Playing for keeps: digital labor and blockchain precarity in play-to-earn gaming
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Axie Infinity demonstrates how blockchain-based gaming produces new forms of labor precarity, endangering employment levels through exploitative practices.
“Axie Infinity can demonstrates how blockchain-based gaming produces new forms of labor precarity, endangering employment levels through exploitative practices (Kuo Siong Tan, 2024).”
From Decentralizing governance: exploring the dynamics and challenges of digital commons and DAOs (2025) · cites this paper as Kuo Siong Tan, 2024
Cites
Frames of war: when is life grievable?
(2009) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.47-0537 · Cited by 2,784 · see citing works
Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy
Wood, A. J., Graham, M., Lehdonvirta, V., & Hjorth, I. (2019) · Work, Employment and Society · doi:10.1177/0950017018785616 · Cited by 2,209 · see citing works
Terranova, T. (2000) · Social Text · doi:10.1215/01642472-18-2_63-33 · Cited by 1,749 · see citing works
Srnicek, N. (2016) · Cited by 1,099 · see citing works
Graham, M., Hjorth, I., & Lehdonvirta, V. (2017) · Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research · doi:10.1177/1024258916687250 · Cited by 1,089 · see citing works
van Doorn, N. (2017) · Information, Communication & Society · doi:10.1080/1369118x.2017.1294194 · Cited by 941 · see citing works
Border as Method, or, the Multiplication of Labor
Mezzadra, S., & Neilson, B. (2013) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.2307/j.ctv1131cvw · Cited by 887 · see citing works
Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games
(2010) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.1177/0094306110386902g · Cited by 567 · see citing works
Dependence and precarity in the platform economy
Schor, J. B., Attwood-Charles, W., Cansoy, M., Ladegaard, I., & Wengronowitz, R. (2020) · Theory and Society · doi:10.1007/s11186-020-09408-y · Cited by 550 · see citing works
The Gig Economy: A Critical Introduction
James, A. (2020) · Economic Geography · doi:10.1080/00130095.2020.1831908 · Cited by 546 · see citing works
Studying Reddit: A Systematic Overview of Disciplines, Approaches, Methods, and Ethics
Proferes, N., Jones, N., Gilbert, S., Fiesler, C., & Zimmer, M. (2021) · Social Media + Society · doi:10.1177/20563051211019004 · Cited by 537 · see citing works
Precarious Playbour: Modders and the Digital Games Industry
Kücklich, J. (2005) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cited by 497 · see citing works
A Place and Space for a Critical Geography of Precarity?
Waite, L. (2009) · Geography Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00184.x · Cited by 458 · see citing works
Anwar, M. A., & Graham, M. (2021) · Competition & Change · doi:10.1177/1024529420914473 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
The Internet of Landlords: Digital Platforms and New Mechanisms of Rentier Capitalism
Sadowski, J. (2020) · Antipode · doi:10.1111/anti.12595 · Cited by 421 · see citing works
Yee, N. (2005) · Games and Culture · doi:10.1177/1555412005281819 · Cited by 382 · see citing works
Thieme, T. A. (2017) · Progress in Human Geography · doi:10.1177/0309132517690039 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Ettlinger, N. (2007) · Alternatives Global Local Political · doi:10.1177/030437540703200303 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Creative Economy and Labor Precarity
de Peuter, G. (2011) · Journal of Communication Inquiry · doi:10.1177/0196859911416362 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Strauss, K. (2017) · Progress in Human Geography · doi:10.1177/0309132517717786 · Cited by 203 · see citing works
Mobile workers, contingent labour: Migration, the gig economy and the multiplication of labour
Altenried, M. (2021) · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · doi:10.1177/0308518x211054846 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Coe, N. M. (2012) · Progress in Human Geography · doi:10.1177/0309132512441318 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Precarious Worlds: Contested Geographies of Social Reproduction
Meehan, K., & Strauss, K. (2015) · University of Georgia Press eBooks · doi:10.1353/book43550 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Algorithmic precarity in cultural work
Duffy, B. E. (2020) · Communication and the Public · doi:10.1177/2057047320959855 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Serada, A., Sihvonen, T., & Harviainen, J. (2020) · Games Cult. · doi:10.1177/1555412019898305 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Entrepreneurial affect: Attachment to work practice in San Francisco's digital media sector
Cockayne, D. (2015) · Environment and Planning D Society and Space · doi:10.1177/0263775815618399 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
(2017) · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Digital labour: an empty signifier?
Gandini, A. (2020) · Media Culture & Society · doi:10.1177/0163443720948018 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Trapped in the platform: Migration and precarity in China's platform-based gig economy
Zhou, Y. (2022) · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · doi:10.1177/0308518x221119196 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Woodcock, J. (2016) · Pluto Press eBooks · doi:10.2307/j.ctt1h64kww · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Bulut, E. (2014) · Television & New Media · doi:10.1177/1527476414525241 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Ash, J., Kitchin, R., & Leszczynski, A. (2019) · SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781529793536 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Playbour, farming and leisure.
