By: lesley@footprint.network
In June, the crypto market showed signs of recovery, and Bitcoin hit a new high in 12 months, surpassing the $30,000 mark for the first time. Although there are more than 1,000 blockchain games active in the market, compared with the recovery of the overall market, the development of the game field has not been as expected, and the data performance is not optimistic.
The market capitalization of the blockchain game field fell from a peak of $6.38 billion to $5.5 billion, and even reached a low of $4.7 billion during the period, reflecting a possible imbalance between the supply of game tokens and the demand of players. Currently, only 19 games on the market have managed to attract more than 10,000 daily active users, further revealing the difficulty of blockchain games in attracting and retaining users.
However, well-known NFT brands such as Yuga Labs are steadily entering the blockchain gaming space, bringing a wealth of intellectual property and innovation to the space. Although blockchain games are still in the early stages of development, with the gradual improvement of infrastructure and continuous innovation of gameplay, it may be able to promote the growth of this field into the next stage. However, how to improve the retention rate of users and how to make blockchain games more closely integrated with mainstream games are still the main challenges faced by blockchain games.
Data for this report comes from Footprint Analytics GameFi Research page. This page provides an easy-to-use data panel that contains the most important data indicators to understand the GameFi industry and is updated in real time. You can useclick hereFind the latest information on GameFi-related prices, individual projects, funding rounds, and more.
Key Points
Crypto Market Overview
In June 2023, Bitcoin experienced ups and downs, reaching a 12-month high of $31,200 on June 22. Amid a volatile crypto market, Bitcoin prices have maintained a sustained upward trend.
On June 22, Bitcoin unexpectedly crossed the $30,000 mark. By the end of June, Bitcoin closed at $30.4k, indicating that $30k has become a solid support point.
Blockchain Game Market Overview
The market value of game tokens fell from US$6.38 billion to US$5.5 billion, with the lowest falling to US$4.7 billion during the period.
Although there were approximately 1,021 active games on the market in June, only 19 games had more than 10,000 daily active users.
Development of blockchain game public chain
BNB chain launches its Layer 2 solution on June 19, 2023 opBNB testnet.
Public chain Flow saw a significant increase in transactions and user numbers at the end of the month, mainly driven by Carrom Blitz, a game developed by Joyride Games.
Blockchain game project overview
In June, StepN’s token price led the way with a 377.43% increase.
Bored Ape Yacht Club"Yuga Labs, the parent company of (BAYC), is actively venturing into the blockchain gaming field, launching the highly anticipated first season of the HV-MTL Forge game.
Blockchain game investment and financing situation
The total investment in the blockchain gaming field this month has dropped significantly compared with the previous month, with a total of US$29 million raised in 6 rounds of financing.
Crypto Market Overview
In early June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ramped up its oversight efforts, filing lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, two of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchanges. As a result of these regulatory actions, Bitcoin price fell, falling to $24.7k.
However, on June 22, Bitcoin broke through the $30,000 mark. By the end of June, Bitcoin closed at $30.4k, indicating that $30k has become a solid support point. This stellar performance may have been fueled by positive news in the cryptocurrency space, such as Blackrocks resubmission of a bitcoin spot ETF application, which may have boosted optimism in the market.
The encryption market seems to be entering a period of consolidation, gradually being better able to face regulatory trends and market turmoil.
Blockchain Game Market Overview
In June, the market performance of Bitcoin and blockchain gaming tokens was in stark contrast. Bitcoin surged to a 12-month high, hitting $31,200. At the same time, the market value of game tokens dropped from US$6.38 billion to US$5.5 billion, with the lowest falling to US$4.7 billion during the period.
GameFi Tokens Market Cap vs. BTC
As a more stable asset,"digital gold"Bitcoin’s strong performance this month has also shown that gaming tokens may be more sensitive to market changes and sentiment swings.
The decline in gaming token market capitalization also reflects a shift in investor preferences. During times of market turmoil, investors may tend to look for more stable assets to invest in.
Although there were approximately 1,021 active games on the market in June (games in which users interacted with game contracts that month), data shows that only19 gameshas more than 10,000 daily active users. Even a well-known game like Axie Infinity only had 8,569 daily active users on June 30.
Most blockchain games are facing the problem of low user engagement. Even mature games like Axie Infinity are not immune. At the same time, the high concentration of active users on a few games may indicate that players are more inclined to choose certain types of or well-known games.
In addition, this also reveals another major problem in blockchain games: the game puts too much emphasis on the application of blockchain technology, but fails to provide a high-quality gaming experience.
The daily active users of blockchain games fluctuated between 700,000 and 1 million this month. However, on June 23, the number of active users rose to 166,000, with Walken contributing significantly to the increase of 47,459 users from the previous day. This surge reflects the fact that the user base of cryptocurrency games is relatively small, and the growth of a single game can affect the overall market data.
The key issue facing blockchain games is how to continuously attract and maintain player interest. This industry is in desperate need of innovation, and through attractive gameplay, compelling storylines, and unique game elements, combined with blockchain technology, it is possible to make this industry better. We should pay more attention to how to build a sustainable game economy and a thriving community, rather than simply relying on the term blockchain and cryptocurrency rewards to attract users.
