Blockchain games represent almost 60% of industry’s usage with $857 millions in transactions.
Blockchain games is defying the bear market, with $300M raised in funding and more that 1 million daily Unique Active Wallets. The top games are thriving, and new competitors are joining the market. Get the latest updates in the DappRadar x BGA Games Report.
Blockchain games represent almost 60% of industry’s usage, with 1.1 million daily Unique Active Wallets and $857 millions in transactions.
While the majority of the industry focus is on the most recent centralized finance (CeFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) crisis, the blockchain games are quietly surviving the bear market better than other categories.
The most relevant market sectors have experienced a significant decrease in the industry daily unique active wallets (UAW), but the gaming industry has proven to be the most resilient. Blockchain games reached an average of 967,662 UAW per day, an increase of 8% month-to-month (MoM) and an impressive 98% growth from the previous year.
Quite a strong performance considering that the bear market, that’s keeping the worldwide economy in its grip, has worsened. Blockchain games prosper on smaller, less expensive networks like Flow, Hive, and Solana.
Wax, the leading blockchain gaming protocol, had a decline in daily average UAW with 362,524, decreasing 13% from June. Still, Wax accounts for 42% of the gaming activity. On a different trajectory, Hive, the second largest gaming blockchain home to Splinterlands, saw its activity increase reaching an average of 148,414 UAWs, an 8% increase month-over-montWh (MoM).
Similarly, the average number of daily UAW on the Binance Smart Chain increased by 2% from the previous month surpassing 85,000. Solana continues to expand, with a 38% increase MoM, while Flow saw record growth this month, gaining 921% with 17,595 average daily UAW. The main driver in Flow’s organic growth was the substantial investments by Dapper Labs into the Flow blockchain, the support for Flow-based NFTs, the Instagram expansion into NFTs and the launch of their new hit game, Solitaire Blitz.
Furthermore, examining the amount of transactions in the leading market categories provide more evidence of gamers’ enduring interest.
The amount of gaming-related transactions is much larger than any other market area, with a current total of $807 million, a 6% increase from June and a 41% increase from the previous year. The second-closest sector is DeFi with $51 million dollars, a decline of 33% month-over-month and 61% from the previous year.
This report will highlight the most significant recent developments that have made blockchain gaming one of the most intriguing areas within the dapp market.
Key Takeaways
• Blockchain games represent almost 60% of the industry’s usage, with 1.1 million daily Unique Active Wallets and $857 million in transactions
• Minecraft bans NFTs and the trading volume of NFTs World increased 88% reaching almost $3 million; however the collection’s average trade price lost 67% since July 1.
• Investments raised by blockchain games and metaverse based projects cool down, still, $300 million poured by VCs in this categories
• Flow saw record growth this month, gaining 921% with 17,595 average daily UAW with Solitaire Blitz the main driver
• Virtual Worlds had a down month with an 8% decrease in trading volume reaching $32 million; Otherdeeds surpassed $1 billion in sales volume, while My Neighbor Alice hosts its fourth land sale and The Sandbox announces Alpha Season 3.
BGA Report #6
Contents
Minecraft bans NFT – Resistance from traditional gaming
Zebedee brings back the retro games on blockchain
$300M raised by blockchain games and metaverse projects
Virtual worlds projects generate $32 million despite down month
Top games driving resistance to the bear market
Closing
Minecraft bans NFT- Resistance from traditional gaming
One of the most significant challenges that Web3 faces is the resistance from the traditional users. Mojang, the developer of Minecraft, announced in a recent blog post that the game will eventually prohibit blockchain on game servers run independently by fans and developers, as well as the usage of Minecraft graphics in NFT projects.
Minecraft’s team stated that the usage of blockchain and NFTs generates digital ownership based on scarcity and exclusion, which they consider incompatible with the game’s core ideals.
Also, the team suggests that NFTs are not reliable since they are generated by unidentified third parties who could vanish and are offered at fraudulently inflated rates. In this way, they promote creation as one of the inherent virtues of Minecraft, but struggle to establish a secure marketplace where the worth of invention is acknowledged.
There are projects such as NFT Worlds and MyMetaverse that have converted Minecraft assets into NFT collectibles. In NFT Worlds users can own virtual land plots that can be utilized on a custom Minecraft server.
In light of the recent Minecraft controversy, the NFT trading volume experienced an increase of 88% MoM, reaching almost $3 million. However, the value of NFT Worlds’ WRLD token immediately dropped, while the average sale price decreased from 3 ETH at the start of July, to less than 1 ETH at the moment.
This potentially destabilizing news served as a turning point for NFT Worlds. Similar to many others in this bear market, the company has no choice but to continue developing. The NFT Worlds team declared in a lengthy public statement that they are currently developing their own version of Minecraft, complete with “the modernization and active development Minecraft has lacked for years.”
