WHILE driving for the family for a trip to a farm in Silang, Cavite recently , my 21-year old son asked me what gift would I want from him if he gets rich. Taking advantage of his good mood, I gamely replied ‘a brand new car.”

Then he said, ‘Done. The moment I get wealthy, I’ll buy you a brand new shiny car.”

“So when are you getting rich?,” I asked. He said ‘Soon dad, soon”. Intrigued by his statements, I asked how he is earning such big money. He answered: “I’ll just play games online and earn millions of pesos.”

My son is gaming at home when he’s not studying or he’s studying when he’s not gaming. But I don’t really understand what the games are all about. So I didn’t bother asking him how is gaming going to make him well off.

Only now did I learn what my son was talking about. Regulators are studying the operations of play-to-earn entities.

An official of one such firm claimed they provide their gamers a source of income and aid in the government’s financial inclusion bid.

Yield Guild Games (YGG) country manager Luis Buenaventura said the play-to-earn concept allows players to earn.

The peso-equivalent of the cryptocurrency that gamers earn can be encashed through electronic money or e-money services.

“Studying our community further, we see how our process has helped make more Filipinos be part of the financial ecosystem and use this to improve their lifestyle,” he said.

YGG currently has over 5,000 gamers who use non-fungible tokens or NFTs, which can be converted later into earnings, to play in the various games.

The BSP is currently looking into the operations of play-to-earn entities for a possible status as an operator of payment system or OPS, which is regulated by the central bank.

Buenaventura said they are currently not regulated by the BSP because “the Philippine government can only regulate assets that are in currencies they can monitor, such as the Philippine peso.”

Because of the large number of online games, a lot of parents have complained about their kids’ addiction to this.

There is no age limit in their community but “those who are under 18 will need parental consent before they can join, Buenaventura said.

There is, however, a gap on this because players can easily lie about their age while using the gaming platform.

In terms of the impact of online games on the youth’s studies and their relationship with their families, Buenaventura said “unlike all other online games, playing Axie Infinity for long hours every day does not generate more rewards for the players.”

In fact, the optimal amount of time spent playing Axie is only about two hours, leaving plenty of room for more important things like studying and social interactions.

The median age for Filipino players is 22, which means they are more than likely done with school and are actually attempting to enter the workforce for the first time.

“Axie Infinity should thus be viewed more as an augmentative measure, which is especially critical during a time when employment and income are both sparse and difficult to secure consistently,” Buenaventura said.

**

For comments, please call or text 09569012811 or [email protected]