The play-to-earn (P2E) model has largely failed, with funding for Web3 games plummeting over 70% in Q1 2025 and player engagement declining sharply. This crisis highlights a critical flaw: rewarding gameplay with volatile tokens turns players into speculators, linking enjoyment to market risks. As token prices stagnated, the entire system collapsed. The industry must transition to a play-to-own (P2O) model that emphasizes asset utility and long-term player engagement. Unlike P2E, which relied on token inflation, P2O treats digital items as fixed-supply assets that can be traded, enhancing their value through in-game utility. Recent forecasts indicate that the NFT gaming sector will grow significantly, driven by ownership rather than speculation. For P2O to succeed, developers must create engaging games with meaningful ownership and limited releases of items. The current P2E model is unsustainable, and projects that focus on ownership rather than extraction are more likely to thrive in the evolving gaming landscape. Read more AI-generated news on: https://app.chaingpt.org/news