Play to Earn Blockchain MMORPG Mir 4 Hit 1.4 Million Concurrent Users in November 2021

It may sound hard to believe, but the blockchain powered play to earn MMORPG Mir 4 hit 1.4 million concurrent users in November 2021 according to the company's latest earnings report published February 9, 2022. This 1.4 million figure is absolutely nuts. Just to put it into context, the most played game ever on Steam was PUBG which peaked at 3.2 million concurrent users in January 2018. #2 is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive which peaked at 1.3M concurrent users in April, 2020 (it peaks at under 1m lately).

I suspect many of those playing Mir 4 are multi-boxing and using bots as players can earn valuable in-game currency called Darksteel which can be converted to DRACO, the game's unique cryptocurrency which can then be sold off to others for real money.

The core gameplay in Mir 4 is repetitive and generic. The visuals are dated and uninspiring, but practically no one is playing Mir 4 for fun, they're doing so to earn crypto which they can sell for a profit. The game's developer, WeMade, is fully aware of this and further incentivizing players to keep playing by introducing new financial rewards.

Regardless of how bad the core gameplay in Mir 4 is, the game's success is fascinating. As-is, I don't think the 'play to earn' aspect of the game is sustainable as more and more currency is being introduced to the game which continues to dilute its value. This means players are constantly grinding harder and harder to earn DRACO (the game's crypto) which continues to fall in value. 1 DRACO was worth nearly $8 in October, 2021 and is now worth only $0.88 (though its up from $0.50 on Jan 2, 2022).

Regardless of how you feel about NFTs and crypto, Mir 4 is an interesting experiment in player incentives and in-game economies. If you're curious about the game, Mir 4 is free to play on PC and mobile devices.