Two of South Korea’s largest game developers announced their plans to launch play-to-earn (P2E) games next year.

Mobile game company Netmarble will be launching “non-fungible token (NFT)-based play-to-earn games that use blockchain technology,” according to Co-CEO Kwon Young-sik during Q3 earnings call Wednesday.

“We are currently developing ways to bridge between NFTs and games. The details will be announced in early 2022,” Kwon said.

Kwon also expressed the company’s interest in expanding their metaverse-related projects. “We are currently developing a metaverse idol (K-pop singers) project by establishing a metaverse entertainment company, and plan to further grow this area.”

Just a day after Netmarble’s announcement, video game developer NCSoft also disclosed their plans for P2E games.

“We have been developing games that integrate NFTs and blockchain technology, and plan to release a new service that incorporates both next year,” said Hong Won-jun, vice president and CFO of NCSoft, during the company’s Q3 earnings call Thursday.

“We are currently verifying the business, technical and legal aspects of games related to NFT,” Hong added.  

Play-to-earn games have become increasingly popular worldwide in recent years. The most popular Axie Infinity has recorded over $3 billion in trading volume since its launch in March 2018.

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