Stung by losses, Filipino players ditch ‘Axie Infinity’ crypto game

Gamers giving a demonstration on how to play Axie Infinity in Taguig, suburban Manila. A slump in the value of the video game’s NFT assets and tokens has left some players with hefty losses and put others out of a job. — AFP

MANILA: At the height of cryptocurrency’s pandemic boom, migrant worker Gian Carlo McGlay thought he had found a way to ride out lockdowns and provide an income to dozens of jobless people from his hometown in the Philippines.

But McGlay’s dreams of leading a team of “play-to-earn” cryptocurrency gamers focused on the Axie Infinity game quickly fell apart as crypto prices crashed, leaving the 32-year-old with losses of 1mil Philippine pesos (RM80,264 or US$18,000).