Author: Stella L ([email protected])
Data Source:
Blockchain Gaming Research Page
In June 2024, the cryptocurrency market experienced significant corrections with Bitcoin falling by 7.3% and Ethereum by 9.8%. These fluctuations inevitably impacted the blockchain gaming sector, resulting in a 28.1% reduction in the total market value of gaming tokens. Additionally, while daily transaction volumes for blockchain games grew by 8.0%, daily active users (DAU) decreased by 8.8% to 3 million. Key industry developments included extensive discussions on the future of Web3 games, Ronin’s announcement of its upcoming Layer 2 deployment, and notable user engagement changes in games like Pixels and Matr1x FIRE.
The data for this report is sourced from the Blockchain Gaming Research Page by Footprint Analytics, an accessible dashboard featuring critical statistics and metrics for the blockchain gaming industry, continuously updated.
Macro Market Review
In June, the cryptocurrency market saw a downturn. Bitcoin prices slid from $67,730 at the beginning of the month to $62,795 by month-end, marking a 7.3% decrease. Similarly, Ethereum prices fell from $3,820 to $3,444, a 9.8% decline.
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Data Source:
Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Trends
Bitcoin faced significant selling pressure from various quarters. On June 24, the Mt. Gox bankruptcy trustee announced the commencement of repayment proceedings for Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) creditors starting July 2024, causing widespread uncertainty about asset conversion into fiat and specific timelines. Concurrently, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF saw net outflows in the latter half of June.
Government actions were also notable. A German government agency began liquidating 4,000 Bitcoins confiscated in 2013, transferring them to exchanges in June. Additionally, the U.S. government transferred 3,940 Bitcoins seized from a convicted drug dealer’s wallet to Coinbase.
While the U.S. Ethereum spot ETF progressed smoothly, Bitcoin’s weakness appeared to affect the entire crypto market.
Blockchain Gaming Market Overview
In June, the total market value of blockchain gaming tokens decreased from $27.2 billion to $19.6 billion, a 28.1% decline. This sharp decline directly reflected the widespread price drop of gaming tokens, attributed to the subdued performance of Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency market.
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Data Source:
Blockchain Gaming Tokens and Bitcoin Market Value
Daily average transactions for blockchain games reached 8.6 million, an 8.0% increase compared to the previous period.
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Data Source:
Daily Transactions for Blockchain Games
Overall DAU (calculated by wallet count) decreased to 3 million, an 8.8% decline compared to the previous period. This unexpected decrease was mainly driven by the Pixels game on the Ronin network, one of the largest Web3 games by DAU.
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Data Source:
Daily Active Users for Blockchain Games
Following its migration from Polygon to Ronin network in Q4 2023, Pixels experienced significant DAU growth, peaking at 1 million on May 13. However, its DAU sharply declined from 976,000 on June 11 to 252,000 on June 19, a 74.2% decrease. In contrast, the average DAU was 842,000 in May, dropping to 647,000 in June, a 23.2% decline.
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Data Source:
Pixels Daily Active Users
Pixels Chapter 2 launched on June 18, introducing gameplay improvements and optimizing incentive designs and reward distribution strategies aimed at enhancing long-term sustainability. The Pixels team actively implemented systematic measures to curb bot activities in the game, stating “Chapter 2 breaks all bots.”
Pixels’ DAU began recovering on June 20, reaching 423,000 DAU by month-end. However, the extent to which these users may be evolving bots remains unclear and requires longer observation and data accumulation.
Ensuring the economic unsustainability of bot activities is crucial for Pixels and many other Web3 games.
Blockchain Games
Public Chains
In June, there were a total of 1,580 active games across various chains. BNB Chain, Polygon, and Ethereum led with market shares of 22.4%, 19.5%, and 16.1%, respectively.
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Data Source:
Percentage of Active Games on Each Public Chain
Meanwhile, within 3 million DAU, Ronin, Polygon, and NEAR continued to lead but faced challenges. Ronin’s DAU share decreased from 29.8% at the beginning of the month to 18.4% by month-end due to the impact of Pixels. For Polygon, the largest DAU game Matr1x FIRE saw a 31.6% decrease in DAU from the previous period, reducing its DAU share from 15.1% to 8.0%.
