be earning USD $50-300 per month (in some exceptional cases much more).
Axie Infinity gives control to players the game assets they purchase, a concept known as ‘player owned property rights.’ Players can breed or buy Axie, and sell them to other players for Ethereum. Sky Mavis relinquished some control to allow the player-driven economy to flourish, generating enormous value for all stakeholders. Out of 2.8 Million daily active users, roughly 55% of the players are Filipino and a total of 65% are from South-East Asia. It is estimated that nearly 70% of all Axie Infinity players are ‘scholars’ or players who are sponsored with an Axie team in exchange for a distribution of their in-game earnings.
Part-gaming guild, part web 3.0 services company, Proof of Game (POG) has battle-tested this scholarship model at scale, and has even taken it one step further. "The scholars at POG are not only well-trained to take on the blockchain games they play, but are incentivized to learn and exercise transferable skills," says Akhil Jindal, Founder of POG. Ecosystem participants like POG can be thought of as the “web 3” version of the Information Technology learning centers (like NIIT, Aptech, etc) that sprouted in the 1990s in India- creating a whole community of value creators. Many of POG’s resources are shared, creating an incentive-alignment between all stakeholders and network participants, which unlocks new levels of growth through co-creation and co-ownership.
The India Angle
Is Axie Infinity’s success isolated to the Philippines? Can this project succeed in India?
With the fastest and most accessible mobile market in the world, it is easy to imagine the potential financial inclusion play-and-earn games like Axie Infinity could trigger in a country like India. Already, Axie Infinity has tens of thousands of players from India. Sky Mavis sees the Indian gaming market as a prime catalyst for Axie Infinity's growth over the next 18 months, wanting to add over 2 million Indian gamers to their ecosystem. Guilds like POG will play a role in Sky Mavis realizing its objective by creating necessary infrastructure and social acceptance to onboard more Indian gamers.
Conclusion & Follow-up
Currently, it is estimated that nearly 1 out every 100 Filipinos - even if they don’t have a bank account - uses Axie to improve their financial situation. The potential financial inclusion that such an activity could also engender in a country like India - that is 10 times the size of Philippines, with the fastest mobile phone market in the world, accompanied by the lowest mobile data charges – clearly merits examination.
Even as the Indian government has introduced a tax on Cryptocurrency transactions and is debating a new law to govern Cryptocurrencies, Venture Capital investors are busy making investments in emerging opportunities thrown up by the BlockChain technology-enabled “Web 3” space in the country.
In this backdrop, Venture Intelligence is delighted to present an interaction with
Date: February 24, 2022 I Time: 7.00 pm to 8.30 pm IST