Building Thriving P2E Ecosystems: Culture, Ownership, and Sustainable Growth

Building Thriving P2E Ecosystems: Culture, Ownership, and Sustainable Growth

Introduction:

In the world of gaming, player retention is crucial for long-term success. However, many game publishers prioritize company profit over player value and well-being. This article explores the concept of Play-to-Earn (P2E) economies as base layer protocols for games, emphasizing the importance of community, culture, and incentive design. By shifting the focus from pure user acquisition to retaining loyal community members, P2E ecosystems can create sustainable growth and foster a sense of ownership among players.

Growing Users Completing the Core Action:

Just like in any product, growing the number of users completing the core action is essential for sustainable growth. This concept, known as the Engagement Hierarchy, highlights the need to motivate users to complete the core action of a product. Without this completion, the growth becomes empty calories. Understanding the relationship between core actions and motivating features is critical for the success of any product. P2E ecosystems should prioritize growing users who actively participate in and complete the core action, ensuring meaningful engagement.

Building Open Source P2E Ecosystems:

Traditionally, game publishers maintain complete control over the development, distribution, and management of games. However, in the context of P2E ecosystems, this centralized approach can lead to value extraction from communities. To prevent this, P2E ecosystems should be treated as open source public goods. This means building self-sustaining virtual nation state economies where all aspects of the economy and play experiences are developed openly. By avoiding reliance on a single coordinating party, scalability and scientific product development can be achieved.

Culture, Ownership, and Incentive Design:

In P2E ecosystems, culture and incentive design play a crucial role in fostering community engagement and ownership. Early user acquisition may involve skilled individuals co-creating a virtual world with the community, even before a game is ready or being built. The mantra "Come for the culture, stay for the ownership" encapsulates the importance of creating a strong community that feels a sense of ownership over the P2E ecosystem. Designing incentives to retain loyal community members and rewarding valuable contributors are key pillars of success. By focusing on the quality of life for community members, P2E ecosystems can foster trust, loyalty, and fanaticism.

Actionable Advice:

• 1. Prioritize community and culture: When building a P2E ecosystem, place importance on creating a vibrant community and fostering a unique culture. This will attract and retain valuable community members who contribute to the success of the ecosystem.

• 2. Design incentives for retention: Instead of solely focusing on user acquisition, design incentive structures that prioritize retaining missionaries and loyal community members. Reward their commitment and relative work within the ecosystem, creating a feedback loop of trust and loyalty.

• 3. Embrace open-source development: Treat P2E ecosystems as open source public goods. Build economies and play experiences openly, avoiding reliance on a single coordinating party. This approach allows for scalability, scientific product development, and prevents value extraction from communities.

Conclusion:

By shifting the focus from pure user growth to community engagement, ownership, and sustainable growth, P2E ecosystems can thrive. Prioritizing culture, rewarding valuable contributors, and embracing open-source development are key factors in building successful P2E economies. As the gaming industry evolves, it is crucial to prioritize the well-being and value of players, creating immersive and rewarding experiences within the metaverse.