Blockchain Game June Report: Game Market Analysis, Opportunities and Challenges

Author: lesley@footprint.network

In June, the crypto market showed signs of recovery, with Bitcoin reaching a new high of 12 months, breaking the $30,000 mark for the first time. Although there are over 1,000 blockchain games active in the market, the development in the gaming sector has not met expectations compared to the overall market recovery, and the data performance is not optimistic.

The market value of blockchain games has dropped from a peak of $6.38 billion to $5.5 billion, with a low point of even $4.7 billion during this period, reflecting a possible imbalance between the supply of game tokens and player demand. Currently, only 19 games in the market have successfully attracted more than 10,000 daily active users, further revealing the difficulties blockchain games face in attracting and retaining users.

However, well-known NFT brands like Yuga Labs are steadily entering the blockchain gaming space, bringing rich intellectual property and innovative power to the field. Although blockchain games are still in the early stages of development, the gradual improvement of infrastructure and continuous innovation in gameplay may drive the sector into the next phase of growth. Nevertheless, how to improve user retention and how to make the integration of blockchain games with mainstream games closer remain the main challenges facing blockchain games.

The data in this report comes from the GameFi Research page of Footprint Analytics. This page provides an easy-to-use data dashboard that includes the key metrics to focus on in the GameFi industry and is updated in real-time. You can find the latest information on GameFi-related prices, individual projects, funding rounds, and more by clicking here.

Key Points

Crypto Market Overview

• In June 2023, Bitcoin experienced fluctuations, reaching a 12-month high of $31,200 on June 22. In the volatile crypto market, Bitcoin's price maintained a continuous upward trend.
• On June 22, Bitcoin unexpectedly broke through the $30,000 mark. By the end of June, Bitcoin's closing price was $30.4k, indicating that $30,000 has become a solid support point.

Blockchain Gaming Market Overview

• The market value of game tokens dropped from $6.38 billion to $5.5 billion, with a low point of $4.7 billion during this period.
• Although there were about 1,021 active games in the market in June, only 19 games had daily active users exceeding 10,000.

Development of Blockchain Game Public Chains

• The BNB chain launched the testnet for its Layer 2 solution opBNB on June 19, 2023.
• The public chain Flow saw a significant increase in transactions and user numbers at the end of the month, mainly driven by the game Carrom Blitz developed by Joyride Games.
  Overview of Blockchain Game Projects
• In June, StepN's token price topped the list with a 377.43% increase.
• Yuga Labs, the parent company of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), is actively entering the blockchain gaming field, launching the highly anticipated first season of the HV-MTL Forge game.
  Blockchain Game Investment and Financing Situation
• This month, the total investment in the blockchain gaming sector saw a significant decline compared to last month, raising $29 million across 6 funding rounds.

Crypto Market Overview

In June 2023, Bitcoin experienced fluctuations, reaching a 12-month high of $31,200 on June 22. In the volatile crypto market, Bitcoin's price maintained a continuous upward trend.

BTC Price & ETH Price

At the beginning of June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intensified regulatory scrutiny, filing lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, the two largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally. As a result of these regulatory actions, Bitcoin's price fell to $24.7k.

However, on June 22, Bitcoin broke through the $30,000 mark. By the end of June, Bitcoin's closing price was $30.4k, indicating that $30,000 has become a solid support point. This outstanding performance may have been driven by positive news in the cryptocurrency space, such as Blackrock's resubmission of its Bitcoin spot ETF application, which could have boosted market optimism.

The crypto market seems to be entering a consolidation phase, gradually better able to face regulatory trends and market volatility.

Blockchain Gaming Market Overview

In June, the market performance of Bitcoin contrasted sharply with that of blockchain game tokens. While Bitcoin rose to a 12-month high of $31,200, the market value of game tokens dropped from $6.38 billion to $5.5 billion, with a low point of $4.7 billion during this period.

GameFi Tokens Market Cap vs. BTC

As a more stable asset, "digital gold" Bitcoin performed robustly this month, further indicating that game tokens may be more sensitive to market fluctuations and sentiment changes.

The decline in the market value of game tokens also reflects a shift in investor preferences. During market turbulence, investors may prefer to seek more stable assets for investment.

Active Games

Although there were about 1,021 active games in the market in June (games that users interacted with during the month), the data shows that only 19 games had daily active users exceeding 10,000. Even well-known games like Axie Infinity had only 8,569 daily active users on June 30.

Most blockchain games are facing low user engagement issues. Even mature games like Axie Infinity are not immune. Meanwhile, active users are highly concentrated in a few games, which may indicate that players prefer to choose certain specific types or more well-known games.

Additionally, this reveals another significant issue with blockchain games: they overly emphasize the application of blockchain technology but fail to provide a quality gaming experience.

Daily Active Users

This month, the daily active users of blockchain games fluctuated between 700,000 and 1 million. However, on June 23, the number of active users surged to 166,000, with Walken contributing significantly with an increase of 47,459 users compared to the previous day. This data spike reflects the relatively small user base of cryptocurrency games, where the growth of a single game can impact the overall market data.

Walken Daily Active Users

The key issue facing blockchain games is how to continuously attract and maintain player interest. The industry urgently needs innovation, and through engaging gameplay, captivating storylines, and unique game elements combined with blockchain technology, it may better develop. We should focus more on how to build a sustainable gaming economy and a thriving community, rather than solely relying on the term "blockchain" and cryptocurrency rewards to attract users.

