Bermain di Era Web 3.0: Kritik terhadap Paradigma Baru Gim Video dalam Kapitalisme Digital
https://doi.org/10.30605/onoma.v11i4.7376
Keywords:
Web3, Play-to-Earn, blockchain, kapitalisme digital, Playbor, Axie InfinityAbstract
Tulisan ini mengkaji secara kritis kemunculan gim Play-to-Earn (P2E) dalam kerangka teknologi Web3, dengan berargumen bahwa janji desentralisasi yang dibawa oleh blockchain dan Non-Fungible Token (NFT) justru mereproduksi, bahkan memperkuat, pola-pola eksploitasi kapitalisme tradisional. Model P2E merujuk pada sistem permainan digital yang memungkinkan pemain memperoleh keuntungan finansial dari aktivitas bermain melalui mekanisme ekonomi berbasis token kripto, di mana aset dalam gim memiliki nilai tukar di pasar digital. Sementara itu, blockchain merupakan teknologi pencatatan terdistribusi yang menyimpan data transaksi di banyak komputer (nodes) dan sering diklaim sebagai fondasi desentralisasi digital karena tidak bergantung pada otoritas tunggal. Melalui analisis terhadap infrastruktur Web3 dan studi kasus gim Axie Infinity (2018), tulisan ini menunjukkan bahwa sistem digital yang diklaim membebaskan pengguna dari kontrol terpusat justru memusatkan kekuasaan ekonomi dalam bentuk yang lebih terselubung. Dengan kerangka teori kapitalisme digital dan konsep false needs dari Herbert Marcuse, penelitian ini memperlihatkan bahwa ekonomi P2E mengubah aktivitas bermain menjadi bentuk kerja (playbor) dan menundukkan pemain pada pasar spekulatif yang menguntungkan pengembang dan pemilik modal. Di Asia Tenggara, tempat basis pemain P2E tetap besar meskipun gelembung pasarnya telah pecah, sistem ini mengeksploitasi kondisi sosial-ekonomi yang rentan dengan membingkai ketidakstabilan finansial sebagai peluang. Tulisan ini berargumen bahwa “desentralisasi” dalam Web3 merupakan bentuk sentralisasi terselubung melalui kontrol algoritmik, opasitas infrastruktur, dan privatisasi platform, menunjukkan bahwa Web3 dan gim P2E bukanlah alternatif pasca-kapitalis, melainkan fase baru dari kapitalisme digital yang mengomodifikasi permainan dan mendistribusikan risiko ke bawah sambil mengonsolidasikan keuntungan di atas.
Downloads
References
Ahsan, Z. B., & Gupta, A. (2024). Gamified cryptocurrency and rewards: Consumer behaviour during uncertain earnings. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 23(3), 1540–1555. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2291 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2291
Backe, H.-J. (2023). A future already past?: The promises and pitfalls of cryptogames, blockchain, and speculative play. Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, 14(1), 81–98. https://doi.org/10.7557/23.7131 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7557/23.7131
Bestari, N. P. (2021). Ridwan Kamil Bicara Token Kripto NFT Buat Jual Karya Seni. CNBC Indonesia. Retrieved November 1, 2025, from https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/tech/20211125182416-37-294501/ridwan-kamil-bicara-token-kripto-nft-buat-jual-karya-seni
Calzada, I. (2024). (Libertarian) Decentralized Web3 Map: In Search of a Post-Westphalian Territory. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4937294 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4937294
Chohan, U. W. (Ed.). (2024). Non-fungible tokens: Multidisciplinary perspectives. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003435518
Chow, A. R., & Manila, C. de G. /. (2022, July 25). A Crypto Game Promised to Lift Filipinos Out of Poverty. Here’s What Happened Instead. TIME. https://time.com/6199385/axie-infinity-crypto-game-philippines-debt/
CNBCTV18.com. (2022). From rags to riches: 5 ordinary people who are now crypto millionaires - CNBC TV18. CNBCTV18. https://www.cnbctv18.com/cryptocurrency/crypto-millionaires-rags-to-richest-5-ordinary-people-14384312.htm
Dardouri, N., Aguir, A., & Smida, M. (2023). The Effect of COVID-19 Transmission on Cryptocurrencies. Risks, 11(8), 139. https://doi.org/10.3390/risks11080139 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/risks11080139
Delfabbro, P., Delic, A., & King, D. L. (2022). Understanding the mechanics and consumer risks associated with play-to-earn (P2E) gaming. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 11(3), 716–726. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2022.00066 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2022.00066
