Axie co-founder: More game and less fi needed in the industry

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Hi there,

My first game console was the Atari 2600. Yeah, I’m that old.

I remember the 8-bit graphics, the horrible Pac-Man port, and I even played the disastrous E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
video game on the platform. It was the first time I ever went to a store and demanded my money back.

As bad as those games were, I found myself reminiscing about the “good old days” when I spent a few hours last weekend playing Axie Infinity: Origins, the updated release of the hit blockchain game.

Almost everything about the blockchain games I’ve touched is better than the games back in the ’80s, except the experience of playing them. I know a lot of people still play Axie Infinity despite its reduced earnings, but I’m ready to turn it in for an 8-bit tank.

Retaining players who aren’t having fun is one of the biggest challenges for blockchain game developers. Most of these games have been boring, and everyone – including the developers – knows it. If there wasn’t money involved, few people would get into them.

The problem was that for most of 2021 and the first few months of 2022, money was the only thing driving growth. Worse, developers spent too much time addressing issues with game economies instead of developing better titles.

The crypto winter might actually be the best thing to ever happen to the sector – or maybe not, depending on how much ether you have sunk into the games. The headwinds are forcing developers to actually pay attention to making games that are fun to play.

This is the focus of this week’s Big Story. We talk to one of the founders of Axie Infinity, Aleksander Larsen, who is determined to make GameFi – a term he hates – into a sector focused more on games and less on “fi.”

– Scott

THE BIG STORY

Axie Infinity is older, wiser, and relishing its underdog status again

Image credit: Timmy Loen

No one represents the flaws of GameFi better than Axie Infinity, which is why its developer is determined to become known for “blockchain gaming” instead. We talk to Sky Mavis COO and co-founder Aleksander Larsen about what the company learned from running Axie Infinity and how the platform is now focusing on games that are fun to play, rather than (potentially) profitable.

⭐ TO THE STARS

🌙 TO THE MOON

🌏 BACK TO EARTH

STILL A PONZI SCHEME

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