axie

If you were around during the peak of the Play-to-Earn (P2E) era, you remember what it felt like. It was chaotic, exciting, confusing, and honestly a little unreal. People were quitting jobs, guilds were onboarding tens of thousands of players, and every Web3 conversation ended with, So what’s the next #Axie ?

But as fast as P2E exploded, it became equally clear that something wasn’t sustainable about it. And this is where the industry began to shift toward something more stable, more authentic, and ultimately more aligned with what gamers truly care about: Play-and-Earn (PaE). And no community had a front-row seat to this evolution quite like @Yield Guild Games YGG.

The biggest flaw of early P2E was not that people were earning money. That part was actually beautiful it opened doors for players in emerging markets, gave communities a new source of income, and built a global gaming movement. The real issue was that the earning part overshadowed the playing part. Most of the time, players weren’t joining games because they were fun they were joining because the spreadsheet said the returns looked good. And as soon as the returns dropped? So did the playerbase.

I think this showed us something important if your entire ecosystem depends on continuous new capital flowing into the game, it’s not a game it’s an economic machine pretending to be a game. YGG understood this shift earlier than most. When the P2E bubble began unraveling, they didn’t abandon Web3 gaming they doubled down on the idea that games should be long-term, skill-based, and genuinely entertaining.

That’s where Play-and-Earn comes in. It's not about removing the earning component. It’s about putting earning in its rightful place as a supplement to gameplay, not the backbone of it. PaE rewards the player, not the speculator. It rewards effort, not automation. It encourages ecosystems where players engage because they enjoy the world, not just because they need to meet a daily quota.

YGG has been vocal about this transition. Instead of guilds renting NFTs to scholars for purely economic output, the new model encourages players to choose games they actually like. This seems simple, but it completely changes the incentives. It creates communities instead of workforces. It builds fandom instead of dependency. And it transforms guilds into hubs of education, collaboration, and long-term growth.

The games themselves have evolved too. Early P2E titles were often shallow, repetitive, and designed around tokenomics rather than player experience. But the new wave of Web3 games like Illuvium, Pixels, MetalCore, and Parallel are built with real game design principles. They offer competitive modes, deep mechanics, high-quality lore, and actual fun. The earning component becomes a reward for engagement, not a job.

One of the most underrated elements of this shift is identity. P2E treated players like temporary workers. PaE treats players like community members. That’s why soulbound achievements, reputation systems, on-chain credentials, and long-term progression matter so much. This ties the evolution of PaE directly into the rise of systems like YGG Soul, where players build an identity instead of just extracting value.

Another major factor in the transition is sustainability. P2E economies were almost universally inflationary. Tokens pumped at launch and collapsed as player numbers dropped. Play-and-Earn changes this by focusing on skill-based progression, deflationary sinks, seasonal rewards, limited-supply drops, non-monetary incentives, reputation-based access. This reduces dependence on token prices and gives players reasons to stay even when markets fluctuate.

I think the biggest difference between P2E and PaE is cultural. P2E created a mindset that games owed players money. PaE brings back the idea that players owe games their time because they’re actually enjoyable. When those two mindsets blend fun gameplay plus meaningful rewards you get ecosystems that can last for years instead of months.

YGG’s role in this evolution can’t be overstated. As one of the earliest and largest guilds, their shift in philosophy rippled through the entire industry. Instead of optimizing for yield, they began optimizing for community. Instead of onboarding anyone with a wallet, they started nurturing players who actually care about the game. And instead of chasing quick returns, they focused on education, identity, and long-term participation.

Today the Play-and-Earn movement represents a more mature, more realistic version of the Web3 gaming dream. It’s no longer about chasing #APYs it’s about creating digital worlds where effort, creativity, and skill matter. And if there's one thing the last few years taught us, it’s that the games that survive are the ones people play because they want to, not because they have to, and that’s exactly where Web3 is heading next.

@Yield Guild Games
#YGGPlay
$YGG

Der aktuelle Handelspreis von #Axie Infinity liegt bei 4,47 US-Dollar, nachdem ein Versuch, den 50-Tage-Exponential Moving Average (EMA) zu übertreffen, erfolglos war, was auf einen möglichen bevorstehenden Wertverlust hindeutet.
Ein Rückgang des Preises würde dazu führen, dass weitere 2,89 Millionen $AXS unter ihrem ursprünglichen Anlagewert bewertet würden, was dazu führen würde, dass 94,4 % der Anleger finanzielle Verluste erleiden würden.
Der Hauptfaktor, der zur stagnierenden Preisbewegung beiträgt, ist die Inaktivität der Wale, die einen erheblichen Großteil des Angebots besitzen und 94 % des Gesamtangebots ausmachen.

Wenn wir über die Zukunft des Web3-Gamings sprechen, kommen wir immer wieder auf eine Idee zurück: Identität. Nicht nur Wallets, nicht nur NFTs, die man umschlagen kann, sondern eine echte On-Chain-Identität, die tatsächlich etwas darüber aussagt, wer man als Gamer ist. Je mehr ich in die Richtung von YGG schaue, desto klarer wird eines: #SoulboundTokens sind nicht nur eine Funktion in ihrem Ökosystem, sie sind das Rückgrat dessen, was @Yield Guild Games YGG als Nächstes aufbaut.

Was Soulbound Tokens innerhalb von YGG interessant macht, ist, dass sie etwas erfassen, das man einfach nicht handeln kann: Reputation. Jeder kann ein #Axie , einen Helden, ein Grundstück oder was auch immer neue MetaDrop diesen Monat herauskommt, kaufen. Aber niemand kann Erfahrung kaufen. Niemand kann kaufen, dass du früh erschienen bist, zum Wachstum der Gilde beigetragen hast, an Quests teilgenommen hast oder einen On-Chain-Lernpfad abgeschlossen hast. SBTs verwandeln diese Momente in nachweisbare Beweise. Und in einer Welt voller Bots, Airdrop-Bauern und Spekulationen mit wenig Aufwand ist das riesig.