He makes up to $3,900 a week racing cars on a blockchain game

Brock (not his real name) isn’t your typical gamer. He’s a 39-year-old software delivery manager based in Queensland, Australia, and the father of three young children. He spends between two to 10 hours per week racing virtual cars during competition season, much to the chagrin of his wife, who “isn’t impressed” with the time he spends on the game.

For his efforts, Brock makes US$780 to US$3,900 during competition weeks in F1 Delta Time, a game based on the international auto racing championship, Formula One. Winnings are paid out in revv, an in-game currency that can be exchanged for ether, bitcoin, or USDT, and then changed into fiat money.

Image credit: F1 Delta Time

Like many crypto enthusiasts, Brock is a “hodlr”. Considering Revv has gained more than 5x compared to the Australian dollar since he started playing in September 2020, his faith and gaming are paying off. Bitcoin, always a good benchmark to gauge how the crypto market is performing as a whole, also gained more than 3x in the same period in spite of the recent selldown.

Brock estimates that he’s spent between US$7,800 to US$11,630 in the game, which he regards as both a hobby and investment. He’s making a profit: he cashed out US$17,000 from his Revv stash last month to make a deposit on their new house. That still leaves Brock with over US$25,590 worth of earnings, comprising his remaining revv and in-game assets such as cars, drivers, parts, and memorabilia, which he could potentially liquidate.

In fact, Brock is doing so well in F1 Delta Time that he’s taken Fridays off to improve his rating, which has a significant impact on his chances of winning an overall season. But even with the home deposit, it’s going to take a lot more for Brock’s wife to believe that he’s not wasting his life on video games.

“Paying the home deposit with Revv earnings was a big step. She doesn’t think it’s real, really. Let’s just say that until it’s in the bank account, she is skeptical,” says Brock in an interview with Tech in Asia. He currently earns enough revv to pay the mortgage for his new house and possibly cover expenses for a swimming pool, he added.

Blockchain could turn more gamers into pros

If you haven’t heard of F1 Delta Time or its publisher, Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands, you’re not alone. It’s a game so new that it doesn’t even have its own Wikipedia page. F1 Delta Time is among a growing category of online games that are leading the “play-to-earn” movement. Built on blockchain technology, these games allow players to make money from in-game assets.

This offers gamers more opportunities to monetize their gaming efforts. Many games currently allow for virtual items to be traded for virtual currency. But unless they are built on blockchain technology, there’s no way to cash out either the virtual currency or items.

As such, gamers who want to turn their hobby into their line of work either have to climb their way up to a professional level or participate in peripheral activity like livestreaming or giving gaming tutorials. Another popular but tedious option is to build up an account and then sell it in an off-game transaction.

The play-to-earn movement has gained tremendous investor interest of late. Two unicorns were minted just last month, with Animoca Brands raising US$88.8 million and San Francisco-based Forte securing US$185 million at a valuation of $1 billion each. Neither of these companies are strictly in the gaming business; instead, they provide the blockchain platform to enable play-to-earn games.

Besides F1 Delta Time, Animoca Brands owns The Sandbox, which uses the Sand token as in-game currency, and has a portfolio of investments in other play-to-earn game companies such as Sky Mavis (creator of Axie Infinity) and Dapper Labs (creator of NBA Topshot and CryptoKitties). Animoca Brands’ mission is to bring more mainstream consumers into the fold and eventually create a multiverse that allows for easy transfer of assets and currencies between games.

NFTs and crypto in F1 Delta Time

Too expensive to play?