Development of blockchain game public chain
The distribution of the number of games on each public chain remains relatively stable, and there is no situation where one chain occupies an absolute dominant position. BNB carries the most game projects on the chain, followed by Ethereum and Polygon. The three of them together account for 71% of the game projects in the market.
In the context of public chain competition, BNB chain launched its Layer 2 solution on June 19, 2023 opBNB The test network is undoubtedly a strategic deployment. opBNB is based on Optimism, and its goal is to solve the scalability problem and be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which greatly simplifies the process for developers to create and run applications, and facilitates the migration and expansion of applications on the Ethereum chain to the BNB chain. This makes opBNB a preferred solution for game developers. We expect that a large number of high-quality blockchain games will flood into the BNB chain, and with its excellent performance and compatibility with Ethereum, it will provide a driving force for innovation and development in the field of blockchain games.
Most newly launched blockchain games usually choose to be released on the three major public chains - BNB chain, Ethereum and Polygon. However, in terms of the number of active users and transactions, the WAX chain occupies the leading position, accounting for approximately 85% of the total transaction volume and 35% of active users. Although the WAX chain has a large user base and number of transactions, its share of the total transaction volume is relatively small. This phenomenon reveals the unique technical architectural characteristics of the WAX chain, which makes users need to conduct more transactions on the WAX chain.
Top Games on Ethereum on June 30
It is worth noting that the highest-ranked Ethereum game has only 153 active players. Compared with the important position of Ethereum in the blockchain field, this number seems a bit weak.
Daily Txn & Active User on Flow
anotherPublic Chain FlowThere was a significant increase in transactions and user numbers at the end of the month, driven primarily by Carrom Blitz, a game developed by Joyride Games.
Blockchain game project overview
Blockchain networks specially designed for games, such as WAX and Ronin, have stronger adaptability to games and can better meet the needs of game users. From the perspective of the overall ranking of game projects, Alien Worlds on WAX ranks first in terms of active users, while Axie Infinity on Ronin ranks first in transaction volume, further confirming our observations.
In June, StepN led the way with a 377.43% increase in token price, followed by Zodium and Nakamoto Games, whose token prices also showed significant growth.
The projects that currently perform well in terms of token price growth are still mature projects that have been deeply involved in the gaming field and accumulated rich experience. This shows that success in the field of blockchain games is often the result of long-term and unremitting efforts. Game projects require long-term hard work to build a stable ecosystem and build a strong community.
Despite the decline in total market capitalization and the concentration of users on a small number of top games, there are still some positive signs emerging this month.
Bored Ape Yacht Club"Yuga Labs, the parent company of (BAYC), is actively venturing into the blockchain gaming field, launching the highly anticipated first season of the HV-MTL Forge game. HV-MTL Forge is a space-building game centered on Yuga Labs new mecha NFT series HV-MTL. Players who hold HV-MTL are eligible to participate in the game, where they can create or customize their own unique space, while elevating their HV-MTL NFT to new forms through game activities.
This game is from Yuga LabsAnnual planAs part of that, they plan to launch four to five games this year. We expect this game to have a high participation rate among NFT holders. In their previous game Dookey Dash, 97% of NFT holders participated.
In addition to the well-known NFT IPs involvement in the blockchain game field, AAA games have also made some progress. Another game that is attracting attention this month is Gods Unchained, a blockchain-based trading card game developed by Immutable Games and recently launched on the Epic Games Store (EGS). With the launch of the game, the games native token GODS has risen by 50%.
Champions Tactics
In addition, well-known game developer Ubisoft also officially launched their first blockchain game Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles. Although there is still controversy about the application of blockchain and NFT in games, Ubisoft is one of the first AAA game studios to fully devote itself to this field. The gaming industry is gradually embracing blockchain as a trend, and other large companies like Square Enix and Sega are integrating blockchain technology into their future projects. Although industry giants are cautious about blockchain games, they are still exploring its future potential.
Blockchain game investment and financing situation
The total investment in the blockchain gaming field this month has dropped significantly compared with the previous month, with a total of US$29 million raised in 6 rounds of financing. In contrast, last months investment and financing activities were more dynamic, raising a total of 79.1 million US dollars through 8 rounds of financing.
Web3 game launch platform and multi-chain game aggregation store HyperPlay successfully received US$12 million in Series A financing, which is also the largest financing of its kind this month.
HyperPlay
Established in November 2022, HyperPlay aims to solve the interoperability problem in the field of blockchain games. The company proposes an innovative solution that allows developers to work independently without being restricted by centralized entities such as Apple, Google and Steam. The platform allows players to gain insight into every game they play using the same wallet that contains their NFTs, tokens, and achievements, enabling full interoperability for blockchain gaming. There are currently 33 games on its game store.
In addition, Web3 game studio Argus Labs completed a $10 million seed round led by crypto investment firm Haun Ventures. Argus Labs plans to use the new funding to expand its development team and build out its studio and tooling infrastructure. In the bear market of Web3, the active development of blockchain infrastructure will inject vitality into the market construction.
hot spot of the month
Web3 Gaming Giant Mythical Games Closes $37M Series C Funding
Immutable Games Flagship Game Gods Unchained Coming to the Epic Games Store
Nike NFT enters EA Sports game, attracting millions of fans
Animoca Brands Subsidiary Anichess Closes $1.5 Million Financing
Large-scale blockchain game Illuvium receives another $10 million investment from Framework Ventures
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