Development of Blockchain Game Public Chains

Game Projects Shared by Chain

The distribution of game numbers across various public chains remains relatively stable, with no single chain dominating. The BNB chain hosts the most game projects, followed by Ethereum and Polygon, which together account for 71% of the market's game projects.

In the context of competition among public chains, the BNB chain launched the testnet for its Layer 2 solution opBNB on June 19, 2023, which is undoubtedly a strategic deployment. opBNB is based on Optimism, aimed at solving scalability issues and is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), greatly simplifying the process for developers to create and run applications while facilitating the migration and expansion of applications from the Ethereum chain to the BNB chain. This makes opBNB a preferred option for game developers. We look forward to a large influx of high-quality blockchain games into the BNB chain, leveraging its excellent performance and compatibility with Ethereum to drive innovation and development in the blockchain gaming sector.

Most newly launched blockchain games typically choose to release on the three major public chains—BNB chain, Ethereum, and Polygon. However, in terms of active users and transaction numbers, the WAX chain leads, accounting for about 85% of the total transaction volume and 35% of active users. Despite WAX chain having a large user base and transaction count, its share of the total transaction volume is relatively small. This phenomenon reveals the unique technical architecture characteristics of the WAX chain, requiring users to conduct more transactions on the WAX chain.

Top Games on Ethereum on June 30

It is noteworthy that the highest-ranked game on the Ethereum chain has only 153 active players, which seems weak compared to Ethereum's significant position in the blockchain space.

Daily Txn & Active User on Flow

Another public chain, Flow, saw a significant increase in transactions and user numbers at the end of the month, mainly driven by the game Carrom Blitz developed by Joyride Games.

Overview of Blockchain Game Projects

Blockchain networks specifically designed for games, such as WAX and Ronin, have stronger adaptability to games and can better meet the needs of gaming users. In terms of overall game project rankings, Alien Worlds on WAX ranks first in active user numbers, while Axie Infinity on Ronin ranks first in transaction volume, further confirming our observations.

Top Games by Active Users

In June, StepN's token price topped the list with a 377.43% increase, followed by Zodium and Nakamoto Games, which also showed significant growth in their token prices.

Game Token Increase in June

Currently, projects that are performing well in terms of token price growth are still some mature projects that have been deeply engaged in the gaming field and have accumulated rich experience. This indicates that achieving success in the blockchain gaming sector often results from long-term and persistent efforts, and game projects need to cultivate a robust ecosystem and build strong communities over time.

Despite the overall market value decline and user concentration in a few top games, there are still some positive signals this month.

Yuga Labs, the parent company of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), is actively entering 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 around Yuga Labs' new mech NFT series HV-MTL. Players holding HV-MTL are eligible to participate in the game, creating or customizing their unique spaces while upgrading their HV-MTL NFTs to new forms through in-game activities.

This game is part of Yuga Labs' annual plan, with four to five games scheduled for release this year. We expect high participation rates among NFT holders, as 97% of NFT holders participated in their previous game Dookey Dash.

In addition to well-known NFT IPs entering the blockchain gaming space, AAA games are also making some progress. Another noteworthy game this month is Gods Unchained, a blockchain-based trading card game developed by Immutable Games, which recently launched on the Epic Games Store (EGS). Following the launch of the game, its native token GODS has risen by 50%.

Champions Tactics

Additionally, the well-known game developer Ubisoft has officially launched their first blockchain game, "Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles." Although there is still controversy regarding the application of blockchain and NFTs in games, Ubisoft is one of the earliest AAA game studios to fully engage in this field. The gaming industry is gradually embracing the trend of blockchain, and other major companies like Square Enix and Sega are also integrating blockchain technology into their future projects. Despite the cautious attitude of industry giants towards blockchain games, they continue to explore its future potential.

Blockchain Game Investment and Financing Situation

This month, the total investment in the blockchain gaming sector saw a significant decline compared to last month, raising $29 million across 6 funding rounds. In contrast, last month's investment and financing activities were more vibrant, raising $79.1 million through 8 funding rounds.

Web3 Game Funding in June

The Web3 game launch platform and multi-chain game aggregator HyperPlay successfully raised $12 million in Series A funding, the largest funding round of its kind this month.

HyperPlay

HyperPlay was established in November 2022, aiming to solve interoperability issues in the blockchain gaming sector. The company proposed an innovative solution that allows developers to work independently without the restrictions of centralized entities like Apple, Google, and Steam. The platform allows players to explore each game they play using the same wallet that contains their NFTs, tokens, and achievements, thus achieving complete interoperability in blockchain gaming. Currently, its game store has listed 33 games.

Additionally, the Web3 game studio Argus Labs completed a $10 million seed round of financing, led by crypto investment firm Haun Ventures. Argus Labs plans to use the new funds to expand its development team and build its studio and tool infrastructure. In the Web3 bear market, the positive development of blockchain infrastructure will inject vitality into market construction.

This Month's Highlights

• Web3 gaming giant Mythical Games completes $37 million in Series C1 funding
• Immutable Games' flagship game Gods Unchained launches on Epic Games Store
• Nike NFTs enter EA Sports games, attracting millions of fans
• Animoca Brands subsidiary Anichess completes $1.5 million in funding
• Major blockchain game Illuvium receives another $10 million investment from Framework Ventures