Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based video game developed by the Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis and launched in 2018, in which players collect, breed, battle, and trade digital creatures known as Axies, which are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain and its Ronin sidechain, utilizing a play-to-earn model where participants earn cryptocurrencies such as Smooth Love Potion (SLP) and Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) through gameplay activities.[1][2][3] The game drew inspiration from Pokémon and initially aimed to introduce blockchain technology via accessible pet collection mechanics, achieving rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic with peak daily active users exceeding 2 million, particularly in regions like the Philippines where it served as an income source amid economic hardship.[4][5] However, its dual-token economy proved unsustainable, fostering speculative breeding and gameplay driven by token inflation rather than enduring fun, leading to a sharp decline post-2021 bull market.[6] A pivotal controversy arose in March 2022 when hackers, later linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group, exploited the Ronin bridge to steal approximately $625 million in Ethereum and USDC, marking one of the largest cryptocurrency heists and exposing vulnerabilities in centralized validator controls.[7][8][9] Despite recovery efforts including fundraising and network upgrades, Axie Infinity's player base has contracted significantly by 2025, with ongoing developments like the card-based Axie Infinity Origins focusing on improved real-time combat and sustainability over pure earning incentives.[10][11]Core Concept and Gameplay
Game Overview
Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based game developed by the Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis, in which players collect, breed, and battle digital creatures called Axies that function as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).[12][13] Launched in 2018, the game operates on the Ronin sidechain, a Ethereum-compatible network designed for scalability, allowing players full ownership of in-game assets that can be traded on integrated marketplaces.[3] Core gameplay revolves around strategic turn-based battles, where players assemble teams of three Axies, each composed of six body parts that determine available cards, attributes such as attack power and health, and special abilities.[14][15] Battles emphasize resource management, with players drawing from a deck of cards tied to their Axies' parts, managing energy points that regenerate each turn, and positioning units on a lane-based battlefield to optimize targeting and defenses.[16] Victory in arena modes or adventure quests yields rewards, including the Smooth Love Potion (SLP) token, which serves as the primary in-game currency for breeding and can be exchanged for cryptocurrency.[17] Breeding mechanics enable the creation of new Axies by pairing two parents, limited to seven offspring per pair due to genetic purity rules, with costs paid in SLP and the governance token Axie Infinity Shards (AXS).[18] This play-to-earn model incentivizes participation, though entry requires purchasing at least three Axies to form a viable team.[15] The game's economy integrates NFTs for true asset ownership, distinguishing it from traditional games by allowing players to speculate on or monetize their Axies and tokens outside the platform.[13] Over time, updates have introduced modes like Origins for simplified entry and Classic for competitive play, alongside features such as land plots for kingdom-building, though core collection and combat remain central.[16][14]Battle and Breeding Mechanics
Battles in Axie Infinity utilize a turn-based card battler system where players assemble teams of three Axies to compete against opponents in the arena.[19] Each Axie possesses six body parts—horn, back, tail, mouth, ears, and eyes—that determine the cards available for play, with two cards generated per part for a total of twelve cards per Axie.[19] Players manage energy to deploy these cards, starting with three energy points that increase by one each turn, while cards typically cost one or two energy to activate, emphasizing strategic resource allocation and aggressive playstyles as energy and cards reset per turn.[19] The Classic battle mode, launched in December 2019, features deterministic turn order, positioning (front and rear rows affecting targeting and vulnerabilities), and win conditions met by reducing all enemy Axies' health to zero.[19] A subsequent iteration, Axie Infinity: Origins, released in early access on April 6, 2022, incorporates real-time elements alongside card play for varied pacing.[19] Breeding mechanics enable players to produce new Axies by pairing two eligible parents, with each Axie limited to a maximum of seven lifetime breeds before becoming sterile.[20] Breeding is prohibited between siblings or parent and offspring to prevent inbreeding. Costs consist of Axie Infinity Shard (AXS) tokens, whose quantity varies, and Smooth Love Potion (SLP) tokens that escalate based on prior breed counts for each parent, as outlined below:| Breed Count | SLP Cost per Parent |
|---|---|
| 1 | 900 |
| 2 | 1,350 |
| 3 | 2,250 |
| 4 | 3,600 |
| 5 | 5,850 |
| 6 | 9,450 |
| 7 | 15,300 |
NFT and Asset Ownership
In Axie Infinity, the core in-game assets, known as Axies, are represented as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) adhering to the ERC-721 standard on the Ethereum blockchain, enabling players to hold verifiable, exclusive ownership through cryptographic keys.[21] This structure contrasts with traditional games, where asset control resides in centralized databases subject to developer revocation; here, ownership is decentralized and immutable once recorded on-chain, allowing transfers via smart contract functions liketransferFrom without intermediary approval.[22] Players manage these NFTs via compatible wallets, such as MetaMask, which interact directly with the blockchain to confirm provenance and scarcity—each Axie possesses unique attributes like parts, stats, and breeding history encoded in its metadata.[23]
Additional assets, including Land plots introduced in the Homeland expansion on December 28, 2022, also function as NFTs, permitting owners to deploy them for in-game utilities like building and resource generation while retaining full transferability.[24] These Land NFTs support on-chain mechanics for placement and management, ensuring persistent ownership even amid game updates, as transactions are validated by the Ronin sidechain—a purpose-built Ethereum-compatible network launched by Sky Mavis to reduce fees and latency for high-volume interactions.[25] Ownership transfers occur peer-to-peer on the Axie Marketplace, where buyers acquire NFTs by sending cryptocurrency, with the blockchain updating the public ledger to reflect new custodianship instantaneously upon confirmation.[23]
To enhance accessibility without relinquishing control, Axie Infinity implemented delegation features on October 17, 2024, allowing owners to lend Axies for gameplay by others while maintaining legal and economic rights, subject to a 24-hour cooldown on earnings post-delegation to prevent rapid exploitation.[26] This mechanic underscores the blockchain's role in granular permissioning, where smart contracts enforce rules like breeding limits (e.g., seven offspring per Axie lifetime) to preserve asset value, all verifiable via explorers like RoninScan.[23] Overall, this NFT framework promotes player sovereignty, as assets derive value from network effects and utility rather than publisher fiat, though it exposes holders to blockchain risks like transaction failures during congestion.[22]