Move-to-earn games are revolutionizing the way people are engaged with physical activity. To all those fitness freaks out there, their only motivation would be a good physique and a healthy life. But the hard truth is that only very dedicated personas thrive in this. So, what about the remaining? They would start, do it one or two days, and they would run out of motivation and would discontinue the routine over a period of time.

According to psychology, humans tend to stay consistent when they receive attractive rewards for their work. Yes indeed, it's true! Just like how a kid is motivated to complete his/her homework for an extra toffee! Now, coming back to the fitness space, people are not getting their required motivation and would procrastinate their scheduled activities. And to address this pain point, Move to Earn games have been invented! They are a combination of gamification and fitness, where users are paid for staying active. Sounds interesting, right?

Unlike usual fitness apps, which most of us would have downloaded to shed the extra fat during COVID-19, it would help us track the steps and calories we have burned throughout the day. Move-to-earn platforms are one step forward to this, and they offer real economic value to their users.

Users can easily earn crypto, tokens, or NFTs by walking, jogging, or cycling. And they can trade this earned digital asset on some other platform. This is more like a Magnum’s duet chocobar, where people can enjoy two different chocolate flavours in a single bar. In the same way, people can make money, and at the same time, they would stay fit as well.

Let us learn more about move-to-earn games and their development process in this blog. Here we go!

What is Move to Earn Game Development?

Move to earn game development is the process of creating apps that track users’ physical activity throughout the day and reward them with digital assets like cryptocurrencies or tokens. To verify the movements of the user, such as walking or jogging, these games make use of,

  • Sensors
  • GPS tracking and
  • Wearable integrations

Some get confused between move-to-earn and play-to-earn models. They are actually different! In play-to-earn, users play the game through their smart devices and earn rewards. Parallely, in move-to-earn games, users must physically move their bodies in the real world to earn rewards. This is the blend of fitness and gaming mechanics.

move-to-earn-game-development-img1

How Does Move to Earn Games Work?

1. Activity tracking

The app tracks the users’ steps, running distance, and other data, with the help of GPS or smartphone sensors like an Apple Watch.

2. Verification

To prevent cheating, the system validates the movement through GPS signals and other tools.

3. Reward Distribution

Upon verifying the activities, the platform offers rewards to the users. These can be

  • Utility tokens ( used for making in-game purchases)
  • NFTs (like sneakers, avatars, or other wearables that can be traded in NFT marketplaces)

4. Wallet Integration

The earned rewards are stored in a wallet, which users can easily connect to other external crypto wallets if they want to trade.

To ensure sustainability, most move-to-earn game apps use something called an “Energy” or “Stamina” system. For example, a user might earn rewards for the first 5k steps each day, and these rewards them with 5 utility tokens. And this energy is utilized here, and it is recharged only the next day, and they can’t unlock any other rewards after that. So, to maximize their stamina, users need to dedicate themselves to various activities and increase their energy availability daily.

Key Features of a Move-to-Earn Game Platform

Building a successful move to earn games requires several core features. Below is a list of must-have features that you should not miss out on while developing a move-to-earn game.

Key Feature What is it?
Activity / Movement Tracking Helps in tracking walking steps, running, and cycling distance to calculate rewards.
GPS Monitoring This ensures the movement is real by effectively tracking the outdoor activity of the user.
Wearables integration This easily syncs the app with smart devices like the Apple Watch and Fitbit.
Step tracker and sensors The app comes with an in-built sensor that measures the accuracy of the movement recorded.
Energy or stamina system This offers a daily earning window limit for users, in which they can earn tokens or unlock utilities.
Rewards system This distributes crypto tokens and in-game assets to the users. They can trade it in other exchanges or NFT marketplaces.
NFT integration It offers digital sneakers, pets, or other avatars to users, which can significantly boost their earnings.
NFT marketplace integration Users can easily buy or sell their earned rewards within the ecosystem itself.
Dual token economy The platform offers two types of tokens to its users. One is utility tokens that offer access to exclusive benefits. While governance tokens are used for voting and staking purposes.
Game modes

Each of the physical activities is segregated into various gaming modes, like,

  • Solo runs
  • Marathons
  • Step tracking
  • Challenge modes with other users
Leaderboards and competitions

This is used to inhibit the sense of competition in the minds of users through,

  • Rankings
  • Tournaments
  • Achievements and
  • Rewards
Wallet Integration Built-in crypto wallet allows users to manage and store their cryptocurrencies effectively.
User Dashboard & Analytics It provides the required insights to users on their performance and fitness progress. This helps them stay on track and identify areas that need improvement.

Business Benefits of Building an M2E Platform

Apart from just being appealing to users, move-to-earn games are a highly profitable business for platform owners. Let us see why.

Multiple Monetization Models

Revenue can flow through various means, like,

  • NFT sales (like avatars and sneakers)
  • ransaction fees on trades
  • In-app purchases
  • Advertisements and
  • Premium memberships

Large Fitness and Gaming User Base

By launching a move to an earn-to-play game, it is like tapping into two major fields at a time. Fitness apps already have a lot of active users, and blockchain gaming, on the other hand, is loved by millions, and it is fast-growing. So, just imagine the reach that you will enjoy by developing a move-to-earn game!

