Axie Infinity Removes SLP Rewards, Forces Players to Transition to New Version

Axie Infinity (AXS), the blockchain-based play-to-earn (P2E) game, has completely removed Smooth Love Potion (SLP) rewards from its classic gameplay mode in favor of attracting its user base to a new gameplay mode named Axie Infinity Origin.

The Axie Infinity team announced that starting from Friday, no Smooth Love Potions (SLP) will be produced in its classic mode. According to the team, SLP rewards will be redirected to their new gameplay mode. However, minting activities will be unavailable for 30 days as the team conducts a monitoring phase to detect errors, abuses, and exploits.

Additionally, the team emphasized that transitioning from the classic gameplay mode to the new mode will help "balance the SLP economy." Apart from removing classic rewards, the team will allow SLP to be used to create gifts such as runes and charms in various in-game modes to enhance the utility of SLP.

Back in February 2022, the Axie Infinity team removed SLP rewards for adventure mini-games and daily quest rewards in the classic mode as part of previous efforts to balance the SLP token economy. Despite the team's economic adjustments, the token has still declined by 98.7% from its all-time high of $0.39 in July 2021.

In 2021, blockchain tokenized gaming (NFT) projects popularized the P2E model and accounted for nearly two-thirds of total NFT transactions in blockchain gaming. Last year alone, the project demonstrated NFT trading volumes valued at $3.5 billion, according to NonFungible token information websites.

While Axie Infinity's cryptocurrency tokens did not perform well during the crypto winter, NFT trading volumes for the project increased by 205% in July. Co-founder Jeff Zirlin noted that the project is "healing," referring to the positive reception of the game's NFT land plot feature.