The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a worldwide pandemic two years ago. As a result, schools and universities were forced to conduct classes online. Virtual learning was adopted by institutions all over the world, with students and educators quickly adjusting to a completely new way of life.
Battling against the Covid-19 Pandemic has been difficult for everyone, especially for us students. As of 2021, the Philippines is Axie Infinity’s number one source of traffic worldwide (Axie itself just won a big new funding round). According to Sky Mavis, the game’s developer, over 29,000 people have downloaded Axie in the Philippines, up from around 10,000 in March 2021. This compares to a total of 70,000 downloads worldwide, with Axie’s next largest sources of traffic coming from Indonesia and Venezuela, both emerging economies where domestic jobs are scarce and relief from the crisis has been limited.
Axie Infinity is a pioneer in the emerging play-to-earn movement, in which blockchain game players can earn yield in the form of tokens or other rewards. These rewards can be used in-game or traded on an open market if the player so desires. The latter option represents a significant shift in the gaming world because in-game assets were previously confined to the centralized protocol from which they originated, unable to be moved off the platform.
Richard, a 4th Year Pharmacy student, is an Axie Infinity Manager. According to him, Axie was introduced to him by a friend who is also a student. “Since I observed that Axie is profitable and doable, it piqued my interest to try,” said Richard. He started playing with a team composed of a pure breed of bird, beast and plant and bought a team for scholarship after 2 weeks.
Aquatic, Beast, Bird, Bug, Dawn, Dusk, Mech, Plant, and Reptile are the nine classes of axie. Certain axies perform better or worse in specific matchups, similar to how grass is weak against fire but strong against water in Pokémon. Aquatic, Bird, and Dawn are powerful against Beast, Bug, and Mech, who in turn are powerful against Reptile, Plant, and Dusk, who in turn are powerful against Aquatic, Bird, and Dawn.
According to Richard, he considers Axie Infinity as a side hustle, a long term side hustle. “First, I worry about getting a quota which became more competitive at this moment because of the latest update where the guaranteed 75 slp when you finish all the tasks in a day was removed. You can always get extreme emotions, super happy or super sad.” he added.
Richard has a total of three scholars at this time. A single axie can be purchased for as
low as 10,000php. A team requires around 50,000php to get off to a good start. As the
popularity of Axie Infinity’s pay-to-win concept grew, so did “scholarship” programs, in which “scholars” who could not afford to buy a team on their own could rent one, which helped the community cope with increasing prices.
The most interesting part about playing Axie Infinity is that you are guaranteed to earn. The game itself has been accessible from the start. You can play it on a PC or your phone, which are available platforms for the students especially in this pandemic as they use thesedevices in attending their online/ virtual classes.
References:
Callon-Butler, L. (2021, May 11). For Filipinos, Axie Infinity is more than a crypto game. Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/05/11/for-filipinos-axie-infinity-is-more-than-a-crypto-g ame/
Puyat, M. (2021, November 9). Axie Infinity and the concept of play-to-earn. Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/tech/2021/11/9/axie-infinity-play-to-earn-philippines.h tml
