Original title: 8 Web3 Games to Watch in the Bull Market
Original author: Kyle Reidhead
Original compilation: Deep Chao TechFlow
Every new cryptocurrency cycle promises to bring Web3 gaming to the mainstream, but it never happens.
But since 2018, 80% of Web3 game projects have failed. This time is different, I think...and hope.
I feel optimistic because we finally have the infrastructure - cheap, fast, scalable blockchain - that is necessary to provide players with a frictionless experience.
Combined with the upcoming bull market boom, we are likely to see many games reach crazy valuations, like Axie Infinity did in 2020 ($25 billion market cap).
Its all starting to creep in, look at some of the growth thats happened in the past 30 days.
So today Im going to share the 8 best Web3 games that Im personally interested in, and that I think you should pay attention to too.
Disclaimer: Some of the following projects have tokens. This article is not investment advice and I don’t even own the coins.
Illuvium( Immutable)
Illuvium is a sci-fi NFT game ecosystem that includes multiple games with a certain degree of interoperability. It features high-quality graphics and offers on-chain benefits such as asset ownership and governance.
Recently, Illuvium Arena, a game in the Illuvium ecosystem, was launched on the Epic Games Store. The platform has more than 56 million monthly active users, most of whom are not on Web3.
This marks an important integration of blockchain games into mainstream platforms.
Immediately afterwards, Illuvium plans to launch Illuvium Overworld, an open world role-playing game (RPG).
With Illuviums growth over the past few years and during the bear market, they are well positioned for an exciting future.
Shrapnel( Avalanche)
Shrapnel is an FPS (First Person Shooter) AAA game developed by Neon Machine Game Studio, which raised $37.5 million for development.
Its official launch date on the Epic Games Store is set for December, and will only be available to early adopters. Shrapnel is scheduled to be fully launched sometime in 2024.
The $SHRAP token has gained 182% in the past month due to its listing effect.
PS: Shrapnel’s CEO caused some FUD by trying to use company funds to pay off personal debts…
Echelon Prime (Ethereum and Base)
Echelon Prime is a web3 gaming ecosystem that recently launched its first game on the Base blockchain: Parallel TCG.
The reason Im excited about the Echelon Prime ecosystem is how successfully they launched Parallel, a simple card game that requires no wallet and is free to play.
Parallel is similar to popular card games such as Hearthstone, Magic the Gathering (MTG) or Marvel Snap, providing a familiar experience for card game players.
The game is also available on the Epic Games Store.
I personally believe that Echelon Prime, powered by the $PRIME token, is one of the leaders in Web3 gaming.
Star Atlas( Solana)
Star Atlas is a highly anticipated grand strategy game of space exploration, territorial conquest, and political domination.
The game is built on Solana and already has two tokens:
·$ATLAS: An in-game token that serves as currency.
·$POLIS: The governance token of Star Atlas DAO, which can influence the decision-making process.
The reason Im particularly excited about Star Atlas is that its the launch game on Solana and is supported by the entire $SOL community. I expect the Solana ecosystem to continue to grow, and Star Atlas is definitely one of the most cutting-edge players in that ecosystem.
However, this game has been in development for a few years (since the last cycle), so progress has been slower compared to other games. Regardless, Star Atlas in-game item market has seen a significant increase in transaction volume recently, reaching as high as $400,000.
Skyweaver by Horizon( Polygon)
Skyweaver is another digital card game developed by Horizon Blockchain Games, similar to Parallel.
It is a free-to-play game that allows players to collect, trade, and battle using a variety of unique cards.
Im not so optimistic about Skyweaver, but I am optimistic about game developer Horizon, which is backed by two major game giants, Ubisoft and Take-Two.
These are all key players in Horizons funding round. They participated in a $40 million Series A round. With strong backers and a game already live, Im very excited to see what Horizon has to offer in 2024 and beyond.
The 5 games and game ecosystem above are the ones that interest me the most. But there are also some game ecosystems that are also developing rapidly. The following are three others that I am looking forward to and are worthy of attention.
Ronin Network
Ronin is a blockchain built by Axie Infinity. While the original intent was to support Axie Infinity, its now being expanded.
In the past 30 days, monthly active users exceeded 500,000, a 5-fold increase.
They welcome new game studio partners like Zillion Whales to develop on top of Ronin.
They also announced the Ronin Name Service, an ENS-like name service that Ronin users can purchase with $RON to own their on-chain identities.
SIDUS
SIDUS is a gaming/metaverse project that aims to combine blockchain with AI.
While details are limited, Sidus recently burned a large portion of their circulating tokens, which has attracted a lot of attention. I will keep a close eye on the development of this project.
Treasure DAO( Arbitrum )
Treasure DAO is an ecosystem designed to bring games and players together through its $MAGIC token on Arbitrum.
Summarize
In this article, I share 8 games/game ecosystems that I will be paying attention to in the next few years. But what I’m most excited about is the abstraction of blockchain.
For Web3 games, the biggest obstacle is hiding blockchain technology from users, which is necessary for mainstream adoption. No one wants to set up a wallet, deposit tokens, and sign transactions to play a game. Those games that can successfully hide Web3 technology will win, and Immutable goes the furthest in this regard.
On Immutable, users do not need to pay gas fees or sign transactions. And games built on Immutable can also offer off-chain NFT minting, and transactions do not require Immutable’s $IMX tokens.
This means a lot to game developers, which is why Ubisoft chose to partner with Immutable. This is why more than 200 Web3 games will be released on Immutable in 2024.
Immutable has been building the infrastructure and tools developers need to build games throughout the Bear Market. They are now ready to launch and I think they are positioning themselves perfectly to capture the majority of the Web3 gaming market share in the near future. While Im bullish on several independent web3 games and ecosystems, Im by far the most excited about Immutable, and I think you should be too.
Disclosure: I own $IMX.
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