What contradicts the new Minecraft restrictions is that Microsoft launched official Minecraft-themed NFTs in February 2021. As the market for NFTs began to heat up, the company joined with blockchain gaming developer Enjin to distribute free NFTs on International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Uncertainty exists as to whether Microsoft will continue to permit Enjin’s plug-in, which enables servers to enable NFT-based goods, to work once the regulations change. Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, stated earlier this year that cryptocurrencies and NFTs are “100% based on the greater fool theory.”
With the crypto business and the NFT market in particular experiencing a crypto winter, the recent Minecraft NFT ban appears pretty unexpected. However, there may be another consideration: when a major game developer announces the nclusion of NFTs, players frequently react negatively. When Ubisoft announced the Ubisoft Quartz platform for its NFTs named Digits, the public harshly criticized it. When the rumor began to circulate that Grand Theft Auto 6 could incorporate a bitcoin incentive program, fans were very unhappy.
Therefore, it seems likely that Mojang and Microsoft are wary of NFTs because they care so much about Minecraft gamers. Last year, Valve announced it would not allow NFTs or cryptocurrencies on its Steam platform.
In an interview, Valve Co-founder Gabe Newell explained that
Gabe Newell explained that “people in the NFT space tend to be involved in a lot of criminal activity and misbehavior.”
Epic Games said they “will welcome games that use blockchain technology as long as they follow relevant laws, disclose their terms, and are age-rated by an appropriate group,” but the company will not use cryptographic technologies or NFTs.
Zebedee brings back the retro games on blockchain
Bitcoin gaming company Zebedee has acquired around $35 million in a new Franchise B investment round from Square Enix, the producer of the Final Fantasy role-playing video game series.
While the majority of existing blockchain games take place on Polygon, Wax, Flow and the BNB Chain ecosystem, Zebedee intends to base its games on the efficiency of the Bitcoin network.
With Zebedee, it becomes easy for game developers to create micropayments via the Lightning Network, a layer-2 payment protocol on top of the Bitcoin network that allows for fast transactions with very little fees. Through the latest partnership with VIKER, a mobile gaming studio, Zebedee will use the Lightning Network to enabe play-to-earn bitcoin rewards for three classic video games: Sudoku, Solitaire and Missing Letters.
Zebedee and Viker aren’t the only companies that are bringing back classic games. In early June, Joyride Games released Solitaire Blitz on the Flow blockchain. It’s a polished version of the popular Klondike Solitaire card game, with a new look, some funny twists, and different game modes for different types of players. Currently, the app is a Top 10 Blockchain Game with 17,522 users in July, a 1,033% increase from June, and the number 1 dapp on the Flow chain.
Zebedee broke down the barrier between conventional and blockchain games by establishing customized servers for Valve’s famous online shooter, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO).
The blockchain gaming business enabled participants to earn bitcoins while playing in online matches during the demonstration. When joining the game, everybody chips in a little bit of bitcoin. During the match those who get shot, lose some of their money, while successful players earn bitcoin by shooting their opponents.
A business official refused to provide the number of people that are actively utilizing the platform, but did say that Fumb Games’ Bitcoin Miner and Vestly, as well as several of Zebedee’s applications, “have experienced consistent engagement.”
$300M raised by blockchain games and metaverse projects
Following the trend witnessed throughout the year, partnerships and investments in blockchain gaming kept coming with another $300 million raised in July. However, it’s the lowest month of this year in terms of capital raised. Last month, metaverse game initiatives raised 55% of the funding, while the infrastructure projects reached 20% of the total $300 million.
Animoca Brands raised $75 million, 25% of the capital invested in July, to finance strategic acquisitions, investments, and product development, secure licenses for popular intellectual properties, advance the open metaverse, and promote digital property rights for online users.
During the previous quarter, investors pumped $2.5 billion into the blockchain gaming industry., Expectations around the total amount of investments for this year into this growing industry have been upped by 18% to $10 billion.
Seeing capital flow into blockchain gaming is a really bullish indicator, particularly during this difficult market.
Virtual world projects generate $32 million despite down month
Virtual world projects experienced a down month as the category’s trading volume decreased by 8% MoM to $32 million. However, the number of sales climbed by 6% MoM to 13,962 showing that the demand for this type of projects is still considerable.
Otherside, the most traded virtual world project surpassed $1 billion in historical trading volume, the fastest collection to do that. In July, the Yuga Labs game project gathered 4,300 “Voyagers” for a first look tech demonstration and tour of the immersive, ape-navigated internet environment developed by Improbable.
The players were all dressed in rainbow robot avatars, with just a single Bored Ape called “Curtis” directing the thousands of gamers through an experience that explained the mechanics and gave them their first taste of the Otherside platform.
Nonetheless, Otherside’s trading volume is down by 5% MoM, and the average UAW has decreased by 7.69% during the previous 30 days.
Similarly, leading metaverse platforms Decentraland and The Sandbox had a monthly decline of 29% and 21%, respectively. Both platforms had a total trade volume of about $2 million. This has been the lowest amount of trading volume since the start of the year for both projects.
On the other hand, Somnium Space’s volume increased by 156%. This success came mostly from the Somnium Space Creators Fund event, during which community members proposed virtual reality company ideas to a panel of judges.