Goggin, J. (2011) · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Glamor Above, Precarity Below: Immaterial Labor in the Video Game Industry
Bulut, E. (2015) · Critical Studies in Media Communication · doi:10.1080/15295036.2015.1047880 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
The materiality of precarity: Gender, race and energy infrastructure in urban South Africa
Phillips, J., & Petrova, S. (2021) · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · doi:10.1177/0308518x20986807 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Contested Formations of Digital Game Labor
de Peuter, G., & Young, C. J. (2019) · Television & New Media · doi:10.1177/1527476419851089 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Graham, M., & Anwar, M. A. (2019) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780429317866-13 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
The Precarious Labor of Queer Indie Game-making: Who Benefits from Making Video Games “Better”?
Ruberg, B. (2019) · Television & New Media · doi:10.1177/1527476419851090 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Cryptogames: The promises of blockchain for the future of the videogame industry
Egliston, B., & Carter, M. (2023) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/14614448231158614 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Playbor, gamble-play, and the financialization of digital games
Zaucha, T., & Agur, C. (2023) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/14614448231190907 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Why Is CryptoKitties (Not) Gambling?
Serada, A. (2020) · International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) · doi:10.1145/3402942.3402985 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Ambient and soft play: Play, labour and the digital in everyday life
Hjorth, L. (2017) · European Journal of Cultural Studies · doi:10.1177/1367549417705606 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
The work of play: Marx and the video games industry in the United Kingdom
Woodcock, J. (2016) · Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds · doi:10.1386/jgvw.8.2.131_1 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Strauss, K. (2018) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0718.pub2 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The dark side of crypto gaming guilds
Jirásek, M. (2022) · Frontiers in Blockchain · doi:10.3389/fbloc.2022.965604 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2022) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0322-64 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Graham, M., & Ferrari, F. (2022) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/13835.003.0003 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
2 of the 49 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Decentralizing governance: exploring the dynamics and challenges of digital commons and DAOs
Esposito, M., Tse, T., & Goh, D. (2025) · Frontiers in Blockchain · doi:10.3389/fbloc.2025.1538227 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Palomo-Domínguez, I., Černikovaitė, M. E., & Jiménez-Marín, G. (2025) · Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación · doi:10.14198/medcom.29327 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Virtual Economies and Social Structures in the Metaverse
Singh, J., Kumar, S., Singh, S., Singh, D., Singh, A., Arya, V., & Ratnaparkhi, A. (2025) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/979-8-3693-8628-6.ch006 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Soofiyan, S., & Karami, A. (2025) · Cluster Computing · doi:10.1007/s10586-025-05173-8 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Wang, J., Mao, Q., & Yan, J. (2025) · Journal of Intellectual Capital · doi:10.1108/jic-03-2025-0068 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Mapping Web3: Analyzing Public Discourse Across Industries and Emotional Traits Using BERT
Falaah, M., & Alamsyah, A. (2025) · International Conference on Computer Sciences, Engineering, and Technology Innovation (ICoCSETI) · doi:10.1109/icocseti63724.2025.11019739 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Defense in Space Missions
Nanda, J. S., Singh, S., Kumar, S., Rajput, D., Han, C., Gupta, B. B., & Nedjah, N. (2025) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/979-8-3693-7939-4.ch006 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Metaverse potentials for the gaming industry
Ramezani, D., Jaferian, G., & WAGNER, M. G. (2024) · International Conference on Blockchain Computing and Applications (BCCA) · doi:10.1109/bcca62388.2024.10844488
‘Serfing’ the Web; Play-to-Earn, Blockchain, and the Workification of Online Games
Davis, M. (2026) · Digital Society · doi:10.1007/s44206-026-00256-4
Psychological distance in the metaverse: user consumption behavior and avatar facial maturity
Bai, S., Zhou, J., Han, C., Yang, M., Gupta, B. B., Arya, V., & Yu, D. (2025) · Management Decision · doi:10.1108/md-05-2024-1112
Bermain di Era Web 3.0: Kritik terhadap Paradigma Baru Gim Video dalam Kapitalisme Digital
Nararya, M. A. D., Tambunan, S. M. G., & Pratama, H. (2025) · Jurnal Onoma Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra · doi:10.30605/onoma.v11i4.7376
Umemura, K. (2025) · International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Communications · doi:10.1109/atc67618.2025.11268790
TEOM: An Extensible Decentralized Operating Protocol for Intelligent Enterprise Systems
Mohammadi, K., & Atani, R. E. (2025) · Iranian Conference on Advances in Enterprise Architecture (ICAEA) · doi:10.1109/icaea69058.2025.11301526
Blockchain and the Transformation of Marketing
Bao, W. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-76014-3_41-1
Yin, H., Sun, J., Zhao, R., Zhou, C., & Jin, Y. (2026) · IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems · doi:10.1109/tcss.2026.3708983
Detecting Collusion in Play-to-Earn Games: A Case Study of Axie Infinity
Mao, Q., Wang, J., Ma, C., Chen, Y., & Yan, J. (2026) · Communications in computer and information science · doi:10.1007/978-981-92-0291-1_13
- Authors
- Kuo Siong Tan, G.
- Venue
- Geoforum
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-05
- Volume
- 151
- Pages
- 104009
- ISSN
- 0016-7185 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4394840229
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 11.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Geoforum (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Economy and Work Transformation
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Industrial relations › Legal and Labor Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Keywords
- digital labor, labor-capital relations, Axie Infinity, cryptocurrency market, platform governance, precarious employment, COVID-19 pandemic
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review