Author:
Footprint Analytics
Translated by: TechFlow
There have been recent discussions about whether blockchain games are dead, with both sides having valid points. Let’s analyze it from a data perspective.
Active Games
As of May, the Footprint platform has tracked 3,153 games, with 263 games having monthly active users (MAU) exceeding 1,000, accounting for 8.2% of the total. If we raise the standard to 10,000 MAU, this number would significantly decrease. It is important to note that these data only include on-chain users. Many games allow users to play without wallet login while still incorporating Web3 elements. Currently, it is challenging to obtain data on this aspect, which may affect the statistics of actual players.
Daily Active Users and Transaction Volume
In May, the daily active users (DAU) of Web3 games increased by 9.6%, reaching 3.3 million users, but the transaction volume significantly decreased compared to April (by 3.9 billion USD). While the growth in DAU is a positive sign, this growth should also be accompanied by an increase in transaction volume. Transaction volume is a crucial indicator of whether the game is engaging enough to encourage players to spend money. Users playing without contributing to the game are more inclined towards value extraction rather than investment. The correlation between the average user’s game time and transaction volume in May warrants further exploration.
Reasons for High New User Growth but Low Transaction Volume
The recent implementation of the “play games and earn airdrops” mechanism in games may be the primary reason for this phenomenon. While the short-term effects are promising, in the long run, it may have adverse effects on projects. Attracting users to stay with incentive measures helps improve metrics, but without a solid game foundation, token dumping may occur after the airdrop ends. Similar to a single token economic model, this could lead to an irreversible death spiral.
Retention Rate
Retention rate is one of the best indicators of a game’s level of fun. In traditional Web2 games, the benchmark for retention rate is:
Day 1: 30-40%; Day 7: 20%; Day 30: 5-10%.
In Web3, these retention benchmarks are more challenging to achieve, but some games show excellent retention rates on the 7th day. Here are some examples of games with daily active users exceeding 50,000:
@ApeironNFT: 86,987 DAU; 7th-day retention rate 79.3%
@StarryNift: 73,146 DAU; 7th-day retention rate 70.8%
@pixels_online: 900,569 DAU; 7th-day retention rate 65.6%
@AxieInfinity: 63,385 DAU; 7th-day retention rate 42.1%
@NineChronicles: 83,360 DAU; 7th-day retention rate 40% (Note: Nine Chronicles has its own chain, not indexed by Footprint)
Based on the retention rate data of these games, it is incorrect to claim that Web3 games are dead. Without considering other metrics, it can even be inferred that Web3 games outperform traditional benchmarks in terms of retention rate.
Current Adoption Limitations
Speculation: Speculative profit potential overshadows the true enjoyment of the game.
User Experience/Interface: Current Web3 games have lengthy registration processes, complex and unattractive interfaces.
Time: Due to limited resources, games are often released before being fully polished. Compared to traditional standards, the development time for Web3 games is longer, with many excellent Web3 games yet to be released.
Conclusion
At this stage, saying that Web3 games are dead is both right and wrong. Games inherently have a short lifespan, which is particularly evident in Web3, as seen in the comparison between active and inactive games. Web3’s DAU recently reached a historic high, but are these users the industry’s desired users? While retention rates are high, they are limited to a few games, with many lacking enough daily active users to truly measure this metric. Ultimately, many of the problems existing in the early stages of Web3 games are still visible, but they will be addressed over time. Additionally, small games on platforms like Telegram provide a good example of quickly and effectively guiding new users into games. Blockchain does not need to revolutionize games, just improve them.
Web3 games are not dead, the construction of Web3 games is still in progress…
Original Article: [Link]
