Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban On A Favorite Investment, Axie Infinity

Billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner appeared on the Bankless’ YouTube channel to discuss the future of blockchain-based play-to-earn gaming and how to maintain their relevance.

Cuban, also known as one of the Sharks on ABC’s Shark Tank said that the popular Axie Infinity game will have to develop a business model strong enough to generate enough revenue to provide sustainable incentives to its players.

“I told them unless you’re able to create enough of an economy that you’re able to create productivity, meaning you have enough users that you can sell ads and sponsorships and NFTs [non-fungible tokens] and earn income from all those things, in order to buy the SLPs and the tokens, the Axie tokens from users, meaning its earned to buy them, then you’re going to run into problems.”

Axie Infinity is a Pokémon-inspired universe where anyone can earn tokens through skilled gameplay and contributions to the ecosystem. The online video game is developed by Sky Mavis and allows players to generate profits through buying, breeding and selling digital pets known as Axies. Players can also battle and build a land-based kingdom for their pets.

Each Axie is minted as an NFT, assuring the authenticity of the digital creature in the blockchain.

There are two crypto assets involved in the game: AXS, which is the native token, and Smooth Love Potion (SLP), which is a token used to breed new creatures. Although AXS and SLP are both far away from their all-time highs, Cuban believes play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity are not over with and hails its Philippine community as an example:

“So we went from play-to-earn being this great thing, and it helped people in the Philippines, to ‘Okay, it’s barely hanging on.’ And no new play-to-earn platforms have succeeded that I know of.

If Axie would’ve gone in, and they still can do it and I hope they do – even though I’m an investor, I don’t really have that kind of connection with them to tell them what to do. If they’re out there selling ads and sponsorships and taking that money and buying tokens from the people who are playing to earn so that there’s some replenished economy, that works. If I buy one of those NFTs, you take my money you buy some SLP.”

A recent survey conducted in the Philippines by NFT Gaming platform Balthazar, found that 32 percent of the Filipino respondents said they would quit or consider quitting their daytime jobs if they would earn enough from P2E gaming.