Somnium Space financed projects worth $60,000 in 2021. This year, however, Somnium Space joined with a variety of corporations and individuals, enabling them to generate almost $1 million for the Creators Fund.
Oasis Meta Games innovative VR technology enabled presenters to manage a massive browser and display their slides. They may even show the slides on a screen behind the jury that is only visible to them.
With a few clicks, users could navigate between presentations. At times, it seemed that the experience was more seamless than physical displays. During those two July evenings, history was created in Somnium Space.
Furthermore, Treeverse saw a 51% boost compared to the previous month, mostly owing to the release of its newest gameplay video, which provided an informative look at the game’s current development, in advance of the release of an action-packed trailer in the coming days.
In the game, enthusiastic adventurers will explore the mobile-optimized Arboros continent, where they will participate in cooperative gaming and social interaction. This is achieved by an abundance of excellent collaborations and enormous fundraising rounds.
In light of the new investment round of $5.5 million, the overall trading volume at Mavia Labs increased by 25%. Binance Labs led the funding round, which included participation from Genblock Capital, Delphi Digital, Mechanism Capital, YGG SEA, ExNetwork Capital, Double Peak Ventures, and a number of angel investors. Heroes of Mavia’s considerable financial support from the biggest and most powerful investors in the industry proves it is poised to become a leading play-to-earn game.
In the following months, metaverse platforms will continue to feature exciting events. My Neighbor Alice, a social simulation game inspired by Nintendo’s Animal Crossing and running on the BNB Chain, has formally announced new land sales, after establishing its online marketplace on July 26. Until August 15, the game will offer a fresh set of lands, or in-game destinations.
The new auction will include 1,000 Medieval Plains Island-themed plots, of which 25 will be given away in a random drawing. The remainder will be sold in batches until the mint’s closing date. Those who submit more land bids will have a greater chance of receiving one of the free plots.
In addition, The Sandbox has announced plans for a third play-to-earn alpha season in 2022, with interesting NFT avatar features that have yet to be revealed.
Top games driving resistance to the bear market
In July, Alien Worlds was the most played blockchain game with 205,285 average daily UAW, an increase of 8% from the previous month.
The developers have just completed a lengthy list of gaming enhancements, which includes the lowering of workload on the WAX blockchain and other APIs and nodes. Alien Worlds will hold an AMA at our DappDays, and they will offer hints about the company’s future.
Meanwhile, Splinterlands’ great success continues, with a monthly growth of 8% and the addition of the Wild and Modern format to its battle ranks. After seeing its player base reduced drastically in June, the game shows signs of growth once again.
Players may play in any or both leagues; however, their quest reward chests and seasonal reward chests are dependent on their greatest overall league position. It will be fascinating to see how this impacts player participation and leaderboards.
The modern format should give a more accessible entry point for new players, since they may purchase Chaos Legion booster packs and inexpensive cards from the market without having to compete with older, more costly cards.
BNB’s Era7: Game of truth also witnessed a 53% increase in average UAW, mostly attributed to the announcement of this year’s World Cup event in August. A new edition of the NFT title will be launched with a publicly accessible “carnival event.”
Moreover, X World Games’, another Binance based game, saw the average number of unique active users increased by 50% compared to the previous month, mostly as a result of the new relationship with Btok, a Web3 social network built exclusively on blockchain technology. X World Games has partnered with Btok’s
integrated wallet to store XWG tokens on Android and iOS devices, allowing you to use the X World Games platform wherever you are.
Polygon’s Sunflower Land’s player base increased by 332% this month, which is remarkable given that the game’s initial edition crashed earlier this year. Contrarily, Arc8’s player base decreased by 31% in the last month, however season 4 begun on August 8, with the pre-season running from August 1st to 7th.
In addition to announcing Season 4, Arc8 will also be releasing Qube 2048. In this game, players must combine cubes to produce those with large numbers; the most number a cube may have is 2048.
Finally, Axie infinity continues to experience the effects of the Ronin’s bridge hack and the changes to their economy. Axie’s chain activity has decreased by 6 percent from the previous month and by 65 percent from the previous year.
The Origin mobile test version was published in June, making the game more accessible to a larger audience. Land staking is finally live and promises to get the ecosystem back on track. Axie will be featured in our DappDays where they will provide additional information about the company’s future in our AMA.
Closing
Blockchain gaming is altering the game rules and integrating a new generation of players into the blockchain ecosystem. The size of the gaming industry is estimated to be over $175 billion today, and GameFi’s market capitalization is less than 4% of that at around $6.2 billion.
We are currently at an embryonic stage with tremendous room for expansion. While there are still several improvement opportunities, the industry is continually evolving and innovating.
The decline in gaming activity coincides with a market slump, which might be problematic for enterprises with a bad financial position. Companies who have successfully integrated finance into gaming, and concentrate on building in this climate are better positioned to emerge from this cycle stronger.
GameFi’s future is promising, as the industry’s most innovative concepts and traditional gaming companies collaborate together.
