As of October 2026 the best-known play-to-earn (P2E) games are still running. Axie Infinity and Pixels run on Ronin. The others are The Sandbox, Splinterlands, Gods Unchained, Alien Worlds and Star Atlas. Illuvium is rebuilding its main game. The sector is much smaller than its 2021 peak. Over the past year Axie Infinity changed its reward token, Ronin became an Ethereum layer 2, The Sandbox cut more than half its staff and Illuvium cut its scope. Rewards are now smaller and more tightly controlled. Treat any earnings as small, volatile and uncertain, not as income.
What changed in 2025–2026
- 13 May 2026 – Ronin is now an Ethereum layer 2. Ronin's official blog announced that "Ronin's migration to Ethereum is complete." The network moved from a standalone chain to an OP Stack chain, and annual RON emissions fell from 45M to 5M RON. Axie Infinity and Pixels both run on Ronin. The Block reported that game actions paused during roughly 10 hours of scheduled downtime for the cutover.
- 3 February 2026 – Axie Infinity introduced bAXS. Sky Mavis announced bAXS ("bonded AXS"), a token backed 1:1 by AXS. Decrypt reported a 100,000 bAXS airdrop to wallets with at least 10 AXS staked at a 5 February snapshot. BlockchainGamer reported three more details, citing Sky Mavis co-founder Jeff Zirlin: bAXS replaces AXS as the in-game reward, SLP rewards in Axie Infinity: Origins ended in January 2026, and selling bAXS carries a fee that falls as a player's Axie Score rises.
- February–August 2026 – Illuvium narrowed its plans. CryptoSlate reported on 22 August 2026 that co-founder and CEO Kieran Warwick said wage cuts had "restored more than 12 months of operating runway." Almost all remaining staff are working on the Overworld MMO. February 2026 council minutes targeted December 2026 for that launch. In August, Warwick gave no firm date.
- August 2025 – The Sandbox restructured. Blockworks and Cointelegraph reported that more than half of roughly 250 staff were laid off. Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung became The Sandbox's CEO, and co-founder Sébastien Borget moved to a global ambassador role.
- 17 November 2025 – DappRadar shut down. Its founders said running the platform had become "financially unsustainable" (Cointelegraph). Many P2E guides relied on DappRadar for on-chain activity rankings, and that data source no longer exists.
What a play-to-earn game is
A play-to-earn game rewards in-game activity with crypto tokens or NFTs. In-game items such as characters, cards or land are recorded as NFTs in the player's wallet, and the player can sell or transfer them. The ownership is real, but its value depends on others wanting to buy what you hold. Developers still control game rules, reward rates and which tokens are paid out. Axie's 2026 move from AXS and SLP rewards to bAXS shows this.
Most P2E games have two layers:
- Reward tokens earned through play (SLP historically in Axie, DEC and SPS in Splinterlands, TLM in Alien Worlds).
- Governance or staking tokens (AXS, SPS, GODS, POLIS) that holders can lock up for voting rights and, in some games, staking rewards.
When a game pays out more tokens than players spend in it, the token price tends to fall, and so does the dollar value of rewards. In 2026 several studios responded by cutting emissions or changing reward tokens.
The games, one by one
Axie Infinity (Ronin)
Axie Infinity is a creature-battle game from Sky Mavis and the best-known P2E title. AXS is its staking and governance token. In 2026 in-game rewards moved to bAXS, which is backed 1:1 by AXS and carries a reputation-based selling fee (reported by BlockchainGamer). Its network, Ronin, is now an Ethereum layer 2 (Ronin blog, 13 May 2026).
In March 2022 attackers drained the Ronin bridge after taking control of five of its nine validator keys. On 14 April 2022 the FBI attributed the theft of "$620 million in Ethereum" to the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group and APT38, as NBC News and BleepingComputer reported.
Pixels (Ronin)
Pixels is a farming and social game on Ronin with its own PIXEL token. The Block listed it with Axie Infinity as a game whose actions paused during Ronin's May 2026 migration.
The Sandbox
The Sandbox is a user-generated metaverse built around SAND (its token) and LAND (plot NFTs). Creators use VoxEdit to make 3D assets and Game Maker to build experiences. After the August 2025 layoffs (Blockworks, Cointelegraph), the project said it is focusing on user-created content.
Illuvium
Illuvium is a creature-collecting game whose NFT assets are on Immutable and whose ILV token is an Ethereum ERC-20. It launched Overworld and Arena on PC via the Epic Games Store in July 2024 (Decrypt). In 2026 the studio is rebuilding Overworld as an MMO. A December 2026 target appeared in February council minutes, but in August the CEO gave no firm date (CryptoSlate, 22 August 2026).
Splinterlands (Hive)
Splinterlands is a browser card-battle game on the Hive blockchain, with SPS as its governance token and DEC as an in-game currency. Community guides say you can play free, that a paid Summoner's Spellbook (about $10) is needed for SPS rewards and tournaments, and that Glint, an account-bound shop currency, can be earned without it.
