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How to Earn Money Playing Games on PC

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• Author: Matthew Cook

Recently, the narrative of P2E, or Play to Earn, is spreading through the crypto world - people earn money for playing games. Until now, only a select circle of top professional players have been allowed to do so. Either they contributed as influencers/YouTubers, or they circumvented the rules and sold parts of the game to others, like the Chinese farmers sold gold coins in the most played MMORPG World of Warcraft. "Blockchain is changing the gaming industry. Players already want to get something for their time, they want to own and trade in-game assets and expect to be rewarded for improving in-game skills," said Ben Cousens of Lakestar. Do you want to make money playing games too? Then read on.

How to earn money playing games

How to make money playing games - CONTENTS

  1. What is Play2Earn
  2. Zebedee Has Infected Counter-Strike with Bitcoin
  3. First Infuse = CS: GO
  4. LightNite – Comic Book Fortnite on Lightning
  5. Game Modes
  6. NFT Element in the Game
  7. Play2Earn Summary

What is Play2Earn

Play-to-earn is exactly what it sounds like - a business model where users can play a game and earn cryptocurrency in the process. PC gamers are no longer overlooked and discarded as outcasts who waste time instead of doing something productive. Like any industry, online gaming has seen countless trends and tendencies emerge over the years. From first-person shooters (FPS) to multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, the list is growing. P2E is just the next evolutionary stage of gaming as a technology that uses a very strong psychological model because it combines two activities that have driven humanity since time immemorial - making money and having fun.

A great example of P2E and the first early bird catching the worm is Renan Oliveira, who paid his bills by playing Counter-Strike.

Thus it is possible to pay bills by playing games.

With the advent of Bitcoin, NFT and blockchain in general, we have started to see some very interesting use cases forming around gaming and e-Sports.

There are plenty of games that somehow try to implement blockchain technology. Most of them are, unfortunately, almost unplayable. Some have ambitious plans but are still in development. Others are surprisingly well received by the general public, but it is already clear to anyone who's not round the bend that they have no future in the long run. There are projects that promise AAA quality games, like Star Atlas, which is supposed to be a "Ready Player One" type game. While you will find a "play now" button on the site, it only takes you to the store where you can buy various NFTs for now. For example, buy a space craft for thousands of dollars and hope to sit in it in a few years in virtual reality. Personally, I'd rather wait, although I have to admit that as a sci-fi fan, watching the trailer gave me chills.

Star Atlas trailer.
Personally, I see the development of the gaming industry in the context of crypto as very positive in terms of the adoption and onboarding of the young generation, which was born into the virtual world and is naturally open to cryptocurrencies. They know the different types of in-game tokens from other games, and the amount of time they spend playing goes hand-in-hand with their preference for these currencies instead of the "real" fiat. It may be more important for a player to have a new helmet for their cool game character than to be well dressed in the real world. 

There are plenty of options for what to play, and in this article we'll be looking at two of the most played action shooters that have implemented Bitcoin in the form of the Lightning network. Specifically, the old familiar Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or "CS: GO", infected by Zebedee, and then the interesting comic alternative Lightnite from the Elixir developers.

Zebedee Has Infected Counter-Strike with Bitcoin


Guide and Game-play CS: GO.


Zebedee was founded in 2019 and now has a strong team of 25 led by names like André Neves, Simon Cowell and Christian Moss. The trio are pioneers in blockchain gaming. It has been developing cryptocurrency-based games since 2013 and recently raised more than $11 million from investors.

Zebedee celebrated a successful fundraiser with a sponsored CS: GO tournament.

Simon Cowell, one of the founders, described the gaming industry environment as follows: 

"The gaming industry is extremely competitive, and even if you manage to create a great new game on Bitcoin, it's hard to pull existing players away from another competing game because they've just been playing it for a long time and love it."

