KEY POINTS

  • "Axie Infinity" is a play-to-earn game
  • It recorded a 2.7 million peak users count in November
  • "Axie Infinity" is the latest victim of a crypto hack

The top-rated play-to-earn game "Axie Infinity" has been losing momentum since November, with its active users already thinning even before the massive hack on its Ronin bridge took place in March.

The $610 million crypto heist on the Ronin bridge of "Axie Infinity" is the apparent culprit many would blame for the declining player count of the Pokemon-like game. However, data from game developer Sky Mavis via Bloomberg points out that the platform has already lost many users even before the hack.

The report underlined the considerable decline in the player count since December 2021, which went much lower following the hack of its Ronin Network. Based on the data Sky Mavis reported for the week that ended March 28, the number of daily active users (DAU) of the play-to-earn game has plummeted 45% to 1.48 million from a peak of 2.7 million in November 2021.

Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based play-to-earn game that exploded in popularity in developing nations such as the Philippines during the Covid-19 pandemic
Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based play-to-earn game that exploded in popularity in developing nations such as the Philippines during the Covid-19 pandemic AFP / Jam STA ROSA

Live online game tracker ActivePlayer.IO estimated that "Axie Infinity" lost more than 50,000 players in March and as many gamers in February.

There are 868, 269 active players as of 3:44 a.m. ET on April 6, the platform recorded . The decline in the number of players could be attributed to the market sell-off in December 2021, which caused the value of Smooth Love Potion (SLP) to plummet.

SLP is a digital token players earn by playing the game and is used in-game to breed Axies or digital pets. Aside from this, the Economic Balancing update rolled out in February removed SLP rewards after players cleared daily quests and adventure mode.

Many players were against the update at the time since it reduced their daily earnings. Software application firm Covalent released a report in February casting doubts on the long-term sustainability of the play-to-earn game.

The report noted, "Not only is the total number of breeders shrinking month over month, but the number of existing breeders is also shrinking – this means it is not currently profitable for anyone regardless of their experience level. With decreasing growth rates and a decline in existing breeders, the retention rates shown in the next section are bound to be low."

After the hack, players wanted to know Sky Mavis' action plan, but aside from issuing a statement that the team is fully committed to reimbursing stolen funds, it failed to provide a timeline for repayment.

"Axie Infinity" was trading down 8.57% at $58.77 with a 24-hour volume of $518,824,275 as of 4:01 a.m. ET on April 6, based on data from CoinMarketCap.

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