The elephant in the room? NFT game royalties are crumbling. We're seeing marketplaces ditch them, and frankly, it's terrifying for the future of P2E. It’s akin to watching a well-built Jenga tower come down piece by painstaking piece. The foundation? Royalties. The collapsing tower? The innovative potential of P2E. But all is not lost.

Are Royalties Just A Bad Idea?

Let's be clear: no one likes paying extra. It's human nature. However, in the NFT realm, royalties aren’t just “additional”—they are the heartbeat. They’re the reward to creators for continuing to build upon, innovate within, and support their games. Think of it like this: would you expect a musician to keep writing songs if they weren't getting paid royalties every time their music was played? Of course not! The same goes for the game developers who are sinking their souls (and checkbooks) into these ambitious projects.

The model of the royalty-free marketplace as it exists today is a race to the bottom. It lets players save a few bucks in the short term. This is only achieved at great expense, jeopardizing the entire ecosystem in the long term. We’re not just bending the goose’s neck here, we’re talking about a long-term starvation strategy. Who benefits? The major wholesale marketplaces that are driving tons of volume in an unsustainable way.

Here's the raw truth: If we don't find a way to protect royalties, we're going to see a mass exodus of talented developers from the P2E space. They’ll return to Web2, where they know the paycheck is guaranteed. And that's a loss for everyone.

Nine Games, Nine Paths To Salvation

Okay, so royalties are in trouble. What can be done? Here’s how some of the most popular P2E games are overcoming this swampy terrain. Look, I’m NOT claiming these are the only important games or strategies here, but they help to highlight the three most important approaches. We can roughly divide the solution into two parts: Royalty Model and Gameplay Improvements.

Of the 9 games I have listed, each provide a unique opportunity for the industry to learn and adapt. Meet Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, RavenQuest, Realms of Alurya, Blast Royale, My Neighbour Alice, Off the Grid, Treeverse and Engines of Fury! Imagine if they all promise to innovate these two areas.

  • On-Chain Enforcement (Hard Mode): Implementing royalties directly into the smart contract. This is the most secure method, but also the most restrictive. It requires strong community buy-in and careful consideration of gas fees. Think of Gods Unchained and how its $GODS token is used for staking, governance, and in-game purchases. Could the community vote to enforce royalties on all card trades?
  • Opt-In Royalties (The Honor System): Relying on marketplaces to voluntarily enforce royalties. This is the least intrusive method, but also the least reliable. Requires strong relationships with marketplaces and constant monitoring. My Neighbour Alice, with its metaverse-style gameplay, could incentivize players to use royalty-supporting marketplaces by offering exclusive in-game items or experiences.
  • Hybrid Models (The Balancing Act): Combining on-chain enforcement with opt-in royalties. This offers a balance between security and flexibility. For example, Axie Infinity, with its Ronin network, could enforce royalties on certain types of transactions while allowing opt-in royalties on others.

Royalty model is not everything. Here are a few major points of improvement for the games.

  • Make Earning Fun, Not a Grind (Gameplay First): Blast Royale, as a free-to-play mobile battle royale, has a huge advantage. Focus on high-quality gameplay that keeps players engaged, regardless of the P2E aspect, and that will drive more NFT sales to justify the royalties.
  • Build a Real Community (Not Just Investors): Treeverse, the open-world MMORPG, can leverage its community to advocate for royalties. A strong, invested community is more likely to support initiatives that benefit the game's long-term sustainability.
  • Offer Real Utility (Beyond Speculation): RavenQuest, as an MMORPG, has the opportunity to integrate NFTs into core gameplay mechanics, providing tangible benefits to NFT holders. This makes the royalties feel less like a tax and more like an investment.
  • Sustainable Tokenomics (Avoid the Pump and Dump): Realms of Alurya needs a sustainable token economy. The $SNG token needs to have real utility within the game and be resistant to manipulation.
  • Transparency is Key (Be Open and Honest): Engines of Fury can build trust by being transparent about how royalties are used. Show players how royalties are reinvested into the game's development.

We need to keep in mind that these NFT games are not made equally. They share nothing in common. They have different gameplay loops, different community sizes, different levels of communities.

Ethics, Anxiety, Awe: The Future of P2E

NFT royalties are typically framed in an economic context. This is particularly troubling in a space that touts massive decentralization and empowerment. Creators should be getting paid for their work. That’s not just fair, that’s sustainable. Without royalties, the entire P2E ecosystem will rot and crumble.

There’s no denying that the fear of dropping royalties is justified. Publishers aren’t the only ones with something to lose. Developers are scared for their livelihoods, and players are scared for the fate of their favorite games. As much as this anxiety can immobilize, it can be channeled into action. What we can do We have to advocate that marketplaces enforce royalties, and we have to be the patrons of games that value long-term health.

Ultimately, the fate of P2E will come down to balancing creator rewards and player incentivization. This challenge is a tangled knot, but we have to untie it. Only then can we build a more truly innovative and sustainable gaming ecosystem. We need to move past the fear of what P2E could become and fully embrace the wonder of what it already is. The promise of true ownership, of players contributing to and benefiting from the games they love, is too powerful to let die. Let's fight for it.