So, instead of developing a new game from the ground up, they created a so-called "Infuse", which allows them to integrate the Bitcoin Lightning network into already existing games. Into games that people like, thus shortening their path to users. They have therefore created a solution available to all game developers who can easily and securely implement Lightning in their games, thereby pushing the P2E industry and driving Bitcoin adoption.

"Our goal is to offer game developers a fully compliant platform that they can use without fear of any regulatory impact. We are building fintech for the gaming industry, which means building the best payment infrastructure available and also building the best compliance infrastructure." That's the word from a spokesperson for Zebedee, which is based in the United States, so they certainly have to be careful when navigating the legal landscape.

One of Zebedee's main partners is the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp, perhaps even the first European cryptocurrency exchange ever, with a 10-year tradition. It recently announced that Bitstamp clients (excluding US customers) can use the Lightning network to instantly recharge the ZBD wallet for crypto gaming purposes, and is giving away bonuses worth a total of 1 BTC.

Bitstamp is giving away a total of 1 BTC.

"If your gaming can have real economic results, it opens up new opportunities for value creation. In the future, the virtual economy will certainly be bigger than what we call the real-world economy today. One of the keys to making this happen is an open and interoperable system - the Lightning network," said Julian Sawyer, CEO of Bitstamp.

Money is flowing into gaming, and interestingly, in Counter-Strike specifically, ads are displayed right in the game map on walls in the form of graffiti, paintings, billboards and other cool ways. In Mario Kart, you are given a bitcoin when you pass a Bitrefill pump. Imagination has no limits in the virtual world.

First Infuse = CS: GO

They chose Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as the first game for "Infuse", which is free to play on Steam and has approximately 20 million active players. If only 1% of users could be onboarded this way, it would be a great success. 

Historic moment - the first CS game with LN implementation.

If you want to try playing, just download CS: GO via Steam, then add Infuse to play for bitcoin, and also a Zebedee wallet to create a so-called "bitcoin wallet" (this one you'll create through so-called Gamertag, a QR code that will allow you to load the necessary satoshi into your game).  Don't be surprised if the player lobby is often empty. Unfortunately, there aren't enough players yet to find a group whenever you want. It definitely helps to subscribe to the Discord channel MintGox, which is an E-sports platform that regularly hosts CS: GO tournaments, and the winner can look forward not only to satoshi from bleeding opponents, but also to prizes from sponsors such as Bitstamp and Bitrefill.

MintGox is hosting a sponsored CS: GO tournament.

When you connect to a server that has been "infused", you have to pay an entry fee (this can be easily done using the Zebedee wallet). Fees from all entrants will be collected and added to the total prize pool. If you play well, you will receive a larger portion of the reward based on your score. Because Lightning transactions are so fast, you don't have to wait until the end of the game for all the results to load. You can end the match whenever you want and withdraw your current earnings immediately.

"When you link the game score to a currency that has a real-world value (which you can choose at any time), the stakes are suddenly much higher. Making money playing games is great, but from our point of view it's not even the main thing. It's about getting the game under your skin. Because winning or losing money in real time takes the passion and drive of competitive gaming to a whole new level. With bitcoins in the game, the points you earn by playing suddenly become much more meaningful. You can withdraw them from the game, use them to tip your favourite streamer, or even transfer them to another game. Or buy a new monitor or car with it if you've saved up that much money! This is a very strong incentive for users to not only try the game, but to stick with it," says Simon Cowell.

PIf you are interested in game development, you can get actively involved through the Zebedee developer dashboard SDK. I wish the rest of you gamers a lot of fun and accurate aim.


Lightnite – Comic Book Fortnite on Lightning


Czech guide to Lightnite game.


Another game that is getting a lot of attention is Lightnite from the developers of Satoshi's Games. The Madrid-based company was founded in 2019 and one of the two main investors is Charlie Lee, the founder of Litecoin. The company's main goal is to build technology for gaming and eSports to bring the concept of "Internet of Value" closer to reality for the next generation..

Lightnite on Twitter.

