Play-to-earn game Axie Infinity's revenue continues to slide

The blockchain-based game Axie Infinity brought in only $988,400 in revenue last week — the first week the play-to-earn (P2E) game has clocked less than $1 million since February of 2021.

Axie, the darling of the P2E world, experienced a meteoric rise in popularity in the summer and early fall of 2021. At its peak, the game accrued over $215 million during the week of August 8, 2021. In October of that year, Axie's creator Sky Mavis had even reached a $3 billion valuation after a $152 million funding round led by a16z. 

But as The Block’s data dashboard shows, Axie Infinity has experienced a steady decline since November of 2021. Sky Mavis couldn’t continue its rapid growth due to an imbalance issuance and burn mechanism for Axie’s in-game tokens, The Block previously reported.

Too much of the Axie’s in-game token, Smooth Love Potion (SLP) was issued without ample ways to destroy, or burn, the token. This lead to inflation that caused the token to lose value, disincentivizing players to continue using the game. Sky Mavis attempted to instill more burn mechanisms into the game, but it does not appear to have had the desired affects.