No other play-to-earn (P2E) games have seen as phenomenal a success as Axie Infinity. Recently, the game has even become a recurring topic in the esports scene, and that unsurprisingly leads to more efforts being directed towards building a mature esports ecosystem for it. Examples of such efforts in the Southeast Asia region include the Malaysia Infinity Nationals 2022, which will be held from June 1st to June 5th.
Organized by Esports Players League (ESPL) in partnership with Yield Guild Games Southeast Asia (YGG SEA), the Axie Infinity tournament aims to “bring forth a new era of competitive gaming into the Malaysian esports ecosystem and P2E community.” The event has been accepting registration from Malaysian Axie Infinity players since April and is targeting over 500 participants.
In announcing the event, ESPL notes that this will be its second Axie Infinity Tournament after the Luno Battlexie: Winter Cup back in 2021. For the upcoming tournament, ESPL and YGG SEA have prepared a total prize pool currently valued up to 35,000 RM that will be distributed in crypto, cash, and giveaways.
Both ESPL and YGG SEA believe that the P2E ecosystem should be integrated as it can benefit the local gamers and communities. The idea is to allow anyone who has already invested in the game to create more value and gain even more rewards, in addition to being connected with new people.
Stephanie Kuan, Chief Operating Officer of ESPL stated, “There’s a booming interest in the ecosystem surrounding P2E. This includes players who treat it as a full-time job, investors looking to finance technologies, communities looking to grow or pivot, and the excitement of discovering what viable cryptocurrency technologies can do for esports.”
“The union of the crypto with online gaming with the likes of Axie Infinity marks an interesting shift in the future of esports that impacts communities directly. It’s an exciting time for all of us to be involved,” added Ryan Kan, Marketing Manager for YGG SEA Malaysia, in the press release.
A national tournament for Axie Infinity surely has the potential to open up new perspectives surrounding P2E games, which previously have been mostly about their in-game economy rather than their competitiveness. It will be interesting to see if more NFT esports events emerge in the future.
