Play-to-earn is the ‘biggest superpower’ of Web3 gaming: Pixels CEO

Despite the widespread criticism of the play-to-earn (P2E) model in 2023, some remained steadfast in their belief in the Web3 gaming model. They focused on discovering how to harness it as a “superpower” unlocked by the crypto space.

In 2023, play-to-earn received much criticism and was generally perceived as a “flawed” system. Atari founder Nolan Bushnell said the model was the reason gamers hated crypto, while some predicted the Web3 gaming model’s downfall.

Despite this, Luke Barwikowski, the CEO of the Web3 massive multiplayer online (MMO) game Pixels, continues to try and figure out how to make P2E work and believes that it would give Web3 games a competitive advantage against their Web2 counterparts.

Pixels CEO calls play-to-earn a Web3 superpower

In a Cointelegraph interview, Barwikowski explained how the Pixels team continues navigating the blockchain gaming space and trying to make P2E gaming more sustainable.

“We are trying to figure out how to make play-to-earn work and be sustainable. We know that we need to make changes to how the game operates and works,” he said.

According to Barwikowski, Pixels’ Chapter 2 introduced major gameplay and system changes that affected players’ progressions and interactions inside the game. The executive said that this got them closer to their goal of making P2E gaming sustainable.

Despite the criticisms of the P2E model, the executive expressed a firm belief that it’s one of the best innovations in gaming and Web3. Barwikowski explained:

“Play-to-earn is the single biggest innovation that Web3 unlocks, and it's the biggest superpower of Web3 gaming.”

Barwikowski believes that Web3 is about coordinating incentives to maximize particular ecosystem goals. He noted that it’s up to Web3 and gaming projects to figure out how to make it work.

Play-to-earn as a user acquisition innovation

Barwikowski explained that Web2 gaming companies are naturally profit-driven. These companies want to maximize their revenue and have the budget to do so. He said that Web2 companies raise money and spend it on advertising and ecosystem growth.

The Pixels CEO said that in Web3 gaming, they do not spend this money on advertising. Instead, they try to figure out how to give this “directly” to the players. However, this doesn’t mean that they just give out tokens and not think about generating revenue. Barwikowski explained:

“It’s our job to build a technology to figure out how to do this coordination. The thesis is kind of the same. In the long run, to make play-to-earn work, you need people to spend more tokens than you give out every single month to execute that. It’s not so easy.”

“Play-to-earn is a user acquisition innovation that is hyper-competitive against Web2 gaming,” Barwikowski added. The executive further explained that it’s “two sides of the coin.” There needs to be a fun game that generates revenue in the same way that Web2 games do.

In addition, the CEO also explained that Web2 games have started to notice the shift in gaming paradigms.

He added that Web2 game companies are starting to “get scared” of this innovation and believe that once Web3 figures out the right balance, it would be very difficult for Web3 games to compete with Web3 gaming.