The entirety of the blockchain sector is powered by protocols, as they are the means through which rewards in the form of digital tokens are given for the completion of specific tasks. Most people within the blockchain industry are likely familiar with some of the top protocols such as the proof-of-work which is used on blockchains like bitcoin and the proof-of-stake protocol. 

With all these, the system is clear; you earn tokens by completing a complex mathematical puzzle or some other task. However, a new term is floating about which is well on its way to being at the top of the industry; play-to-earn. 

What is Play-to-earn? 

As the name would imply, play-to-earn involves a group of people playing a game virtually in order to win digital assets such as NFTs. In fact, a lot of the use of play-to-earn within the blockchain industry has been tied to NFTs which have become much more popular over the last year, in particular. NFTs have been used in many sectors including the world of art, sports, and so on and given that games already deal with virtual assets by default, this pairing makes a lot of sense. 

With this has come more popularity for play-to-earn blockchain platforms and more industry backing. Take Polker.Game, an up-and-coming blockchain-based poker platform that recently announced that Chainlink would be integrated into their platform moving forward. It is releasing its NFT play-to-earn beta game in late September 2021 and the integration with Chainlink will be used to provide up-to-date price feeds for users on-chain. 

Chainlink's on-chain price oracles on top of Ethereum L2 solutions, the likes of which are currently used by big names like Augur, will be integrated into Polker and will allow users to get live price feeds as they play and interact on Polker's patented Multi Crypto Marketplace protocol. Chainlink is not the only high-profile partnership that Polker.Game has announced recently as they are also teaming up with Polygon to integrate scaling solutions into their smart contracts and patents. 

The benefit of the Polygon partnership is that gameplay can be audited on-chain to confirm there was no foul play, and for certain games, the generation of random numbers can be fairly and easily facilitated: both of the protocol's integrating Polygon's smart contracts are patented. Since Polker is play-to-earn, they do not have to wager any money as they would in a physical game of poker. The chips have no value in Polker's play to earn platform and cannot be bought or sold yet players can win NFTs with real value, this is the beauty of play-to-earn.

Unlike intensely technological processes like bitcoin's SHA-256 proof-of-work protocol, play-to-earn does not require access to overly complex computing systems and the process itself is a much more enjoyable one. In Polker for instance, they utilize Unreal Engine 4 for amazing graphics and anyone interested can take part and maybe win some of the rare NFTs.

Ahead of its launch, staking of Polker.Game's native token PKR will go live on September 24, 2021. They are also currently holding a giveaway of PKR tokens and NFTs, including a 'Holo Ultra-Rare', a very valuable NFT that has previously sold for 3.38ETH on OpenSea. The giveaway is live now and will end as staking goes live on September 24th.

Where Gaming Meets Blockchain

The worlds of gaming and blockchain have always been bound to see some overlap thanks to their core user bases being tech-forward people. With play-to-earn, not only is gaming culture tapped into but the opportunity to earn NFTs, which are a hot commodity these days, is yet another incentive for participation. 

Note: Investment in cryptocurrency is subject to risk and readers should do their own due diligence. Entrepreneur Media does not endorse any such investment.