Lightnite is a battle royale-style multiplayer action shooter, very similar to the well-known Fortnite, that combines survival, exploration and competition. It differs from other games by a small difference, namely that the in-game currency is bitcoin, or more precisely, its smallest denomination, satoshi.

Simply put, a player gains bitcoin by shooting other players, and loses bitcoin if getting hit. But it doesn't stop there. The game has several other innovative features.

  • Some items are worth real bitcoins and can be collected in the game. They might fall out of a player who has just been shot.
  • The Lightnite marketplace allows users to buy and sell in-game items for bitcoins, using their in-game balance or a microtransaction from the lightning wallet.
  • The in-game bitcoin (sats) balance is displayed in real-time every time a player shoots, gets hit or grabs a valuable item. You can leave the game at any time and immediately withdraw your balance to your own lightning wallet.
LightNite play to earn P2E
Cool comic book characters that can be adjusted to everyone's taste

Installation in a few simple steps:

  1. Purchase the game on the lightnite.io. You can of course also pay with bitcoin On-chain or via the Lightning network and the game is currently priced at $20. With a bit of searching, you're sure to find a referral link that will get you 20% off your purchase + sats and NFT to start with.
  2. After purchase, create a Lightnite account. (email + password)
  3. In the download section, download the Elixir client. It's similar to Steam, but the Elixir library only has games that have cryptocurrencies implemented in some way.
  4. After installing Elixir, log in with your Lightnite account. 
  5. In the Quick Launch section, you will see the Lightnite game and the download and install option.
  6. Once installed, there's nothing stopping you from launching the game directly from Elixir and enjoying some of that bitcoin fun. (You must be logged into Elixir to run the game.)

The game runs on the Unity game engine and its simple polygon-comic graphics ensures low PC requirements. The developers even promise a version for phones (Android, iOS) and later also virtual reality.

Recently, the app upgraded to a new coat and added a few more cool features.

Elixir game launcher in a brand new coat.

Game Modes 

For beginners, it's definitely a good idea to play single player to get a bit familiar with the controls and adjust your aiming sensitivity. The COVID19 mode is a precision training where you shoot down flying balloon-shaped viruses as they approach you, with the goal of eliminating all spores where the viruses spawn. If the minimum number of points is met (1 000 pts. ), a small amount of Sata will be credited to your account.

Lightnite – COVID19 mode.

The second option is a military base, a training ground where you shoot at targets. There have been several Twitter contests to see who can shoot down all the targets in the shortest time.

When it comes to multiplayer, there are several options to choose from. You can play the game without having to charge and send your own bitcoins. Bitcoins are only played in Play2Earn multiplayer mode.

Battle Royale Solo – It takes a while to get enough players before the game connects you all and you find yourself in an airship, out of which you'd rather jump sooner than later, since other players who have already successfully landed on the ground before you can shoot you down in flight. An all-against-all battle awaits you, where the last one wins and you only have one life. Every half a minute or so the map gets progressively narrower, driving players towards each other and concentrating them in a smaller area, as they would otherwise struggle to find each other in the huge map. Upon death, you switch to spectator mode, which as you know, isn't worth much, so it's better to exit the game manually and log into the next one. 

Battle Royale Squad – A team game of the same type to which you must invite your friends from the friend list.

Deathmatch – I found this mode of play the most fun, as you respawn at a random spot on the map after every few seconds of being shot.

After logging into the room, you need to wait so there is enough players. It's a good idea to use the waiting to examine your opponents' stats and send friend requests. With enough friends, it will be easier to sign up for P2E games in the future. A six-player game, or 3 vs 3, can be considered a pretty good cut. With 5 vs 5 you don't even know where the bullets are coming from anymore and how on earth it's possible that you're dead again. If you win the Ranked Team Deathmatch, you will be rewarded with a few satoshi and a common NFT. You can collect this reward every three hours.

Lightnite – deathmatch.