Duguleană, A. R., Tănăsescu, C. R., & Duguleană, M. (2024). Emerging Trends in Play-to-Earn (P2E) Games. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 19(1), 486–506. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer19010026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer19010026
Fuchs, C. (2014). Digital labour and Karl Marx. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315880075
Grabundzija, A. (2021, December 4). Polkadot founder Gavin Wood thought about calling ‘Web3’–‘Post-Snowden Web.’ CryptoSlate. https://cryptoslate.com/polkadot-founder-gavin-wood-thought-about-calling-web3-post-snowden-web/
Harvey, D. (2017). The “New” Imperialism: Accumulation by Dispossession. In B. Ollman & K. B. Anderson (Eds.), Karl Marx (1st ed., pp. 213–237). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315251196-10 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315251196-10
Hendler, J. (2009). Web 3.0 Emerging. Computer, 42(1), 111–113. https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.2009.30 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.2009.30
Ingram, D., & Abbruzzese, J. (2022, March 29). Hackers steal more than $600 million from maker of Axie Infinity. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/hackers-steal-600-million-maker-axie-infinity-rcna22031
Jabotinsky, H. Y. (2018). The Regulation of Cryptocurrencies—Between a Currency and a Financial Product. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3119591 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3119591
Jennings, R. (2021). Vietnamese Maker Of Blockchain-Based Game Axie Infinity Raises $152 Million In Funding Led By Andreessen Horowitz. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2021/10/06/vietnamese-maker-of-blockchain-based-game-axie-infinity-raises-152-million-in-funding-led-by-andreessen-horowitz/
Jiang, X.-J., & Liu, X. F. (2021). CryptoKitties Transaction Network Analysis: The Rise and Fall of the First Blockchain Game Mania. Frontiers in Physics, 9, 631665. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2021.631665 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2021.631665
Jiang, Y., Min, T., Fan, S., Tao, R., & Cai, W. (2022). Towards Understanding Player Behavior in Blockchain Games: A Case Study of Aavegotchi. Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555858.3555883 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3555858.3555883
Jirásek, M. (2022). The dark side of crypto gaming guilds. Frontiers in Blockchain, 5, 965604. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2022.965604 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2022.965604
Jo, J. (2024, March 25). Are Web3 Games Still Popular in Southeast Asia. https://reports.tiger-research.com/p/sea-web3-gaming-market-eng
JPMorganChase. (n.d.). JPMorganChase and Coinbase Launch Strategic Partnership to Make Buying Crypto Easier than Ever. Retrieved November 1, 2025, from https://www.jpmorganchase.com/newsroom/press-releases/2025/jpmc-coinbase-partnership
Kharpal, A. (2022, April 20). What is “Web3”? Here’s the vision for the future of the internet from the man who coined the phrase. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/what-is-web3-gavin-wood-who-invented-the-word-gives-his-vision.html
Kiayias, A., Koutsoupias, E., Kyropoulou, M., & Tselekounis, Y. (2016). Blockchain Mining Games. Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Economics and Computation, 365–382. https://doi.org/10.1145/2940716.2940773 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2940716.2940773
Knight, O. (2023). Polygon-Based Web3 Game Dragoma Supporters Fall Victim to $3.5M Rug Pull: PeckShield. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/08/polygon-based-web3-game-dragoma-supporters-fall-victim-to-35m-rug-pull-peckshield
Kohli, D., Khurana, D., Kaur, A., Singh, B., & Singh, N. P. (2023). An Exploratory Analysis of Metaverse Software Development Kits. 2023 8th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES), 1374–1378. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCES57224.2023.10192770 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCES57224.2023.10192770
Krause, D. (2025). Beyond the Milei $LIBRA Scandal: Unmasking the Unfair Meme Coin Ecosystem and Its Exploitation by Insiders. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12571.17444 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5149323
Kshetri, N. (2023). Economic and social impacts of Web3 and the metaverse in the Global South. 32nd European Conference of the International Telecommunications Society.
