Blockchain

Play-to-earn arrives on Algorand with Drone Racing League game

With a combination of high-octane drone racing and cutting-edge crypto gaming technology, the first play-to-earn (P2E) game will launch on the Algorand (ALGO) blockchain.

The partnership between Playground Labs and the world’s largest drone-sports organisation – the Drone Racing League (DRL) – aims to develop an eSports game rooted in the current Drone Racing simulator that will enable players to earn cryptocurrency and NFTs as they play.

Playground Labs’ crypto-gaming studio is backed by former Citi exec Matt Zhang’s Hivemind – a crypto-investment firm that launched last year with $1.5bn in capital to deploy as part of a strategy targeting P2E, Layer-1 interoperability, metaverses, and institutional platforms.

The effort to derive real value from the digital sphere is an ambitious one, but the potential success of the DRL game in leveraging Algorand for an entire sport’s entry into the metaverse could mark the start of a big trend for more sports to engage with Web 3.0 through play-to-earn.

Play-to-earn is the natural extension of eSports

DRL will be Playground Labs’ inaugural product – the company is formulated around DAOs highlighting just how new this sector is – and CEO Sam Peurifoy was quick to explained how the P2E model could shape future experiences for players.

“We’re excited to unveil Playground Labs to build the infrastructure of the metaverse economy and to enable everyone to earn real economic utility by playing the games they love,” he said.

“P2E games will create community, economic sustainability and authentic engagement for participants around the world.”

The DRL has set the pace in players’ experiences and engagement with an annual SIM Tryouts eSports tournament on the DRL Simulator, and cash prizes on offer in their Drone Racing Arcade mobile game – having recently achieved official sports betting status – P2E is the natural next extension of the sport.