Gods Unchained (Immutable)
Gods Unchained is a free-to-play trading card game. Its official token page describes GODS as an ERC-20 token used to craft NFT cards, buy packs and vote on governance proposals, with staking rewards for holders who take part in governance.
Alien Worlds (WAX)
Alien Worlds is a browser mining game. Its official site calls Trilium (TLM) "the fungible token that powers Alien Worlds" and says landowners "earn TLM everytime Explorers mine on your land." Players need a WAX account. Third-party guides say new players start with a basic tool at no cost.
Star Atlas (Solana)
Star Atlas is a space strategy game on Solana. ATLAS is its in-game currency and POLIS its governance token (The Block, 2022). The official site lists Holosim, a browser simulation it calls "free-to-play" that needs no "high-end hardware, ships, or a crypto wallet," and SAGE Labs, a browser game for fleet management, mining and crafting. The main game is linked through the Epic Games Store, and Fleet Command is marked "coming soon."
Does this P2E offer match a known scam pattern?
Answer a few questions about a play-to-earn game you have been offered to see whether it matches the warning signs in this article.
Are you being asked to pay "taxes" or "fees" to get back money you put into a game?
- Yes → This is part of the fraud
- No → next question
Did someone you met online introduce you to the game, for example a farming game that supposedly pays crypto rewards?
- Yes → next question
- No, I found it myself → next question
Were you told to create a wallet, buy crypto and deposit it, with the displayed rewards growing as your balance grows?
Does the offer promise guaranteed daily or monthly returns, or charge an upfront fee for a "scholarship"?
Did you reach the site through a link in a chat or DM, or does it ask for wallet approvals or show audit badges you cannot confirm on the auditor's own site?
The FBI's 9 March 2023 notice says requests for "taxes" or "fees" to recover money are part of the same fraud. Do not pay. Report it at ic3.gov.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center describes this sequence: an online contact introduces a game, the victim deposits crypto, the displayed rewards grow, and when deposits stop the funds are drained through malware. Stop depositing and report it at ic3.gov.
Guaranteed returns, paid scholarship offers, cloned websites asking for wallet approvals and unconfirmable audit badges are all warning signs in this article. Do not connect your wallet. Reach any game only from a bookmarked official URL.
Use a separate wallet for gaming, as the FBI recommends. Buy NFTs only through the game's official marketplace. Check and revoke token approvals regularly. Rewards can still change at the developer's discretion, so treat any earnings as small and uncertain.
This checks only the warning signs in this article and the FBI's 9 March 2023 notice; passing it does not prove a game is safe, legitimate or that its rewards hold any value.
Quick comparison
| Game | Chain | Main tokens | 2026 status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Axie Infinity | Ronin (Ethereum L2 since May 2026) | AXS, bAXS | Rewards moved to bAXS |
| Pixels | Ronin | PIXEL | Running |
| The Sandbox | – | SAND, LAND | Restructured Aug 2025 |
| Illuvium | Immutable / Ethereum | ILV | MMO rebuild, no firm date |
| Splinterlands | Hive | SPS, DEC | Running |
| Gods Unchained | Immutable | GODS | Running |
| Alien Worlds | WAX | TLM | Running |
| Star Atlas | Solana | ATLAS, POLIS | Several modes live, Holosim free |
How to get started safely
- Pick a game you would play without rewards. Reward values change at the developer's discretion, as Axie showed in 2026.
- Use the wallet the game supports, such as Ronin Wallet for Ronin games, WAX Cloud Wallet for Alien Worlds, or Hive Keychain for Splinterlands.
- Keep a separate wallet for gaming. The FBI recommends you "create a unique wallet to use" for crypto games, because it "isolates your primary cryptocurrency holdings."
- Buy NFTs only through the game's official marketplace, reached from a bookmarked official URL rather than links in chats or DMs.
- Check and revoke approvals regularly. The FBI suggests a "third-party token allowance checker" (for example Revoke.cash) and a third-party blockchain explorer to check balances yourself.
With DappRadar gone, look at activity directly on block explorers and in each game's own published statistics, and treat figures the projects report about themselves with caution.
Scams that target P2E players
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center described the most damaging pattern in a public service announcement on 9 March 2023:
- A scammer builds a relationship with the victim online, then introduces a "game" (often a farming game) that supposedly pays crypto rewards.
- The victim is told to create a wallet, buy crypto and deposit it. The displayed rewards grow with the balance.
- When deposits stop, the funds are drained through malware activated when the victim joined the game.
- Victims are then asked to pay "taxes" or "fees" to recover the money. That is part of the same fraud.
Other warning signs:
- Guaranteed daily or monthly returns.
- "Scholarship" offers that charge an upfront fee.
- Cloned websites asking for wallet approvals.
- Audit badges you cannot confirm on the auditor's own site.
Report suspected fraud at ic3.gov.
