Will 2024 be the breakthrough year for the crypto gaming industry?

2024-02-04 21:00

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Original Title: "Cryptocurrency Gaming Forecast: Will 2024 Be the Breakthrough Year?"

Original Source: TrendX

In 2023, the emerging blockchain gaming industry continues to grow, and more refined gaming experiences are beginning to emerge, but progress is slower than in 2022.

According to the data released in the report* by DappRadar and BGA, the investment in blockchain games reached $1.4 billion only during the period from May to November 2023. However, the investment amount and transaction value of the broader gaming industry continued to decline.

According to the report by Game7, the majority of blockchain games are independent or medium-sized projects, with only 6% of the market being at the AA and AAA funding levels. Game7 found that half of all new blockchain games this year come from Asia, and the total number of blockchain games centered around gaming has increased by 84% compared to last year.

Pitchbook referred to blockchain games as "forgotten but not disappeared" in its Q3 2021 gaming report, stating that although the initial hype cycle for such games has faded, some "important games" are still in development. So what changes can we expect for blockchain games in 2024?

保持游戏的娱乐性

translates to

保持游戏的娱乐性

in English.

According to the roadmaps of some blockchain gaming projects, we can predict that 2024 will be the year when many blockchain games are finally released. We have seen many impressive games emerge in 2023, but many of them are still unfinished or in the early access stage. Nevertheless, they are constantly moving closer to their goals. Many people in the industry have realized that these games need to be optimized to bring fun. It can be seen that many new games do indeed include the entertainment that games should have.

The co-founder and co-CEO of the open-world blockchain game Cornucopias, Josh Jones, said that in the new year, games that truly focus on improving user experience - games that are fun, easy to use, and have engaging storylines - will be a major theme. We may see many blockchain-based games trying to eliminate jargon so that both cryptocurrency-native and non-cryptocurrency users can easily get started. Jones sees crypto terminology as a barrier to entry for Web3 games and believes that the narrative around crypto games will not change until this is addressed. The Cornucopias co-CEO also emphasized that generative AI may bring more improvements to games in 2024, allowing for more customization based on player choices.

Ryze Labs research analyst Fred Li said that on-chain games are likely to become open-world games where players can create their own rules. He predicts the emergence of autonomous worlds reminiscent of "Minecraft": people are no longer satisfied with being just consumers of PGR (professionally generated rules) games; the demand to become creators of UGR (user-generated rules) games is increasing, and fully on-chain games allow people to create their own worlds.

Despite platform restrictions, games will still find their audience

Although a large number of blockchain games were launched on Epic in 2023, a game called "Gods Unchained" was taken down shortly after being added to Epic because the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rated it as "Adults Only". According to the ESRB, any game that offers players items with "real-world value" (such as NFTs or cryptocurrencies) may be assigned this rating, which would prohibit them from being launched on certain potential gaming platforms.

Although Gods Unchained has been relisted after being taken down for investigation, and Epic has stated that they will no longer prevent games from being rated "adults only" purely because they integrate blockchain technology, events like this remind us that blockchain games still cannot guarantee distribution on Web2 third-party platforms.

Compared to other solutions, Web3 native game distribution platforms are a more common solution. Although this may hinder many Web2 users, if blockchain games are attractive enough to players, it will find its audience regardless of other potential limitations.

2024 Trends in Blockchain Gaming

Meanwhile, the blockchain gaming industry is expected to continue growing in various Asian countries. According to a study conducted by DappRadar and Japanese crypto company Pacific Meta, it is projected that Asian gamers will make up the majority of the Web3 gaming market. The study found that Asia already accounts for 55% of the global gaming population with 1.7 billion players, and is likely to make up 80% of all Web3 gamers.

The CEO and co-founder of Story Protocol, Sy Lee, predicts that by 2024, blockchain games will dominate wallet activity, surpassing the current range of 30-40% of all Dapp transactions. Lee also believes that more game developers will support user-generated content and mods; games like Deaddrop and Shrapnel already place great emphasis on supporting community-made game content.

Polygon Labs Business Development Director Urvit Goel believes that although funding in 2023 will decrease significantly compared to 2022 and 2021, with a year-on-year decrease of about 70%, the relatively small funding rounds in 2023 will not prevent some excellent games from being launched in 2024.

NFT market Magic Eden's Chief Gaming Officer Chris Akhavan said that the release of Web3 games in 2024 may achieve enough success and popularity to attract the attention of large traditional game studios, and he hopes to replicate this success. This will encourage non-Web3 game companies to restart Web3 development work, and investors will continue to invest heavily in Web3 games.

In 2024, there may be more Web2 players entering the blockchain gaming industry by adopting mature games that utilize encryption technology. We may see two or three large Web2 native IPs and games merging or switching to the Web3 infrastructure layer, which will become a catalyst for the blockchain gaming industry.