Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve written about the Web3 gaming space quite a bit. From Mythical Games rolling out titles to Immutable partnering with Amazon, it seems blockchain gaming may be the first part of the next iteration of the internet to onboard the masses. According to the latest report from DappRadar, that hunch could be correct.
In its “State of Blockchain Gaming in Q3 2023,” DappRadar highlights the ongoing investments from venture capitalists in the Web3 gaming space and notes that this quarter has seen an upsurge of users in classic titles like Axie Infinity and Gods Unchained. In addition, some new blockchains are making waves, indicating a promising future for the ecosystem.
Here are some of the highlights:
- Web3 gaming projects secured $600 million in Q3 2023
- That pushes the total raised to $2.3 billion this year
- There was a rise of 12% in unique active wallets in blockchain games in Q3
- Virtual worlds dApps hit an all-time high in trading volume with 28,000 land sales
The two blockchain games leading the pack were Axie Infinity and Gods Unchained, which had $90 million and $55 million in trading volume respectively. However, the most played game was Alien Worlds, which dominated the trading volume on WAX, the leading blockchain for Web3 gaming according to the report.
In a surprise, move-to-earn games had a good quarter with Sweat Economy and SuperWalk each having over 370,000 unique active wallets during Q3. Treasure DAO, a casual gaming studio that was initially a branch from the Loot NFT phenomenon, also had a good quarter, accounting for $29 million in trading volume.
Out of investors, DappRadar highlighted a16z for its “ambitious venture” into its Speedrun accelerator, which funds startups that blend Web3 gaming with the latest technology.
Blockchain Gaming Takes the Forefront
The last couple of months have been big for Web3 gaming. Even during the downturn in the space overall, blockchain games have been taking off, amassing hundreds of thousands of downloads and some major partnerships. Here are three stories involving them, from Immutable to Zynga.
First, last week, Immutable partnered with Amazon Web Services to better their infrastructure and enter new markets. Through the partnership, game developers building in Immutable’s ecosystem will have access to the latest tools to create and scale their games effectively, which could lead to further Web3 adoption.
Next, two weeks ago, Korean gaming giant Wemade partnered with Chainlink to make Web3 games more interoperable. The goal of the collaboration is to create a unified gaming ecosystem that will allow interactions between blockchains, a dream for many Web3 gaming companies. As part of the deal, Chainlink will join COURT, an organization that aims to create an omnichain ecosystem.
Lastly, two months ago, Zynga, the world’s largest social game developer, teased a preview of its new blockchain-based game ‘Sugartown.’ Matt Wolf, the Vice President of Blockchain at the company, said the initial goal is to appeal to Web3 natives, before scaling and building an engaged community over time.
As these stories show, blockchain gaming is starting to build a head of steam, which is good news for the space and exciting during this difficult bear market. Rarity Sniper will keep an eye out for any developments in the space and report back if needed.