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Jun 19, 2023
16 min
Play To Earn (P2E) crypto games represent a paradigm shift in the gaming industry, where players can earn real-world value, usually in the form of cryptocurrency or NFTs, by participating in the game.
P2E games have surged in popularity due to their unique proposition - the ability to earn while playing. Gamers can reportedly earn between $20 to $200 an hour, with opportunities for greater earnings through participation in game tournaments and other activities.
Understanding the P2E gaming model and its implications is crucial for anyone involved in the blockchain gaming industry, especially those tasked with marketing these games. Around 40% of people are gamers, and 55% of all millennial gamers own crypto. Top P2E games such as Axie Infinity, Decentraland, and Gods Unchained are gaining significant popularity among crypto gamers, with opportunities to earn crypto through diverse in-game activities.
In a cryptocurrency market with a total cap of $1.07 trillion, the potential for P2E games is still enormous. This article will provide actionable insights for marketing P2E games in this burgeoning industry in 2023 and beyond.
In an industry that's growing rapidly, standing out is a challenge. The surging popularity of digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs is fueling the growth of P2E games, a market that was valued at $3292.73 million in 2022 and is projected to reach more than $8800 million by 2028. With such a promising outlook, it's no surprise that hundreds of P2E games are vying for attention and player engagement today. This is where strategic promotion becomes crucial.
Marketing, when done right, can give a game the competitive edge it needs. Currently, one of the best crypto games to play for money is Splinterlands, but there are many contenders for this title. Projects like ARC8 by GAMEE and DeFi Kingdoms are also extremely popular with crypto gamers. These games have managed to carve out a name for themselves in the highly competitive Play-to-Earn (P2E) landscape, and a significant part of their success can be attributed to their marketing efforts.
Attracting and maintaining players is crucial in the P2E industry. These games are built on a business model that depends on users who are willing to pay to play and compete for tangible rewards. To generate revenue, developers often impose an access fee or take a percentage of the rewards won. The promotional strategies employed need to be diverse and adaptable, encompassing social media promotion, collaborations with influencers, SEO, paid advertising, app store optimization, referral programs, and promotional incentives.
Efficient promotion not only aids in user acquisition but also fosters a strong and active player community, which in turn amplifies the game's value and allure. It's important to remember that a P2E game's worth is directly tied to the rewards it offers its users. If the rewards depreciate, the game can quickly lose its daily active users. Therefore, promoting these rewards effectively through various channels is crucial for maintaining player interest and involvement.
Lastly, the ROI of effective marketing can be significant. Not only does it lead to greater visibility and user acquisition, but it also contributes to better engagement rates, higher conversion rates, and, ultimately, improved revenue. In a market as competitive as P2E games, successful marketing can make all the difference between a game that thrives and one that fades into obscurity.
Influencer marketing has seen tremendous growth in recent years, with many companies leveraging influencers to promote their products and services. This is particularly true in the crypto gaming industry, where influencers can reach a large, engaged audience.
Influencers have established trust with their audiences, which can lead to higher conversion rates. They also offer a personal touch that can humanize your brand, and their content can be shared across various platforms for increased visibility.
Finding the right influencer who aligns with your brand can be challenging. We recommend looking for Influencers by geo that you're interested in, as well as those Influencers that have a small number of subscribers, they have a more loyal audience that might listen to their recommendation.
Platforms like Twitter, Reddit, Discord, Medium and Telegram are hugely popular in the crypto community. Leveraging these platforms can help reach users where they are most active with engaging content.
Social media platforms have a vast reach, allowing you to engage with a large number of potential users. These platforms also offer valuable data for targeting and analytics, and the interactive nature of social media can help build a community around your brand. Here you can also collect feedback on your game from your community.
Effective social media marketing requires a significant time investment to create engaging content and interact with the community. There's also the risk of negative comments or reviews being highly visible on your social media profiles.
Optimizing content for search engines can attract organic traffic, while creating valuable content can inspire users to take action. SEO-optimized blogs, regional emails, and Q&A content are all effective strategies in this domain. In addition, cryptocurrencies often have complex concepts associated with them, so educational content can be a big draw for potential users.
When done right, SEO and content marketing can drive a significant amount of organic traffic to your website. This strategy also helps establish your brand as an authority in the P2E gaming space, which can build trust with potential users.
It can take a while to see the results of SEO and content marketing efforts. These strategies also require a deep understanding of SEO best practices and the ability to create high-quality content.
Building and engaging with a community is critical in the P2E space. An active Discord, Twitter & Telegram community, for example, can increase monthly active platform users. This community-driven business model also gives gamers the opportunity to collaborate more openly among gamers and developers to make contributions to the game. For example, through holding AMA-sessions in discord with developers.
An engaged community can lead to higher user retention rates and provide valuable feedback for improving your game. This strategy also builds social proof, as potential users see that your game has an active and enthusiastic community.
Community management requires a significant time commitment and excellent communication skills. You need to find 2-3 community managers in different time zones to communicate with your audience.
Involvement with other game communities or forming strategic partnerships can elevate brand recognition, enable audience overlap, and foster collaborations like tournaments or incentivized events.
The Zealy platform(previously Crew3) can help successfully engage users through tasks like content creation, feedback, and active participation, offering diverse rewards based on their contributions. This included cash prizes for top users of the leaderboard and creators, as well as those who completed all monthly tasks on platforms like Twitter, Medium, and Reddit. It also included promotional codes for bonuses and celebrated winners in various categories1.
This strategy can leverage pre-existing communities to increase brand visibility and attract new users. It can also foster competition and collaboration among users, boosting engagement and retention.
This approach requires meticulous planning, resources for rewards, and alignment with brand values. Not all communities may welcome this interaction, and potential backlash should be anticipated.
In this section, we'll dive into some real-world examples of Play-To-Earn (P2E) games that have successfully utilized marketing strategies to achieve outstanding results.
Decentraland is another major player in the P2E game industry, possessing about 60% market share in P2E metaverses. They have successfully secured high-profile corporate partnerships and deals, which greatly contribute to their success. Their innovative features, such as the introduction of ESTATEs in the metaverse, have been masterful additions to the game, facilitating more scaling inside the metaverse and promoting the game's tokenomy.
A distinctive trading card game in the P2E realm, Gods Unchained, holds nearly 27% of the P2E games market. They have created robust and unique tokenomics, differentiating it in a market where it's often difficult to stand out.
Shoot to Earn — An innovative player in the P2E market, Undead Blocks delivers a unique blend of zombie shooter gameplay and blockchain technology. While it may not hold the same market share as others, its sophisticated mechanics, diverse controller compatibility, and engaging social features have carved out its unique space in the industry.
In the world of P2E games, some of the most successful ones are The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, Decentraland, Gods Unchained, and Undead Blocks. These games have been successful due to a variety of factors, including innovative gameplay, aggressive marketing, and a unique value proposition for players. In particular, they've all managed to carve out significant market shares in the growing P2E gaming industry, with Decentraland even commanding as much as 60% of the market share in P2E metaverses.
Looking to the future, the P2E gaming industry is ripe with potential. With growing interest in virtual economies, the metaverse, and blockchain technologies, there is immense scope for growth. As this market continues to evolve, marketing strategies that increasingly focus on innovation, player engagement, and the integration of real-world events and partnerships will be key.
In this rapidly evolving landscape, the services provided by companies like CLS Global can be instrumental. We offer a range of services including market making, marketing & branding, and NFT consulting. The team of professionals ensures rapid integration with your markets, builds customized strategies to pursue your project's objectives, and establishes lasting connections to deliver results.
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