Brand Partnerships

There are a lot of opportunities for you to tie up with various partners, like,

  • Wearable manufacturers
  • Sports brands
  • Gyms and
  • Lifestyle companies

Say, for example, a shoe brand can easily launch a sports shoe or limited edition sneakers directly within the app.

Daily Engagement

Unlike usual games that need a scheduled playtime, move-to-earn games are aligned with the daily routine of the user. People walk and run every day, thus making it ideal for increasing user activity and retention.

Move-to-Earn Game Development Process

The Move-to-Earn Game Development Process requires a proper mix of blockchain technology, fitness tracking, and a reward system. For your better understanding, below is a step-by-step guide on the development process.

move-to-earn-game-development-process

Step 1: Concept Design & Tokenomics Planning

Define the core idea of your app, like what kind of activities your app supports, such as walking, jogging, and other physical activities. And then decide on how your users will earn and trade the tokens effectively.

Step 2: UI/UX & Gamification Design

This step involves creating an engaging and attractive user interface that comes packed with game-like features such as,

  • Avatars
  • Achievements and
  • Progress bars

Step 3: Blockchain & Smart Contract Integration

Choose a blockchain of your choice, and set up smart contracts to facilitate activities like,

  • Token distribution
  • NFT minting and
  • Marketplace transactions

Step 4: Fitness Tracking Integration

Connect the move-to-earn app with GPS and other motion sensors, which helps record the user's activity more accurately.

Step 5: Rewards & NFT Marketplace Setup

This involves building mechanics to issue tokens or NFTs like pets, avatars, and sneakers to users who earn rewards within the app.

Step 6: Integration of anti-cheat system

Implement security measures like,

  • GPS anti-spoofing
  • AI-based movement validation and
  • Fraud detection

This ensures that users are genuinely rewarded for their physical activities and ensures fair play.

Step 7: Testing and Launch

Upon completion of the development process, it is advised to go with thorough testing. As this helps in identifying bugs in the early stage itself, it can be resolved before it hits the end users. And once testing is done, your move-to-earn game app is all set to go live. In order to achieve maximum reach among the audience, do quality spending in marketing and campaigning.

Popular Move to Earn Games

There are several move-to-earn games in the market, and they are pretty popular among users. Let us have a glance at them.

popular-move-to-earn-games

STEPN

It is the most famous move-to-earn app, which allows users to earn tokens by performing physical activities like walking, jogging, and running. It makes use of NFT sneakers, which determine how much the particular user can earn. And STEPN has reported having over 4.7 million active users worldwide!

Sweatcoin

Sweatcoin is one of the earliest invented fitness reward apps, and boasts over 140 million users globally. It rewards users with cryptos, NFTs, or other tokens for the number of steps they have achieved in a day. Which can be exchanged for another cryptocurrency or can be traded as NFTs in marketplaces.

Genopets

This is a unique app that combines fitness tracking with pets in the form of NFTs. This is crafted to replicate the ideology of humans going for walking or jogging with their pets in real time. Here, users’ daily movements and physical activities help their Genopet to grow and gain value over time.

Walken

It rewards users with $WLKN tokens, which are the native token of the app. This is offered to users for achieving their daily targeted steps, along with physical activity. It integrates mini games within the app, where avatars would grow stronger as the user stays active daily. This app effectively blends fitness with funny competitions, which not only motivates the users but also offers them the required entertainment to keep them engaged.

Calo & Step App

It is also another fitness-focused app, which tracks the workouts and movements of users and rewards them with cryptocurrencies and tokens. It comes with interesting challenges and leaderboards to boost user engagement. It aims to gamify exercise by turning physical activity into a rewarding one.

Future Scope of Move to Earn Games

The move to earn games is still in its early stages, but the future for it looks promising due to the innovations.

AR/VR Fitness Integration

This integration is the most appealing aspect, as you can just imagine how it would be if a user runs on a treadmill while wearing VR glasses. And they would earn tokens while exploring the virtual world. This offers an immersive user experience to the players.

Healthcare & Insurance Perks

Move-to-earn game apps can partner with healthcare providers and insurers to reward users with bonuses or discounts for maintaining a healthy activity record.

Metaverse Sports & Fitness Hubs

This allows the fitness world to offer innovative gaming modes to users through,

  • Global marathons
  • Virtual gyms
  • E-sports style fitness events and much more

End Note

Move-to-earn games have transformed how people think about fitness. They lose interest in this because they find it boring. But the truth is, a fitness journey requires utmost discipline and consistency, and people cannot shed the extra calories and fat overnight. Because they have acquired it over a period of years, expecting it to vanish quickly is not magic!

But, with the invention of move-to-earn games, people find it to be much more interesting due to the attractive rewards they earn for their physical activity and the challenges they face daily. So, running, jogging, and doing squats are not boring anymore.

If you are impressed by move-to-earn games and want to launch one, then partnering with Fourchain is a smart move to develop blockchain-based gaming platforms! From requirement gathering to post-launch support and maintenance, our team of experts is always behind you to ensure you are never left alone. Take the first step by contacting our team today, and build a winning move to earn a game!

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