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- From attacks like the recent Axie Infinity hack, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and economic issues, blockchain games have seen major tribulations.
- Nevertheless, the games have recorded 2000 percent increased activity, $2.5B in investments, and thousands of unique active addresses.
Blockchain games, like the rest of the cryptocurrency industry, have been negatively affected by recent events. Among them are micro and macroeconomic factors, security vulnerabilities, and the Eastern European geopolitical conflict. Still, these games have risen above the stumbling blocks, recording quite impressive performances over the past year.
For one, blockchain gaming usage had grown by 2000 percent in Q1, 2022 compared to the same period last year, a report by DappRadar and Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) shows. In March alone, blockchain games attracted 1.22 million unique active wallets (UAW). This figure accounts for 52 percent of activity in the whole blockchain industry.
Of the total, the famous Axie Infinity contributed 22,000 UAW that month. This happened despite it being hit by one of the largest attacks in the history of decentralized applications (DApps). Still, the figure was a decline compared to January’s over 55,000 UAW, a drop attributed to changes in the game rewarding system.
Blockchain games performance in 2022
Despite the “tough blow,” Axie Infinity is still ranked among the top 10 blockchain games. The platform attracts 1.5M daily active users, according to off-chain data.
Other blockchain games that led in terms of increased activity were Splinterlands, Alien Worlds, and Crazy Defense Heroes. The trio averaged over 650,000 daily UAW in March. The three are also among the top 10 gaming DApps, alongside others like Upland, Farmers World, Bomb Crypto, and Pegaxy.
Importantly, venture capitalists (VCs) and other investors showed great interest in blockchain games in Q1, 2022. Within three months, the investors have injected a staggering $2.5 billion into the DApps, compared to $4 billion for the whole of 2021. The funds have been channeled to both play-to-earn games and metaverse-related projects. Lead VCs include Animoca Brands and Sequoia Capital which raised $360M and $450M, respectively.
Should this rate persist, then investments in Q2 will be 150 percent higher year-on-year (YOY), the report notes. The result would be a whopping $10 billion investment for the whole year.
Further notes
While the hype around the metaverse has dropped since Q4, 2021, the demand for metaverse-related games is still high. The metaverse platforms Decentraland and The Sandbox attracted thousands in their latest events. Moreover, prominent brands such as Warner Bros, HSBC, and Ubisoft have closed deals with The Sandbox. Other lead brands such as Google. Microsoft, Disney, and Sony are also expected to build within the metaverse. Morgan Stanley projects the growth of the metaverse to an $8 trillion industry.
The report concludes:
Along with NFTs, game dapps will be the key to achieving the mass adoption point required to take Web3 to the next level.
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