Is Splinterlands Profitable in 2026? - Ways to Make Money in the Game (Part 1)

Best regards Splinterlovers 💚

Splinterlands is one of those long-standing games where you get paid to play—that’s right, you play and earn money— but this game has been part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem since 2018—meaning it’s been around for 8 years since its launch. So, a question new players often ask is whether, even after 8 years, the game is still profitable, whether it still pays out, or if, on the contrary, it no longer does—because clearly, when you first start playing, it pays out a lot; back in the day, you could earn very well in Splinterlands, but once you realize you need to adjust certain aspects of the economy, the returns start to decrease—which is natural and, in fact, the healthiest approach to ensure the game’s future.

This is perfectly clear, but perhaps that’s why new players are wondering: Is Splinterlands profitable in 2026? To answer this, we need to review all the ways we can earn rewards in the game, along with its performance over the years and some viability factors for this year. This will help us answer the question many are asking. So, if you really want to know whether “Splinterlands” will be profitable in 2026, keep reading.

Of course, this post might run a little longer, since I may need to explain certain aspects before answering this question—all to provide truly substantiated information rather than just answering for the sake of answering. So, if you want to know about the game's profitability, read this post all the way through.

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How do people make money on Splinterlands these days?

This is where we need to start, because when all of this began and Splinterlands was launched, there was initially no source of income other than the direct sale of cards. However, this changed over time, and right now, the game doesn't rely on a single source of income—you can earn money in various ways, which are:

Here are some ways to make money today:

• Rewards for Ranked Battles: One of the main ways to earn in-game rewards is undoubtedly through ranked play. In the “Modern,” “Wild,” and “Survival” formats, players can earn rewards with real monetary value—in this case, SPS, which serves not only as the governance token but also as the reward token.

• Brawl Tournaments and Battles: A fairly stable source of income comes from “Brawl Tournaments and Battles.” The weekly and—in some cases—daily rewards consist mainly of SPS and, occasionally, DEC. Of course, you can also indirectly earn GLINT, since you earn “Merits” in the guild war, which you can use to buy “Gladius” card packs—which you can ultimately burn for GLINT—which you can then use to build a reward deck, and perhaps sell some of those cards on the market.

• Land Management: Another source of income comes from plots of land, where you can earn resources and even SPS as you work with your cards on the land. Therefore, you can earn DECS by selling these resources, and the SPS you may extract is also added as a reward. However, this way of making money isn’t that simple; it requires work, strategy, and in-depth analysis to understand the best way to collect these resources and move forward.

• Card Rental: One of the easiest ways to earn semi-passive rewards in the game—and one of my favorites, too—since it doesn’t require us to be constantly monitoring the game to generate income. However, we need to analyze which types of cards are best to rent out, because naturally, not all of them are profitable. This means that it also requires some research to take advantage of this and generate income.

• Staking SPS and/or VOUCHERS: The most traditional way to earn rewards is to stake your own SPS and, in the process, earn more SPS and VOUCHERS; however, this indirectly boosts the potential earnings from the battles we fight in ranked play, as it affects the “Multiplier.” Therefore, the more SPS you have staked, the higher your multiplier will be, and the more SPS and VOUCHERS you’ll earn.

• Node Operation: The final way to earn money in the game involves operating the in-game “Nodes,” which keep the SSPS network running and, as a result, earn rewards in SPS.

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The Historical Evolution of Splinterlands

As you can see, in the previous section I outlined all the current ways to earn income in Splinterlands right now in 2026; however, this wasn’t always the case. Over time, the game has been evolving nonstop. Of course, in some cases it has taken longer than in others, but it has been achieved. So, here I’ll show you a summary of the game’s entire evolution throughout its history:

The Story

• 2018-2021: This was a golden age for the game, as the ecosystem experienced exponential and explosive growth. It was during this period that the Alpha and Beta cards were released, which saw their value skyrocket like never before—in addition to their bonuses—not to mention the incredible performance of the “Untamed” cards, the launch of the SPS, and the massive airdrop that took place over the course of a year.

• 2022-2024: This was not an easy period for the ecosystem; there was a lot of saturation due to the excessive supply of the “Chaos Legion” set, which not only virtually wiped out the value of these packs but also that of their cards and rewards in general.

• 2025-2026: During this period—which is essentially the present—the system fully transitioned to the SPS with the launch of the nodes, which once and for all centered the total rewards around the SPS. On the other hand, the “Frontier” formats were introduced with the Foundations SET, along with “Survival Mode,” which has once again segmented the player base. Additionally, we are now in the era of “Rebellion and Arcana Conclave,” whose mechanics have transformed the current metagame.

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Conclusion

With that in mind, we now know all the ways to make money in the game, as well as the history that has marked several transitions. So, in an upcoming post, I’ll cover this topic in much greater detail to answer the question of whether Splinterlands is “profitable” or not in 2026.

If you have any questions about anything you've read in this post, feel free to leave a comment. Stay tuned for the next one.