Kücklich, J. (2005). FCJ-025 Precarious Playbour: Modders and the Digital Games Industry. Retrieved December 17, 2024, from https://five.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-025-precarious-playbour-modders-and-the-digital-games-industry/
Kumparan Tech. (2022). Ini Bedanya Koin Kripto dengan Token ASIX Anang Hermansyah. kumparan. https://kumparan.com/kumparantech/ini-bedanya-koin-kripto-dengan-token-asix-anang-hermansyah-1xU6OZuD7UZ
Kuo Siong Tan, G. (2024). Playing for keeps: Digital labor and blockchain precarity in play-to-earn gaming. Geoforum, 151, 104009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2024.104009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2024.104009
Lin, C.-Y., Liao, H.-K., & Tsai, F.-C. (2022). A Systematic Review of Detecting Illicit Bitcoin Transactions. Procedia Computer Science, 207, 3217–3225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2022.09.379 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2022.09.379
Ludwianto, B. (2022, November 24). Binus University Jadi Kampus Indonesia Pertama yang Hadir di Metaverse. Tokocrypto News. https://news.tokocrypto.com/binus-university-jadi-kampus-indonesia-pertama-yang-hadir-di-metaverse/
Madhwal, R., & Pouwelse, J. (2023). The Universal Trust Machine: A survey on the Web3 path towards enabling long term digital cooperation through decentralised trust (Version 1). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/ARXIV.2301.06938
Marcuse, H. (1991). One-dimensional man: Studies in the ideology of advanced industrial society. Beacon Press.
Mattei, S. E. D. (2025, January 10). Does Trump’s return spell boom or bust for the NFT art market? The Art Newspaper - International Art News and Events. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/01/10/donald-trump-return-nft-market-cryptocurrencies-resurgence
Min, T., Wang, H., Guo, Y., & Cai, W. (2019). Blockchain Games: A Survey. 2019 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1109/CIG.2019.8848111 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/GEM.2019.8811555
Murray, A., Kim, D., & Combs, J. (2023). The promise of a decentralized internet: What is Web3 and how can firms prepare? Business Horizons, 66(2), 191–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2022.06.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2022.06.002
Parayno, R. L., Deja, J. A., Sta. Maria, T. J., Samson, B. P. V., & Deja, J. A. (2023). Good Day Manager! Exploring Social Relationships in NFT-based Play-to-Earn Games. Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580713 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580713
Play-To-Earn: A Study on Scholarship Viability. (n.d.). CoinGecko. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://www.coingecko.com/research/publications/play-to-earn-a-study-on-scholarship-viability
Pramniya, K. (n.d.). Overview of Non-Fungible Tokens: Key Features, Opportunities, Challenges, and Business Use cases.
Rudman, R., & Bruwer, R. (2016). Defining Web 3.0: Opportunities and challenges. The Electronic Library, 34(1), 132–154. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-08-2014-0140 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-08-2014-0140
Schaffer, A. (2022). North Korean hackers linked to $620 million Axie Infinity crypto heist. The Washington Post, NA-NA.
Schiller, D. (with Schiller, D.). (2014). Digital Capitalism: Networking the Global Market System. MIT Press.
Sky Mavis. (2022, December 4). Decentralized Organization | Axie Infinity. https://whitepaper.axieinfinity.com/d-a-o
Smith, N. (2024, November 7). Interview: Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum. https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/interview-vitalik-buterin-creator
Srnicek, N., & De Sutter, L. (2017). Platform capitalism. Polity.
Stoykov, P. (2024, February 20). Play-to-Earn: Web3 the way it’s meant to played | Chainstack Blog. Chainstack. https://chainstack.com/play-to-earn-crypto-games/
Tus, J. (2022). Play-to-Earn: A Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences and Challenges Faced By Axie Infinity Online Gamers Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. 410374 Bytes. https://doi.org/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.18856454.V1
Witteborn, S. (2025). Web3 and deep play: Blockchain gaming in the Global South. New Media & Society, 14614448251336435. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251336435 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251336435
Zaucha, T. (2024). Unpredictability and consequence in play-to-earn crypto gaming. Information, Communication & Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2326654 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2326654
Zaucha, T., & Agur, C. (2023). Playbor, gamble-play, and the financialization of digital games. New Media & Society, 14614448231190907. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231190907 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231190907
Zaucha, T., & Agur, C. (2024). Newly minted: Non-fungible tokens and the commodification of fandom. New Media & Society, 26(4), 2234–2255. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221080481 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221080481
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mohammad Alvian Dharma Nararya, Shuri Mariasih Gietty, Himawan Pratama
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In submitting the manuscript to the journal, the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- That its publication has been approved by all the author(s) and by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.
License and Copyright Agreement
Authors who publish with Onoma Journal: Education, Languages??, and Literature agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
