Gaming for a living: Are NFT games a fair gig or low-wage exploitation?

Kelly Ng

Published Sat, Jul 17, 2021 · 05:50 AM

ALL it took was a few months of breeding, battling and trading virtual digital pets on a game called Axie Infinity for John Carlos to decide to quit his full-time day job as an engineer at a local water utilities company.

From the comforts of home - that is in the Nueva Ecija province of the Philippines - the 30-year-old now divides his time between playing the game built by a Singapore-based company, and expanding his family's paint shop business.

This overhaul in life plans may seem extreme at first glance, but it is backed by quick gaming profit. His earnings on the game meant a new pickup truck for his father.

And as word spread that he was making considerable earnings in this "alternative reality", his newfound game plan also a…