Gaming community’s research says 1 in 3 players are willing to quit their jobs to play NFT games

Balthazar, an NFT (non-fungible token) gaming community, said in its March 2022 Community Insights Report that one in three – or 32%��–��of the 1,103 respondents in a survey it conducted said they are willing to quit their jobs to play NFT games full-time. The figure includes those who play as well as those who don’t.��

Balthazar’s Community Insights Report was compiled through an online form distributed to its Discord community between Feb. 15-March 7.��

A further 59% of the predominantly Filipino respondents said they would play full-time while continuing working other jobs.��

NFTs are non-interchangeable digital assets that contain data proving ownership of items related to art, video, and the like. Play-to-earn NFT games like��Axie Infinity, wherein players collect rewards within the game that can later be converted to real cash, have been gaining popularity in the country.��

“The Philippines has a prolific online gaming community, particularly in the play-to-earn space, so it was a natural result for Balthazar to be a popular NFT gaming platform in the region,” said John Stefanidis, CEO and co-founder of Balthazar, in an e-mailed reply.��

The inaugural report also revealed that its respondents earn an average of $316 in their jobs per month, with 65% of the respondents saying they would need to earn��$42 per day on average��to consider quitting their jobs to play NFT games full-time.��

Over half (52%)��of those who played��reported using their game earnings for necessities such as food, housing, and bills.��

Balthazar, which has an entity in Singapore, aims to create an ecosystem for gamers, investors, crypto holders, and game developers. Its 70,000-strong community on Discord, an instant messaging and digital distribution platform, provides support by way of game training sessions and financial literacy activities for its members.��

It likewise offers scholarships for aspiring players who cannot afford the assets needed to play NFT games. A team of three characters, noted Mr. Stefanidis, costs about $150 in��Axie Infinity, and about $250 in��Splinterlands��(a blockchain-based trading card game).��

Scholars��–��as those aspiring players are called��–��play sans any upfront investment, and then split their game earnings among themselves, the guild, and the owners of the NFTs.��

“We have about 1,500 people in our scholarship program who are playing NFT games every month��–��and we’re in the process of onboarding a further 5,000 in the coming days,” he told������ý. “About 90% are from the Philippines; 10% are from India and other parts of the world.”��

Mr. Stefanidis added that, although regulation is a crucial part of controlling risks and bringing NFTs and cryptocurrencies into the mainstream, their disruptive model means that regulation for these industries is going to take time.��

“We believe this is just the beginning of how the NFT gaming market is going to grow and impact the Philippines economy,” he said. “We are seeing a redistribution of wealth from game developers to gamers, a new capital stream flowing into the economy from playing these games as well as investing and trading NFT assets.” — Patricia Mirasol��