Play 2 Earn – In order to play Play2Earn mode, you must own at least one of the lowest quality equipment, i.e. a common one. Equipment is gained by playing one of the Ranked modes.

You need to join an already created game or take over the hosting and create the game yourself.

This is the game version where you can actually lose or gain real bitcoins.

Prepare to have no chance for the first few multiplayer games or the first hour of play. It's amazing how some players can aim accurately and quickly even in such a simple user interface. Camping tactics are not used much here, rather you will see speeding characters running and jumping from side to side.

NFT Element in the Game

Anything you find, win or buy in the game can be sold, traded or disassembled into fragments and then used to build (mint) a rare NFT.

The marketplace, where you manage all your Satoshi's Games wealth, can be found on the market page market.elixir.app and you can buy and sell skins not only from Lightnite but also from other games. 

The marketplace app gives you complete information on all skins, weapons and accessories. You will see their price, the number of minted pieces and of course a link to the transparent blockchain for more details about each item.

From here you also send your earnings in satoshi to your own lightning wallet. 

Most common NFTs in the marketplace section are in the range of a few cents to a few dollars. Rare items are priced between $100 and $200. I figured it wasn't that much considering the hype around NFT at the moment. But then I started discovering extreme exceptions, such as the Gandalf skin for 10 BTC (573,950 USD at the time of writing), the demon mask for 0.23 BTC or the glowing sword for 0.12 BTC.


LightNite
Gandalf skin for 1 BTC

This is not an article about NFTs, speculation, money laundering or conspiracy theories, so we'll leave that for another day and you, if you want, buy yourself a cool Rare hat and t-shirt so you don't run around the battlefield like Adam after Eve. Additionally, this gives you the option to enter the game using the Quick battle multiplayer option. 

The game still has a lot of catching up to do. No wonder, as it is still in pre-alpha version. The developers are happy for any feedback and bug reports and provide an in-game tool that can be launched simply by Shift + F12.

A friendly community is quickly growing around the game, and the comic book look gives the game a humorous twist. It's worth joining their Discord and following them on Twitter. Personally, it's not about the few sats I've lost in the game and will surely lose. I just don't stand a chance against the younger generation with their skills and different time priorities. I can only hope that these not only young gamers know the motto "stacking sats" and don't spend their accumulated fractions of bitcoin on the first thing they find online.

Play2Earn Summary

Games on Bitcoin have one huge advantage. Players can be assured that the satoshis they earn have real value outside of the game, that they are transferable from one game to another, and that developers won't suddenly decide to issue large amounts of in-game currency and devalue it.

We are living in the 21st century and this is a real revolution. Children and teenagers will get a very good argument against their parents' words "don't stare into the monitor all day".

So far it is more play than earn, but that will definitely improve with time. I think the biggest money around gaming will end up being in betting, marketing and NFT trading. Whether that's a good thing is for each person to decide.

One of the interesting projects that are linked to the emerging gaming space is exeedme.The platform is built on blockchain and has its own cryptocurrency XED.

As a user, you can challenge your opponents to a tournament of your chosen game, each participant locks in a pre-agreed amount of funds and the winner takes all.

As an incentive to use the platform, the creators have chosen to reward you with XED for using the service, whether you win or lose a given bet. It won't take long for this model to emerge on bitcoin. 

Another interesting crypto-project that deals with gaming is Enjin with its launchpad Enjinstarter. Until recently, the company had a very interesting design in a mysterious fantasy style. Unfortunately, as the hype around NFT has grown, it has bowed out and changed its focus more to this specialty, which will certainly bring it the funding it needs to develop. Age of Rust is planned, a promising first-person single player cypherpunk "adventure" game based on thinking, full of jigsaws and puzzles, set in the distant future of the year 4424.

It's not all roses. We can expect a wave of resistance against Play2Earn. In mid-October, news emerged that Steam was banning blockchain-based games that allow trading of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. 

Age of Rust has been banned from Steam.

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