According to a report from the Blockchain Game Alliance, gameplay improvements are key to driving blockchain game adoption in 2023. And a separate report from DappRadar found that companies in the industry raised $7.6 billion in 2022.
The Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) 2022 Member Survey and Report has found that blockchain gaming industry professionals predict that gameplay improvements will be the main factor driving adoption in 2023, with web3 developers working to make blockchain games more fun and immersive.
After gameplay improvements, the next two factors most believed to drive the industry forward in the coming year are traditional game studios and existing game franchises moving to Web3, the report said.
Founded in 2018, the Blockchain gaming alliance (BGA) is an industry association with more than 500 members, including major games and studios, guilds, blockchain protocols, venture capital, service organizations, and crypto exchanges.
The BGA Member Survey and Report, now in its second year, is a survey designed to assess the views of BGA members and blockchain gaming professionals on the state of the industry and the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. lie ahead. The BGA turned on Emphasis to design and conduct the 22-question survey, covering topics such as careers, growth, adoption, and key issues facing the industry. Findings from the survey are used to ensure that BGA’s planned activities are aligned with industry needs.
In terms of the biggest positive impact on blockchain gaming in the past year, 21.3% of respondents pointed to the unprecedented levels of funding pouring into the industry – the $7.6 billion reported by DappRadar.
The next two most positive influences were mainstream brands and celebrities adopting NFTs (16.4%) and traditional game studios launching their own NFT games (15.0%). When asked about the top benefits of blockchain for gaming, 68.9% said ownership of digital assets remains the top benefit the technology can provide with NFTs delivering digital property rights to players.
Next, new player reward models (35.2%) and new revenue models (34.3%) were cited as the most innovative aspects of web3 applied to games.
“Looking back, 2022 was a year of growth – not just in terms of funding, titles and headlines, but also in terms of active participation,” Sebastian Borget, president of the BGA, said in a statement. “Even with an influx of entrants into the space, blockchain’s key benefits to the industry have not changed significantly since last year.”
He added: “Player asset ownership, new player rewards and new revenue models remain the top three. In addition, our industry is committed to improving the overall blockchain gaming experience, from better gameplay to easy onboarding. This tells me we are putting players first in our quest to revolutionize our industry through the adoption of blockchain and NFTs.
In terms of industry challenges, more than half (51%) of respondents agreed that player onboarding and accessibility remains the biggest issue in blockchain gaming given the high learning requirements for new players who are not familiar with the use of cryptocurrencies and other blockchain applications. Next, poor gameplay was said to be the biggest problem (37.2%), as well as the problem of not fully understanding blockchain gaming concepts (28.5%).
At the corporate level, FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) was the top concern, with 27.7% reporting that the start of the crypto winter had negatively impacted their business. Despite this, almost nine in ten (89.3%) said they think they will still be working in blockchain gaming a year from now – a remarkable vote of confidence in the industry, especially given that half of all respondents ( 49.9%) have not even worked in their current position for more than a year.
Major developments
The WAX protocol remained the most popular blockchain for web3 games, attracting an average of nearly 350,000 UAW per day by 2022. Hive and BNB Chain followed with 235,000 UAW and 167,000 UAW, respectively.
Polygon consolidated as a gaming chain after attracting an average of 97,000 daily UAW in 2022, 340% more than the previous year. GAMEE’s Arc8, Benji Bananas, Crazy Defense Heroes, and Pegaxy were among the gaming dapps driving growth.
ImmutableX generated $87 million in NFT trading volume, 250% higher than last year. Gods Unchained ended up in the top 25 most traded collections of all blockchains.
Axie Infinity generated $325 million in NFT trading volume behind the launch of Axie Infinity: Origins and Lunacia’s first appearance in Axie Infinity Homeland.
Yuga Labs’ Otherside became the most traded virtual world project after its launch on April 30, surpassing Decentraland and The Sandbox. Otherside generated more than $1 billion in transactions.
Gala Games ended 2022 with 18 games in its portfolio, including two on Steam and one on the Epic Games Store.
Alien Worlds was the most played dapp of 2022 averaging nearly 200,000 UAW per day and 4.8 billion on-chain transactions for gameplay, trading, and DAO activity.
Splinterlands was the second most popular game by wallet activity, consolidating its player base at 160,000 daily UAW in the second half of the year. The Hive-based trading card game also hit relevant roadmap milestones as the team launched node validator licenses and dropped the Runi NFT and Land Deeds.
STEPN initiated the move-to-earn paradigm behind a gamified physical activity reward model. While STEPN’s growth came to a halt in the fourth quarter, dapps such as Genopets, Step App, Dotmoovs and Dustland are also following the trend.
Despite the crypto winter, the leading gaming and metaverse projects continued to grow. Projects behind the leading metaverse gaming dapps launched their alpha or beta stages, including Illuvium, The Sandbox, Big Time, Axie Infinity Homeland, The Fabled, Phantom Galaxies, Star Atlas, My Neighbor Alice, Treeverse, Mirandus, and many more.
Industry data
The report said there will be 1.13 million unique active wallets connected daily to gaming apps across 48 blockchains tracked by 2022, about 85% more than in 2021.
On-chain game transactions reached 7.4 billion, an increase of 37% from 2021 and 3,260% from 2020. Approximately $2.54 billion was invested in blockchain infrastructure projects.
The trading volume of virtual worlds in 2022 was estimated at $1.45 billion, 136% higher than last year. And gaming accounts for nearly 50% of all on-chain activity, according to Dapp Radar.
Of the survey respondents, 65% of respondents are under the age of 35. And 89% say they will still be working in blockchain gaming a year from now. About 56% accept at least part of their salary in cryptocurrency. The BGA grew from 300 members in 2021 to 500 in 2022.
Industry drivers
Some 36% predict gameplay improvements will be the biggest driver of adoption in 2023. The survey showed a 67% decline in respondents who view play to earn as the industry’s top driver. At the end of 2021, it was believed that playing to earn was the main driver of the industry.
And 21% cite financing as having the biggest positive impact on the industry in 2022, followed by adoption of NFT by mainstream brands and celebrities.
Challenges
About 30% cite crypto winter as having the most negative impact on the industry in 2022. Forty percent believe that one of the biggest misconceptions about blockchain gaming is that it is harmful to the environment.
About 37% of respondents believe there is still a misconception that blockchain games are not fun.
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