Play to earn games Pakistan players ask about: the short answer
This is not financial advice and we hold no positions in any token mentioned. Play to earn games Pakistan players can access are not banned as a category in anything we could find, but the law around the crypto they use is new, the tax treatment is unsettled, and the genre's best-known earning model has been scaled back. If you play, treat any payout as a bonus and not as income.
Play-to-earn means a game where you can earn crypto tokens or tradeable items by playing, which you can sometimes sell. Pakistan is a natural market for it: Chainalysis ranked the country third of 151 in its 2025 index. But a country being active in crypto does not mean the games pay, and it does not mean the rules are settled.
Why Pakistan keeps showing up in play-to-earn searches
Chainalysis published its sixth annual Global Crypto Adoption Index on 2 September 2025. Pakistan ranked 3rd overall, and its sub-rankings were 2nd for retail centralized service value received, 3rd for centralized service value, 3rd for institutional centralized value and 10th for DeFi value. The report's own regional summary says Asia-Pacific adoption was 'led by India, Pakistan, and Vietnam' and driven by their populations.
Two cautions apply. The index ranks countries using on-chain value received, weighted by population and purchasing power, and Chainalysis notes that its volume estimates draw on web traffic and can be affected by VPN use. It also does not say how many Pakistanis play blockchain games. Pakistan does not appear in the report's population-adjusted top 20.
So the honest reading is this: there is a large crypto-using population, and games that offer tokens find an audience there, but no number we opened counts Pakistani players of any specific game.
“SLP extraction at this scale is harmful to the long-term health of the Axie ecosystem.”
Is crypto legal in Pakistan? The Virtual Assets Act 2026
The law is the biggest change for 2026. The Block reported on 6 March 2026 that Pakistan's parliament passed the Virtual Assets Act, 2026, which makes the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) a permanent federal body. PVARA can license, supervise, suspend and revoke licences for virtual asset service providers, including exchanges, custodians and token-issuance firms. The Act takes effect once published in the official Gazette.
The penalties are serious but aimed at businesses. According to The Block, unlicensed operations can face fines up to PKR 50 million and up to five years in prison, and unauthorised virtual asset offerings or promotion can draw fines up to PKR 25 million and up to three years. PVARA's own site says all virtual asset service providers must obtain a formal licence before offering services in Pakistan.
What the Act does not do, as far as we could verify, is address in-game tokens or play-to-earn directly. PVARA's page does not mention gaming. That leaves players relying on exchanges and wallets that fall under the licensing rules, rather than on any game-specific guidance.
Licensing in practice: where trading stood in 2026
PVARA's licensing process has two tracks. Under Track A, a firm tests a product in a regulatory sandbox and then applies for a licence. Under Track B, it applies for a No Objection Certificate, registers with the Financial Monitoring Unit, incorporates a local subsidiary under the Companies Act 2017 and then applies for a licence. Firms operating on or before 5 March 2026 had to submit an NOC application by 5 September 2026 or cease operating, under Section 70 of the Act. That deadline has now passed, and we could not find a source confirming which firms met it.
In June, Arab News reported that PVARA had granted No Objection Certificates in December 2025 to Binance and HTX, that trading currently happened outside any legal framework, and that PVARA had asked agencies to halt crackdowns during the transition. Officials told the paper they expected citizens to be able to trade legally within a few months once licences were formally issued.
That is a June snapshot. We did not find an official list of licensed exchanges dated October 2026, so check PVARA's site before you move money.
Tax on play-to-earn income in Pakistan: what is and is not clear
Tax is the least settled part. Arab News reported on 8 June 2026 that officials said crypto would be taxed in the upcoming budget, but that the rate was not final and it was unclear whether profits overall or each transaction would be taxed. PVARA reportedly wanted a minimal rate to encourage a legal business environment, while tax authorities wanted a higher one to meet IMF revenue targets.
An official from the Federal Board of Revenue told the paper: 'Crypto is already taxable under the law.' He said mining is treated as business income and gains on sales as capital gains, and added that 'we may add specific definitions and references to the PVARA Act in the tax law.' That is an official's statement to a newspaper, not published guidance.
We could not confirm what the 2026-27 budget finally set, and sources we found gave conflicting rate ranges, so we are not printing a rate. If you sell game tokens for rupees, keep dated records of what you earned and sold, and ask a licensed Pakistani tax adviser what applies to you.
Which play to earn games are still live in 2026
We list only what we could verify this month. Pixels describes itself as a platform for games that integrate digital collectibles, with farming, animals and land-building gameplay. Its site offers a 'play for free' button, links to the Ronin chain marketplace for land, describes staking the $PIXEL token for rewards, and claims 'over 10 million players'. That figure is the game's own and has not been independently audited.
Axie Infinity is still running, but the earning side shrank. Bitpinas reported that Sky Mavis stopped SLP rewards in Axie Origins, including ranked mode, effective 7 January 2026, saying ranked rewards had stayed the same while the player base shrank, which let bots profit at higher ranks. SLP can still be used to craft and morph Axies, and the studio said AXS rewards would move to a spend or stake only model.
We found no Pakistan-built play-to-earn game with a verifiable current player count or payout record. Our searches for the keyword mostly returned low-quality pages promoting generic earn apps with no named developer, which is exactly the pattern to avoid.
Gambling, scams and security: where play to earn turns risky
Do not confuse play-to-earn with gambling, because Pakistani police treat gambling seriously. CasinoBeats reported on 3 June 2025 that police had arrested 1,619 suspects in 413 cases so far that year, citing the Public Gambling Act of 1867 and the Prevention of Gambling Houses Act of 1977, with fines up to 1,000 rupees, a year in prison, or both. Officials also said they planned to pursue social media operators and mobile apps promoting online gambling.
That means any game where you stake money on a random outcome, or an app that promises payouts for deposits, sits in a very different category from a farming game you can play for free. We are not lawyers, and the 1977 law predates the internet, so ask a Pakistani lawyer about specific apps.
Basic security matters more than any game tip. Never share your seed phrase or private key, keep only small balances in a game wallet, be wary of anyone promising guaranteed returns or asking you to recruit others, and use only exchanges that PVARA lists as licensed or approved.
Our take: who should play and who should not
Play if you enjoy the game and can afford to lose any money you put in. Pixels is free to try, so you can judge the gameplay before you touch a wallet. Skip any title whose pitch is a daily income, because the evidence points the other way: Sky Mavis ended SLP rewards partly because bots were draining a system with fewer real players.
If you do earn tokens, the practical steps are to use a licensed route to cash out when one exists, keep records for tax, and avoid spending borrowed money. Check PVARA's site for the current list of licensed providers, and check back here, because the Act's rules and the tax position are both still moving.
Frequently asked
Play to earn games Pakistan: are they legal?
We found no Pakistani law that bans play-to-earn as a category. The Virtual Assets Act, 2026 makes PVARA a permanent regulator and requires virtual asset service providers to be licensed, per The Block and PVARA, but it does not address in-game tokens directly. Gambling is a separate and enforced offence. If a game asks you to stake money on random outcomes, treat it as gambling and get legal advice before you play.
Is crypto legal in Pakistan in 2026?
Pakistan now has the Virtual Assets Act, 2026, which creates PVARA as a permanent licensing regulator, per The Block. Arab News reported in June that trading ran outside a legal framework and that officials expected legal trading within a few months after licences were issued. We did not find an October 2026 list of licensed exchanges, so check PVARA's site, because the position was still changing.
Do you pay tax on play-to-earn crypto in Pakistan?
Possibly. An FBR official told Arab News in June 2026 that 'Crypto is already taxable under the law', with mining treated as business income and sale gains as capital gains. The budget rate was not final at the time and we could not confirm what was adopted. We cannot say how tokens earned in a game and never sold are treated, so keep records and ask a licensed Pakistani tax adviser.
Which play to earn games can Pakistani players use?
As of October 2026, the live examples we could verify are Pixels and Axie Infinity. Pixels is free to play, uses a $PIXEL token and the Ronin chain, and claims over 10 million players on its own site. Axie is running, but Sky Mavis stopped SLP rewards in Origins ranked mode on 7 January 2026. We found no verified Pakistan-built title with current player or payout data.
Can you make a living from play to earn games in Pakistan?
We would not rely on it. Sky Mavis said it ended SLP rewards in Axie Origins because bots could profit as the player base shrank, and called extraction at that scale harmful to the ecosystem. Token rewards only pay while new money keeps arriving, and the Pakistani tax and licensing rules are still unsettled. Treat any earnings as occasional and uncertain, and never use borrowed money.
How do I avoid play-to-earn scams in Pakistan?
Ignore guaranteed returns, pressure to recruit others and apps with no named developer. Never share your seed phrase, keep only small balances in a game wallet, and use exchanges that PVARA lists as licensed or approved. Unlicensed operations and unauthorised promotion can draw fines of up to PKR 50 million and PKR 25 million respectively, per The Block, so reputable platforms have strong reasons to follow the rules.