Title: “Banana Rises in Popularity on Steam, the Trend of ‘Click to Earn Money’ has Entered the Scene”
Source: Deep Tide TechFlow
“The cryptocurrency circle is all about making money, who plays games anymore?”
This consensus among the “leeks” suggests that traditional gamers probably do not think about earning money while playing.
However, the reality shows that nobody dislikes freebies.
Within the circle, Notcoin and Hamster Kombat have popularized the “click to earn money” mode of casual gaming; surprisingly, this trend of making easy money has also reached the most popular platform on the traditional gaming scene, Steam.
In recent weeks, a game called Banana on Steam has suddenly gained immense popularity, to an extent that seems unrealistic.
According to official Steam data, at the time of writing, Banana had over 750,000 concurrent players, topping the chart for the most players online on the Steam platform.
Meanwhile, games like CS2, DOTA, PUBG, and Destiny 2, which follow Banana on the list, are classic titles well-known even to those who do not play games, each offering high levels of gameplay and competitiveness.
What is even more intriguing is that this Banana game is only 60MB in size, truly fitting the definition of a casual game.
Choosing to play a banana game over popular titles, what exactly is the motive behind it?
Steam’s version of Notcoin, earning money with just a few clicks
Different games, but human nature remains the same.
Banana is essentially a typical casual game where you can earn money effortlessly, with no need for understanding or learning. Your task is as simple as clicking, similar to Notcoin, and then you can start expecting to make money.
In terms of gameplay and interface, this banana game is even simpler than Notcoin: it provides you with an image of a banana that you can click using your mouse. With each click, the number on the banana increases continuously, that’s all there is to it.
By clicking, a regular banana will drop after 3 hours, while a special-quality banana will drop after 18 hours. Therefore, the main process of the game becomes: enter the game, click the banana, wait a while, and collect the bananas.
For readers unfamiliar with Steam, the platform has a “inventory” feature where playing certain games can drop related items into your inventory; these items could be badges, props, or simply collectibles associated with the main game to enhance player engagement and retention.
However, these bananas dropping in the game are far more alluring than mere collectibles as they are infused with the scent of money.
With Steam’s built-in secondary market, you can directly list these dropped bananas for sale. The question then arises, how much are these bananas worth?
Does it remind you of the NFT market? The valuation of a virtual item fluctuates based on supply and demand.
Currently, the most expensive banana on the market is called Crypticnana, priced at 8300 RMB. Considering the game is purely casual with no investment required, such a price tag seems very attractive.
It is speculated that some astute market players have already sensed the opportunity to make money, engaging in speculative behaviors to drive up prices.
Clicking, collecting items, selling items, and even creating markets around items – who says the gaming scene isn’t about speculation?
However, buying and selling bananas on Steam incurs a high transaction tax. For virtual items priced above $10, the platform charges a commission of over 5%, much like Opensea’s 5% royalty.
This tax implies that high-priced bananas have low transaction volumes and poor liquidity, while low-priced bananas have higher liquidity and faster turnover. Additionally, certain unique bananas hold cultural value, such as the dog banana shown in the image below, representing a clear significance.
Speculation is in our nature
The images in the cryptocurrency circle often add a layer of technical narrative to enhance faith – after all, this image is an NFT, indivisible and indestructible.
However, these bananas on Steam are not even NFTs; they are just regular images that drop in the game. If the game shuts down or the Steam servers crash, these items will disappear as well.
Yet, this does not deter the instantaneous enthusiasm for speculation.
As the philosopher Marx stated in “Capital”:
“If there is a 10% profit, it will be used everywhere; with a 20% profit, it becomes active; at 50% profit, it takes risks; for a 100% profit, it dares to trample on all human laws; with a 300% profit, it is willing to commit any crime, even risking hanging.”
Whether it is an NFT or not, speculation is inherent in our species.
This banana, seemingly harmless in a casual game, has actually created a conducive interactive interface and trading market for speculation, proving that virtual items can generate significant speculative value.
Therefore, the stigmatization of speculation in the cryptocurrency circle and Web3 is inevitable because they provide such convenient platforms for speculation.
However, the banana game on Steam also demonstrates that speculation is not always tied to the cryptocurrency circle, but rather, any platform with space for speculation will inevitably attract speculative activities.
No one can resist the temptation of clicking to earn money, and on the more widely recognized Steam platform, the banana game continues to thrive.
Web2 and Web3 are not in opposition; in the world of different information structures, they are filled with speculative clients.
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