Yes, the word GameFi is believed to have originated from a Chinese Blockchain Developer, but we never felt it strongly until a few months ago as a result of new fields of entry that are being explored in the blockchain industry. This global bearing has been driven by a lot of factors. For one, the earlier global shutdown of COVID-19 led the whole world to rethink all economic and social structures that have been used until now. No doubt that we’ve been using digital tools before the meltdown, but it became more eminent.
Suddenly, these devices and virtual spaces are required for learning in schools, workplaces, and religious activities. As usage rose so did our dependability on it. In addition to the Covid factor is the need to earn more. A lot of economies have been experiencing the greatest inflation ever. People are hungry.
They want a better life. And here is the digital world providing limitless opportunities to connect first, work, and then earn while doing something as weird as playing games. You can look at the case of the Philippines. As this demand has risen for all by-products of digital innovations so has investment increased. The Microsoft-Activision deal is an example with Sony infusing up to $200m in Epic Games. You can also see a list of the top VC firms placing a bet on GameFis. Here are highlights on the trends of Blockchain Games in 2021 by DappRadar x BGA:
The Rise of DeFi Kingdom
In the last year, DeFi Kingdoms has shown a bullish behavior of what DeFi and games can produce on the Harmony ecosystem. A game that can generate over $1.6b in transactions within thirty-one days is truly ready to storm the industry. Thanks to the team behind the development of the Harmony blockchain on which DeFi Kingdoms is built.
DeFi Kingdoms is not the only game out there but was able to maintain a robust ecosystem of users despite bearish approaches that have occurred recently. This strength lies in the GameFi features of the game which includes swapping of tokens to earn, the Garden (where the Jewel tokens can be locked for a while and rewards accrued), the Bank (where coins can be staked at no risk and are open for withdrawals without fees), the Tavern for the buying, selling and renting of NFT heroes and many more. And with Docks in the platform, users can connect with other chains for swapping of assets. It’s no wonder they attracted more than 22,000 UAW (Unique Active Wallet) in January.
Polygon Going Bullish
The blockchain that is approaching its 1 million address mark is also in the speck of the gaming revolution. Polygon is a blockchain network built on Ethereum however, like a child is expected to be greater than the parent, Polygon is doing so much, especially for gaming platforms built on it. Thanks to the smart contract ability introduced by Ethereum to make this possible.
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Polygon was reported to have the most improved blockchain relative to adoption. An average of more than 209,000 UAW per day was seen making it surge by 76%. The major attribute to its success is the integration of mobile games. (And of course, mobile is the future of tech.) Games like Crazy Defense Heroes (CDH) gained an average of over 41,000 daily UAW in January; Arc8 by Gamee rounded off a preseason more than 58,000 UAW in January, and the “almighty” Sunflower Farmers attracted a whopping 400,000 UAW in the first seven days of 2022.
Polygon appears not to be going back with their recent launch of Polygon Studios in partnership with Animoca Brands, the Sandbox, Decentraland, and other gaming brands. So, we’ll see more than Pegaxy, Aavegotchi, Phantom Galaxies, REVV Racing, and Zed Run in the Polygon ecosystem.
Crypto Crash but Games Soar
Gaming projects showed another unique structure on the global crypto market where despite the bearish nature of cryptocurrencies, gamers were not dissociating from their beloved platforms. For illustration purposes, Splinterlands is a perfect example. Its user base grew in January by 4.5% attracting about 312,000 UAW on average per day. The advantage of Splinterlands is the constant updates that keep it fresh and unique for gamers.
Axie Infinity, which is considered the most played off-chain game in the blockchain space, according to Sky Mavis, had 2.8 million Daily Active Users (DAU) on its platform daily. Apart from the fact that updates in the ecosystem also drive retention, one of its earliest assets, Axie pets as NFTs are driving sales with a historical sales volume of $4.1 billion and $130 million generated in January according to the report.
Wax Games is another project that has shown this track. Thanks to the World Asset eXchange, and the presence of two awesome games that have gained good recognition amongst gamers: Alien world, and Farmers World (a GameFi farming dapp that has attracted 83,000 UAW daily). Upland showed the same trajectory with huge resilience in the bearish market attracting more than 63,000 UAW daily.
Bomb Crypto “Bombs” Binance Smart Chain
Binance Smart Chain has proven to be a spot for the launch of blockchain projects. The Binance team has shown a good stand in the entire ecosystem. Bomb Crypto which is a gaming platform on BSC was launched on 30 September 2021 and has recently grown to be the most celebrated game on BSC surpassing MOBOX. As of January, it had almost 40,000 UAW connected daily.
Although Bomb Crypto had delays related to its development, gamers still felt attracted to the platform. And the price of the native coin, BCOIN does not correlate with the acceptance given to the game. CryptoBay and CryptoBlades didn’t get the same reception as Bomb Crypto. The reasons might not be absolute as personal preference follows the adoption of projects like games. Bomb Crypto has plans to release more games in the future.
What Next?
For the future, the fusion, integration, and relationship of blockchain platforms with games will be a vital part of mutual benefit for any brand looking towards the gaming industry. For example, “Games like DeFi Kingdoms, Bomb Crypto, and Crazy Defense Heroes are boosting the category for different blockchains like Harmony, BSC, Polygon, and others” says the report.
Other platforms like Solana, Ronin, Illuvium, Virtual World Alpha, and more will have to do more to get the attention of the market. There’s no going back to what has been. The flight has taken. Who’s on it? Gamers, developers, everyday users, investors, and gaming brands. The ecosystem is indeed so promising.