Oasys’ Layer 2 Saakuru Verse saw significant DAU growth in the last ten days of June. Successful launches of Copycat Killer, Panic, and Parkour Battle by Web3 game publisher PlayGround greatly boosted Saakuru Verse’s on-chain DAU, rising from 18,000 on June 21 to 464,000 on June 30, with an average DAU of 379,000 in the final week. If this growth continues, Saakuru Verse is poised to quickly rise among the top three blockchain platforms by DAU.
Similarly, opBNB showed strong performance in the last week of June, averaging 285,000 DAU, nearly 10% of total DAU.
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Data Source:
Daily Active Users for Each Public Chain
Public chains are actively strengthening their game ecosystems, including launching specialized Grant programs for Web3 game developers. Meanwhile, creating more chains has become a favored strategy. Ronin recently announced plans to build Layer 2 using Polygon’s Development Kit (CDK), indicating future operations of popular games like Axie Infinity and Pixels on their dedicated game chains, aligning with strategies adopted by platforms such as Avalanche, Oasys, and SKALE. Whether this strategy and similar approaches will succeed remains to be seen, and we will continue to monitor closely.
Blockchain Game Project Overview
In June, the blockchain gaming market totaled 3,289 games, with 1,319 remaining active. Notably, 257 games successfully attracted over 1,000 monthly on-chain users, representing 7.8% of all games and occupying 19.5% in active games.
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Data Source:
Monthly Active Blockchain Games
Data like this has sparked discussions about “Is blockchain gaming dead?” While we do not endorse such exaggerated claims, understanding their context is crucial. It’s important to note that these data reflect only on-chain user numbers. Many games provide gameplay without Web3 integration (such as without connecting wallets), and their gaming data is largely off-chain at this stage, making accurate tracking difficult. Therefore, the importance of blockchain technology and on-chain data is increasingly highlighted.
We have more chains (Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3, subnets, etc.), more games, and more DAU. However, we advise not to focus solely on DAU growth but also on retention rates for each game. Retention rates, as a core indicator of game attractiveness and user stickiness, can more accurately reflect the health and long-term development potential of games.
For example, despite a significant decline in DAU for Pixels in June, its monthly retention rate remained strong after moving to the Ronin platform, surpassing or matching high levels comparable to Web2 games. Specifically, Pixels achieved an average retention rate of over 40% in the second month and maintained above 20% by the sixth month.
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Data Source:
Pixels Monthly User Retention Rate
In contrast, Matr1x FIRE faced significant challenges in user retention, with retention rates below 10% in the second and third months among new users acquired in April and May.
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Data Source:
Matr1x FIRE Monthly User Retention Rate
Blockchain games differentiate themselves from traditional games with unique elements like play-to-earn, play-and-earn, and play-to-airdrop. However, the fundamental enjoyment of games remains a core driver. We must be cautious not to let the pursuit of potential earnings overshadow the pure enjoyment of gaming. Building a sustainable blockchain gaming ecosystem is crucial for the overall health of the industry. As emphasized on social media, “Web3 games are not dead; Web3 games are under construction.”
Blockchain Gaming Investment and Financing
In June, the Web3 gaming sector raised $43.05 million through 12 financing activities, with specific amounts undisclosed for 4 events. This total is slightly below the $44.95 million raised in the previous month.
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2024 June Blockchain Gaming Sector Investment Events (Source: crypto-fundraising.info)
The Sandbox raised $20 million in funding at a valuation of $1 billion through convertible notes, led by Kingsway Capital and Animoca Brands. Over the past year, The Sandbox team has focused on enhancing the quality and quantity of user-generated content (UGC) globally.
On the other hand, Uniswap Labs announced the acquisition of Crypto: The Game, an on-chain survival game. This game gained rapid popularity on social media in its first season. In Crypto: The Game, players form tribes and decide the fate of tribe members through various challenges, with only the last survivor achieving victory. The Crypto: The Game team chose to join Uniswap Labs to leverage its deep resources and experience in blockchain and decentralized finance, further expanding and developing the game.
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This content is for industry research and communication purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. The market carries risks, and investment should be cautious.
