Somewhat controversially, several of the biggest creators of games (such as Square Enix and Ubisoft) announced intentions to build non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into their games as a way of letting players win, earn and trade unique in-game items. In 2022, it's likely that we will start to see some of these plans come to fruition.
The idea isn’t popular with all gamers, particularly as many see these tokens as a wasteful use of energy. This is due to the large amount of processing power necessary to carry out the blockchain algorithms needed to make them function. However, with game publishers declaring that they see a strong future for the convergence of gaming and NFTs and a clear willingness to spend money to make it a reality, it's likely to become a fact of life.
Another growing trend can be seen in the explosion of “play-to-earn” games that reward gamers with cryptocurrencies for taking part in daily play. Axie Infinity has over a million daily active users, with some earning upwards of $250 per day. This is a pretty decent income in some of the developing countries where the game is widely played!