Coinworld Report:
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 affected the blockchain gaming sector, leading to a 28.1% contraction in the gaming token market value. Additionally, daily transaction volume in blockchain games increased by 8.0%, but 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 launch, and notable shifts in user engagement within games like Pixels and Matr1x FIRE.
The core focus of the blockchain gaming industry remains on leveraging blockchain technology to create sustainable and engaging gaming experiences.
The data in this report is sourced from Footprint Analytics’ Blockchain Gaming Research Page, an easy-to-use dashboard providing crucial statistics and metrics for understanding the blockchain gaming industry, continuously updated.
Macro Market Review
During June, the cryptocurrency market saw corrections. Bitcoin’s price slid from $67,730 at the beginning of the month to $62,795 by month-end, a decrease of 7.3%. Ethereum also experienced a decline, dropping from $3,820 to $3,444, marking a 9.8% decrease.
Data Source: Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Trends
Bitcoin faced significant selling pressure from various sides. On June 24th, the Mt. Gox bankruptcy trustee announced the commencement of payouts for Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) creditors starting July 2024, causing widespread uncertainty regarding the conversion of assets to fiat and specific timelines. Concurrently, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF observed net outflows in the latter half of June.
Government actions were also notable. A German government agency began liquidating Bitcoin seized in 2013, transferring nearly 4,000 Bitcoins to exchanges in June. Similarly, the U.S. government transferred 3,940 Bitcoins seized from a convicted drug dealer’s wallet to Coinbase.
While the U.S. market saw progress with its Ethereum spot ETF, Bitcoin’s weakness appeared to permeate the entire crypto market.
Blockchain Gaming Market Overview
In June, the total market capitalization of blockchain gaming tokens decreased from $27.2 billion to $19.6 billion, a substantial 28.1% decline. This sharp downturn directly reflected the widespread decline in gaming token prices, attributable to the subdued performance of Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency market.
Data Source: Blockchain Gaming Token and Bitcoin Market Cap
The daily average transaction count for blockchain games increased to 8.6 million, up 8.0% month-over-month.
Data Source: Daily Transaction Count in Blockchain Games
Industry-wide DAU (calculated by wallet count) dropped to 3 million, down 8.8% month-over-month. This unexpected decline was largely driven by the Pixels game on the Ronin network, one of the largest Web3 games by DAU.
Data Source: Daily Active Users in Blockchain Games
After migrating from Polygon to the Ronin network in Q4 2023, Pixels saw significant DAU growth, peaking at 1 million on May 13th. However, its DAU plummeted sharply from 976,000 on June 11th to 252,000 on June 19th, a staggering 74.2% decrease. In comparison, May’s average DAU was 842,000, which fell to 647,000 in June, a 23.2% decline.
Data Source: Pixels Daily Active Users
Pixels Chapter 2 launched on June 18th, bringing gameplay improvements and optimizing incentive designs and reward distribution strategies aimed at enhancing long-term sustainability. The Pixels team actively implemented systemic measures to combat bot activities in the game, claiming that “Chapter 2 breaks all bots.”
Pixels’ DAU began to recover on June 20th, reaching 423,000 by month-end. However, it remains uncertain how many of these users might be evolving bots, necessitating continued observation and data accumulation.
Ensuring the economic unsustainability of bot activities is crucial for Pixels and many other Web3 games.
Blockchain Game Public Chains
In June, there were 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.
Data Source: Proportion of Active Games on Various Public Chains
Among 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. Meanwhile, Polygon saw a 31.6% month-over-month decrease in DAU for its largest DAU game, Matr1x FIRE, 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. PlayGround, a Web3 game publisher, successfully launched three games—Copycat Killer, Panic, and Parkour Battle—driving a sharp increase in Saakuru Verse’s on-chain DAU from 18,000 on June 21st to 464,000 on June 30th, with an average DAU of 379,000 in the final week. If this growth continues, Saakuru Verse could quickly rise among the top three blockchain platforms by DAU.
opBNB also performed well in the last week of June, with an average DAU of 285,000, accounting for nearly 10% of all DAU.
Data Source: Daily Active Users on Various Public Chains
Public chains are actively strengthening their gaming ecosystems, launching specialized Grant programs for Web3 game developers. Additionally, building more chains has become a favored strategy. Ronin recently announced plans to build Layer 2 using Polygon’s development toolkit (CDK), suggesting popular games like Axie Infinity and Pixels may operate on their dedicated game chains, aligning with strategies adopted by platforms like Avalanche, Oasys, and SKALE. Whether these strategies and similar approaches will succeed remains to be seen, and we will continue to monitor them closely.
Blockchain Game Project Overview
In June, the blockchain gaming market comprised a total of 3,289 games, with 1,319 remaining active. Notably, 257 games successfully attracted over 1,000 monthly on-chain users, accounting for 7.8% of all games and 19.5% among active games.
Data Source: Monthly Active Blockchain Games
Such data has sparked discussions about whether “Blockchain games are dead?” While we disagree with such sensational claims, understanding their context is crucial. It’s important to note these data only reflect on-chain user numbers. Many games offer off-chain gameplay without Web3 integration (e.g., no wallet connection), making it challenging to track this data accurately at this stage. Thus, the importance of blockchain technology and on-chain data is increasingly evident.
We have more chains (Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3, subnets, etc.), more games, and more DAU. However, we advise against focusing solely on DAU growth; retention rates are critical metrics for evaluating game attractiveness and user stickiness. Retention rates accurately reflect game health and long-term development potential.
For example, despite a significant DAU decline in June, Pixels showed strong monthly retention rates since migrating to the Ronin platform, achieving retention levels comparable to or even better than Web2 games. Specifically, Pixels maintained an average retention rate of over 40% in the second month and over 20% by the sixth month.
Data Source: Pixels Monthly User Retention Rate
In contrast, Matr1x FIRE faced significant retention challenges, with retention rates below 10% for new users acquired in April and May.
Data Source: Matr1x FIRE Monthly User Retention Rate
Blockchain games distinguish themselves from traditional games with unique elements like play-to-earn, play-and-earn, and play-to-airdrop. However, the fundamental fun of games remains the core driver. We must be vigilant not to let the pursuit of potential earnings overshadow the pure enjoyment of games. 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 Game Investment and Financing
In June, the Web3 gaming sector raised $43.05 million through 12 financing activities, with specific amounts undisclosed in 4 cases. This total is comparable to $44.95 million raised in the previous month.
2024 June Blockchain Gaming Sector Investment Events (Source: crypto-fundraising.info)
The Sandbox, valued at $1 billion, successfully raised $20 million 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 online survival game. This game gained popularity on social media in its first season. Players need to build tribes and determine the fate of tribe members through various challenges, with only one survivor ultimately winning. 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 article is intended for industry research and communication purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. The market carries risks, and investment decisions should be made cautiously.
About Footprint Analytics
Footprint Analytics is a blockchain data solutions provider.
