Can You Actually Earn Real Money From Playing Games(GameFi)?

A lot of people regard gaming as an activity done for leisure or otherwise a complete waste of valuable time. It was common for parents or guardians to scold their kids for spending hours playing games because they believe it does not add value to them. Then, tournaments and championships started where pro gamers stand a chance of winning mouthwatering prizes and rewards. These prizes evolved to cash prizes and some gaming tournaments became even televised.
I remember as a kid, I would look up pro gamers on the internet or on YouTube to get clues on how to pass any difficult levels or missions I encountered in my video games. I have always revered these pro gamers when it comes to the games in that they play and my friends were convinced that  there was no way average gamers like us would beat pro gamers like that in any competition so we effectively ruled out gaming as a source of income mentally.

Cryptocurrency and bitcoin took the world by storm and since then, there has been numerous innovations in blockchain technology.
GameFi is a term gotten from the combination of  the words Game and Finance. GameFi refers to play-to-earn blockchain based games that offer monetary incentives to its players. This means that players win financial rewards for playing these games, battling other players, completing tasks and advancing through their levels. Rewards are usually cryptocurrency, NFTs  or in-game tokens. Unlike conventional video games, these rewards can be transferred out of the game's virtual world and converted to real money.

GameFi projects make use of the play-to-earn (P2E) model as the gaming mode. It is quite different from the pay-to-play model adopted by traditional video games where you have to purchase a  license or a subscription before you can play. P2E games gives full control to the gamer over their in-game assets while also providing an opportunity to make money.
Some P2E games are free-to-play and still provide financial rewards for players  while some others require you to purchase NFTs or crypto assets before you can play.

There are many different blockchain games in the market, and each of them work differently. Always be careful to avoid scam projects and fake websites. There are more than 1000 blockchain games listed on DappRadar. Some of the popular P2E games include; Axie infinity, Sweat wallet, Solitaire blitz, DeFi Kingdoms, etc.

People have been trying their luck with simple browser games with the hopes of earning bitcoin since the early days of $BTC. The rise of the GameFi industry has given much more structure and elaborate gaming experiences. The gaming industry is a very lucrative one. It is larger than the music and movie industries combined, so it is easy to see why it attracts companies and players alike. 

References (Example)

[1] <Binance Learn>, '<What is GameFi and How Does It Work?>' (online, <2022>) <https://academy.binance.com//en/articles/what-is-gamefi-and-how-does-it-work>.
[2] BULB, 'Write to Earn. Read to Earn' (online, 2022) <https://www.bulbapp.io/>