Online revenue generation by play-to-earn gamers in thousands of naira
Hypersocial Gaming Apps Gain Traction in Nigeria
Hypersocial gaming apps, such as Hyper, are making waves in Nigeria's gaming landscape, attracting about 100,000 active gamers. These innovative platforms allow users to earn real money by playing skill-based games in real time, with transparent tournament rewards based on leaderboard rankings.
Unlike traditional crypto-based play-to-earn (P2E) games, hypersocial games prioritize skill, fixed rewards, and fairness. Rewards are consistent and transparent, with tournament victories and payouts publicly displayed.
In Hyper, for instance, one HYP coin equals ₦5, and the exchange rate is fixed per region. Gamers can earn anywhere from ₦2,000 to ₦8,000 weekly, with some averaging up to ₦48,000 monthly. These earnings are used for essentials like phones, transport, and daily expenses.
Hyper offers in-app safety features such as two-factor authentication (2FA) for withdrawals, ID verification, and personalised dashboards. The game also encourages social engagement, with nicknames allowing for anonymity while gaming, and leaderboards promoting healthy competition.
The popularity of hypersocial P2E games in Nigeria has been driven by increasing online gaming activity and the second major crypto bull run of 2021. Local examples of guilds in Nigeria include MVM Guild and African Gaming Guild, which provided shared access to game assets, training, and community.
Traditional crypto P2E games often rely on earning or trading volatile crypto tokens or NFTs, which introduces risk and can be less accessible or sustainable for many players. Hypersocial games, on the other hand, are accessible to users with entry-level smartphones and incentivize skill improvement rather than speculating on crypto assets.
One such player is Ademide, who has been playing Hyper for over two months. He has made ₦8,000 from his gaming sessions and considers himself skilled at the game, often challenging his friends in peer-to-peer battles.
However, the landscape of crypto-based P2E games has seen some challenges. Many guilds are no longer active today due to unsustainable tokenomics and rapid devaluation of player earnings. Despite this, platforms like Hyper are tapping into the momentum created by predecessors like Cryptokitties, which gained popularity since 2017.
Hyper's 5,000-member Telegram community features members from different parts of Africa. Some players set daily earning targets of ₦1,000 or more. Another popular crypto-based P2E game, Axie Infinity, reached over 1 million global users in 2021.
In summary, hypersocial P2E apps like Hyper in Nigeria represent a shift toward more stable, skill-based earnings and inclusive gameplay compared to the more volatile, crypto-token dependent traditional P2E games that dominated the early market.
- Mobile gaming in Nigeria has witnessed a surge, with hypersocial gaming apps like Hyper, powered by blockchain technology, attracting a significant number of players, earning real money through skill-based games.
- Unlike traditional crypto-based play-to-earn games, these hypersocial apps prioritize skill, fixed rewards, and fairness, offering a more accessible and sustainable gaming experience, as evidenced by Ademide's earnings of ₦8,000 over two months.
- In the realm of lifestyle and finance, these games also serve as a means for meeting essential expenses, such as buying mobile devices, paying for transportation, and covering daily expenses.
- Further, the popularity of hypersocial games in Nigeria is not limited to gaming, as they also infiltrate sports and social spheres, with community-driven organizations like MVM Guild and African Gaming Guild fostering collaboration and learning among players, similar to the legacy of Cryptokitties that began in 2017.
