THE FREE-to-play version of Axie Infinity is now out in the wild, so to speak, even as the community is still reeling from the news of the cryptocurrency hack that hit developers Sky Mavis.
Originally supposed to enter Early Access at the end of March, the Vietnam-based studio decided to hold off launching Axie Infinity: Origin when hackers made off with millions in crypto last March 23.
The biggest change to regular Axie Infinity are the three free starter Axies that will be doled out to every player. They aren’t NFTs, but at least they’ll let anyone play Axie without having to shell out for their own creatures.
On Philippine Twitter, ‘Axie Infinity Origin’ is currently trending, with many showing off their new Axie trios from the game. Some also called back to the recent hack, which rocked many in the crypto space as it was reportedly the largest heist of its kind in history.
How to play Axie Infinity Origin
Other gameplay changes in Axie Infinity: Origin include the shift to sequential turns. As Axies now execute their attacks right when cards are played, trainers will now take sequential turns to choose their cards instead of selecting them at the start of the round as in vanilla Axie Infinity.

This faster-paced gameplay also meant changes to the card system, as well as new power-ups called Runes and Charms.
“Through Origin, we are not only making the game easier to play by offering three free non-NFT starter Axies, but we are polishing the design, making gameplay more efficient, and introducing new mechanics to drive sustainability,” said Trung Nguyen, Sky Mavis CEO, in a statement.
To play Axie Infinity: Origin, you’ll have to access it via Mavis Hub. It’s only available to play in the desktop for now, though mobile versions will drop when Early Access ends.
The point of Early Access is to solicit player feedback and collect player data to improve the game before a full launch. During Origin’s Early Access period, there will be no SLP or AXS rewards, and all progress will be reset when it ends.
Yesterday, April 6, Sky Mavis also announced that it had kicked off a $150 million funding round led by Binance to reimburse funds lost during their blockchain hack. It is also beefing up security around its Ronin Network, and assured users that investigations are ongoing.
In a statement yesterday, the developers took pains to underscore that, despite the cyberattack, they are still the top dog in the NFT gaming space, with 2.2 million monthly active players.
“There are 2.6 million people that own Axies. This is four times more than the next largest NFT project (NBA Top Shot) by holders,” it said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph