A new business model called Play2Earn aims to directly address this spending disparity. In this model, open market dynamics allow game assets to retain value, better aligning incentives with players. Savvy developers are choosing to empower players to trade their assets, giving them a superior sense of ownership and control.

All monetization is not created equal

It’s not accurate to paint all Free2Play games with the same brush, and certainly some games approach monetization far better than others. PC games that serve the esports market are not immune from this, but they certainly are better than mobile-first games, in that the purchases are usually cosmetic in nature only.  

Overall though, this is a huge problem that has gotten worse as the industry has grown. While the typical game studio maintains a limited profit margin, monetizing ads and the in-app purchases, the most successful ones don’t even need ads as they are wildly profitable with the bundle-style monetization alone.

Games like Call of Duty, Clash Royale and PUBG MOBILE are generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue each quarter. Most games fail to ever achieve this level of breakout success, but the ones that do become cash cows for many years. It’s common for them to release content quarterly, giving players enough content to consume to keep them minimally engaged and continuously spending, but the experience doesn’t change in any material way. (Looking at you Pokémon Go). 

Over time, this model has become increasingly adversarial towards players, employing predatory monetization schemes and catering to “whales” instead of the average user. Despite its voracious nature, this business model has been enormously successful, helping to build a $159 billion dollar industry that’s now more than twice the size of the global movie and music industries combined. 

This tremendous growth really took off in 2007, when the iPhone was released and smartphones started to become ubiquitous. Today, mobile gaming alone is a $77 billion industry, representing 48% of the total gaming market.

Predatory monetization

Mobile games in particular apply certain monetization tactics to psychologically manipulate players into buying “bundles” of game items. Players are given a selection of purchase options, usually ranging from $1.99 to $99.99, which include loot boxes, character boosts, and in-game currency that will help them progress faster and stand out more in-game.

Despite prices being arbitrarily set by the developer, the larger bundles are typically advertised as providing three-to-five times the value for purchasing in bulk. They are marketed aggressively through push notifications and at strategic points during character progression.

This model eventually devolves into a “Pay2Win” environment where those with the most disposable income, called “whales”, will have an objective advantage by buying their way to superior gear and faster progression time. The best items are usually only available through randomized purchasing via loot boxes (with a <1% chance to drop), which lends itself to whales acquiring them immediately. 

That leaves the majority of players disadvantaged, as they either cannot afford or are unwilling to pay for that luxury, and will require several weeks or months of grinding to get the same gear for free.

The trouble with Harvey

At the core of these drops is a story. Each iris tells a story. Each story asks a question.

Included in the first drop was filmmaker Harvey Weinstein, prior to the **#**MeToo movement.

“At the time the portrait was themed ‘bad boy Hollywood’. Now we know him to be a modern-day monster.

“What if I took away 90%, 95% of the picture. Just reduced it to the eye, the window to the soul, and even further reduced it to the iris. What can we see then? Can we even judge?”

Which brings us to the title of the drop – “Eye Love You, Eye Hate You II.”

“The eye is the most intimate part of the body; when we are in love, we look deeply into our partner’s eyes,” says Platon.

“If I strip away everything except the iris – can we love, can we hate? And if all our irises are indistinguishable, then who can judge?”

It’s the ignored who he obsesses over now. “It’s not that they don’t have a voice, it’s just that people are not listening,” he says.

In all Platon’s portraits, he is in them too. With Putin, he got so close he could feel Putin’s breath on his hands as he held the camera inches from his face.

“All my photography is 50% subject and 50% me,” he says.

He is dismissive of the constant taking of photographs and sharing on social media.

“That’s not photography, there is no connection. It’s just mechanical. We’ve been robbed of our connection and COVID has clearly highlighted that.”

Pussy Riot NFT

Putin famously hated the feminist punk band Pussy Riot and defended their imprisonment on the grounds that they threatened the moral foundations of Russia.

Platon first met Nadya Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot after her release from prison. Ten years ago, he photographed her in his studio. They messed about, fashioned homemade masks from rubbish in his studio. He photographed her in the masks and not. As we speak, he quotes from her speech on the dock prior to being sentenced to two years’ incarceration in a penal colony.

She said: “It’s not us three women from a punk rock group that’s on trial here. It’s you, the Russian Federation. it’s not for you to judge us. It’s for history to judge us all. And history will be the ultimate judge as to whether our values are right or wrong.”

He knew he wanted to combine this powerful speech with her iris in an NFT to celebrate her bravery.

The result is the famous crotch shot with Clinton sitting, hands on knees, legs akimbo, and oozing charisma and power. People said afterwards the tie was an arrow pointing to the seat of power.

Putin on the Beatles

Cut to President Vladimir Putin in Russia in 2007. He’s Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.” Platon is taking pictures. He thinks: What to ask this powerful man? So, he asked him about The Beatles. Turns out Putin really likes the Beatles, and Paul McCartney is his favorite member of the seminal band. Look at the resulting portrait of Putin and see him humming “Yesterday.” Not “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” laughs Platon.

It’s not just questions – it’s storytelling and a way of relating to his subjects. Platon has a son called Jude and a dog called Sgt. Pepper. Platon clearly likes The Beatles too.