Over the past decade, the gaming industry has seen tremendous growth and transformation. Amid the transformation, the industry faces new opportunities and challenges. Into this landscape comes blockchain gaming, which holds the potential to fundamentally change the way games are built, distributed, and monetised. This report will explore the global gaming market, the current state of blockchain gaming, the obstacles it faces, and its potential to shape the future of the industry.
Projections for the global gaming market in 2023 estimate total revenues will reach $187.7 billion, which represents a modest year-over-year (YoY) growth rate of +2.6% despite economic headwinds. Looking forward, the gaming industry is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of +4.2% into 2026.
The total number of video game players worldwide is projected to hit 3.38 billion in 2023, representing a YoY increase of +6.3%, with mobile gaming accounting for most of these new players added. In terms of regions, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for the largest portion of global video game players, with over half of the total. In terms of gaming platforms, mobile games dominate around 50% of the gaming revenues.
For blockchain gaming, the market size is valued at over $3 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to between $65 to $90 billion by 2030, with key drivers including more investment and funding in blockchain games, adoption of NFTs, and innovative business models.
Blockchain games can adopt similar monetisation models to traditional games, with the ability to monetise through NFTs, play-to-earn (P2E) or play-to-own (P2O) models. Developers are also adopting a hybrid model of traditional and blockchain games, introducing fundamental Web3 concepts with traditional methods.
P2E games dominate the blockchain gaming market, with over $107 million in trading volume. The number of average daily unique active wallets (UAW) was 787,000 in Q3 2023; blockchain gaming was also the most popular category with the highest percentage of UAW (35%) amongst DeFi, NFT, and social dapps in the same period.
Two representatives in the blockchain gaming space have adopted the latest P2O model. ‘Loaded Lions: Mane City’ is Crypto.com’s first foray into blockchain gaming, featuring a tycoon-style idle game which allows players to build businesses and accumulate wealth. ‘Reign of Titans’ is a card-based strategy game in which players face off in battle with unique Titan characters, which are represented as digital collectibles (NFTs) that players use to battle.
On-chain gaming offers several benefits that align closely with the benefits of blockchains and smart contracts, including composability, decentralisation, digital ownership, and immutability. While it is considered one of the most promising drivers of growth in the crypto industry, its development also faces obstacles related to onboarding challenges and gameplay, technology and infrastructure, multi-accounting, and sustainability of business models.
Because of the limitations of blockchain technology, most of the current blockchain games cannot be fully deployed to decentralised networks. Looking forward, on-chain games that operate completely on blockchains will be the future of blockchain gaming. The revenue of the whole blockchain gaming sector will reach $73 billion by 2030, with $38 billion generated by the games themselves.
Gaming is one of the main drivers of growth for the crypto industry, accounting for almost half of the total on-chain activity in 2022 and is projected to exceed $65 billion in capitalisation by 2027. With continuous, significant investments in the sector, a growing player base and increased activity, and a robust blockchain development landscape, the blockchain gaming industry is poised for future growth.
Exploring the Future of Blockchain Gaming: Trends and Opportunities
A comprehensive review of the blockchain gaming industry, the state of the gaming market, current challenges and opportunities, and what lies ahead for on-chain games.
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