As P2E Dies Out, Hybrid-Casual Games Set to Take Center Stage

Axie Infinity, Splinterlands, and The Sandbox are big names in the crypto world that dominated P2E headlines during Crypto’s last bull run. As Crypto begins to rise from the ashes in 2023, the number of players remaining in P2E games has significantly declined, from a level of 30.1 million in January 2022, to a paltry 6.2 million in March 2023, with downloads dropping from 46 million to 29 million in the second half of 2022, according to Sensor Tower’s State of Mobile Gaming report 2023.

The P2E market suffered economic stresses too, as the market cap for GameFi tokens fell from $27 billion to $3 billion at the end of 2022, likely owing to a fundamental conceptual flaw at the core of Play-to-Earn, where developers placed too much emphasis on the tokenomics of the game, rather than building games that players actually want to play.

On the whole, Web2 gamers do not care about nor understand blockchain or token management plans. They want games that offer engaging mechanics, art, and interesting stories. These crucial aspects are underserved or ignored by most P2E developers, due to the focus on tokenomics — building games that focus on earning rather than playing, which causes the core gameplay, art, and “pick-up-and-play” feel to be left behind. As a result, players who tried these games realize they are not welcome, consequently avoiding games with a P2E tag.

The solution to the P2E apocalypse now is for companies to step forward and create games that can attract both Web2 and Web3 player bases and focus on gameplay and creating sustainable long-term business models. Blockchain-powered casual games are one way to achieve this, and with a market size of $15.51 billion in 2022 with predictions to grow to $23.49 billion by 2026, casual gaming is now vastly outstripping P2E gaming.

Red Pill Company believes that it is not only possible to create a product for both Web2 and Web3 markets, but it is absolutely essential to the success of a game. As a successful, international BNB Grant-Winning development studio, Red Pill Company has identified the gap in the market for a project that satisfies both Web2 and Web3 users, and they look set to capitalize on this with their latest project, ScapesMania.

ScapesMania is a novel hybrid-casual project that focuses on gameplay and a beautiful art style, set in a picturesque town where players complete activities to enhance their reputation, complete quests, and customize their houses and gardens into works of art. For Web3 users, ScapesMania offers enormous opportunities, with token holders able, but not strictly required, to collaborate and participate in the DAO governance of the game, vote on features and events, like buyback, burn, staking, and more.

For the Web3 crowd, Red Pill is currently running a token sale for ScapesMania’s native token, $MANIA, and the whitelist is filling up quickly with users who want to take advantage of up to 80% token discounts. With the enormous scope of the project and potential upsides in the market, it is expected that the sale will be oversubscribed. On top of this, Red Pill is celebrating the launch of the sale with some amazing giveaways, with up to $100,000 in $MANIA up for grabs. There’s also a generous referral program and bonuses.

Web2 users can enjoy ScapesMania without delving into the complexities of the crypto side of the project. Web2 users that have spent many hours on the likes of Candy Crush, Gardenscapes, or Royal Match can pick up and play the game and feel at home without the need to understand what Metamask or token staking is.

Unlike its P2E counterparts, ScapesMania is designed with viable, robust, and diverse revenue streams to lay the groundwork for future growth and market dominance of the game, and an amazing experience for casual gamers from all walks of life. Red Pill Company’s approach is a unique antidote to the fundamental conceptual flaw in P2E, and it offers a new way forward for gaming. By bridging Web2 and Web3, ScapesMania has an amazing potential to become a dominant force in the gaming industry.