Crypto-based play-to-earn games like X10 Legends are paving the way for unbanked people in some countries in Southeast Asia and Africa to bypass dealing with banks altogether, and instead rely on their play-to-earn accounts.
X10 Legends is currently the latest blockchain game where players earn rewards in XTL, a form of crypto tokens which can be exchanged for real money. This phenomenon is also known as “play-to-earn” in the blockchain industry.
“To have a bank account, and to be able to get good interest rates, and to get a loan, you need to have a job, you need to have an income,” Tom Leung, Founder of X10 Legends said.
He went on to explain that in Philippines, there are a lot of people who don’t have a bank account, either because they don’t qualify for one or because they believe they don’t need one.
For these people, Tom said, play-to-earn game represents one of the only paths to financial inclusion, since it is possible to start with nothing and earn tokens through playing.
“With a play-to-earn account, you don’t need anything,” Tom said, adding that once people start earning something through gaming, they can proceed to open a bank account under better terms.
The same sentiment was also shared by Ben Fairbank, CEO & Co-founder of the metaverse-focused venture firm RedFOX Labs. He said that crypto and play-to-earn accounts may actually help people in the region bypass getting a bank account completely.
He went on to note that play-to-earn is also useful because it teaches young people to earn, save, and invest in a way that no bank will do, which will become an important skill for them in the future.
But although crypto and play-to-earn wallets may take over for banks at some point in the future, it will be challenging to use earned gaming tokens for everyday purposes outside of the games, especially in some countries. Among them, China and Vietnam are particularly difficult from a regulatory standpoint.
