Comparing platforms like Zealy, Galxe, Wemix, and DeGame: Discovering new trends in the Web3 gaming industry

In the digital age, the gaming world is not only a haven for fantasy and entertainment but also a bridge for human emotions and memories. Cyberpunk 2077 — a game that intertwines the future with reality — witnesses a touching story between a mother and her lost son. This mother, inheriting her son's aspirations, overcomes her unfamiliarity with the unknown world and delves deep into the virtual abyss of the game. In this universe built of code, she unexpectedly discovers her son's "cybernetic avatar," a free spirit no longer bound by the pains of the real world.
Her story begins with an unexpected incident at a 3D printing model shop. Originally just an ordinary shop owner, this mother resolutely took over her son's store after his passing. She not only learned the skills of model making but, more importantly, gradually understood and approached her son's spiritual world. Cyberpunk 2077 is not only a continuation of her emotional bond with her son but also a window for her to communicate with the world.
The charm of the game lies in its ability to transcend the limitations of time and space, allowing lost loved ones to gain new life in the virtual world. In this world constructed of code and creativity, every corner is filled with possibilities, and every interaction is a celebration of life. This is the true allure of gaming — it is not merely a tool for escaping reality but a bridge that connects souls and continues stories.
Just as the Web3 field is filled with infinite possibilities, what sparks will fly when gaming meets the more creative Web3? This intersection not only signifies the fusion of technology and art but also symbolizes the combination of personal emotions and global connectivity. Let us explore the popularity of Web3 games globally with the following data, revealing the power and potential behind this trend.

Record High Funding but High Startup Failure Rates: Is Web3 Gaming Facing a Development Bottleneck?

Since 2018, the Web3 gaming sector has experienced a capital storm, with total investments reaching an astonishing $19 billion. This field saw a peak in investment in 2021, but by 2023, it gradually stabilized. Notably, in the first three quarters of 2023 alone, blockchain game-related financing has reached $15 billion, with $800 million focused on Web3 game development. The United States, France, Canada, Singapore, and Hong Kong have become the centers of this capital wave.
However, amidst this capital frenzy, the success and failure records of Web3 games are quite complex. From 2018 to 2023, a total of 2,817 Web3 games were released, of which 2,127 (75.5%) failed to succeed. So far in 2023, the number of newly launched Web3 games is 223, showing a significant decline compared to 640 in 2022 and 811 in 2021. According to a report by CoinGecko, the average annual failure rate of Web3 games over these five years has reached 80.8%, highlighting the challenges these games face on blockchain platforms.

Coingecko data: The failure rate of Web3 games in the past five years has reached 75.5%
It is particularly noteworthy that after the success of CryptoKitties in 2017, 422 new games emerged in 2018, of which 307 failed. The report also pointed out that the bear market from 2019 to 2020 severely hampered the development of GameFi, causing the failure rate in 2019 to soar to 94.3%. In 2021, with the cryptocurrency market booming, the failure rate of Web3 games dropped to 45.9%, but this trend did not last into 2022, when the number of game failures reached a record 742, with a failure rate skyrocketing to 107.1%. As of 2023, although the year has not yet ended, 509 games have already declared failure, with the current failure rate stabilizing at 70.7%.
These data reveal a dual aspect of the Web3 gaming field: on one hand, the influx of massive funds proves its enormous potential; on the other hand, the high failure rate exposes its fragility. While the Play to Earn model in the Web3 realm is attractive, achieving success among players still requires high-quality gaming experiences. Therefore, for players, finding immersive Web3 games remains a challenge. In this volatile market, the confrontation between billions in funding and high failure rates showcases the complexity and challenges of the Web3 gaming sector.

The Success Stories of TapTap and Steam: Lessons for Web3 Game Developers

In the Web3 gaming field, although the rapidly developing trend brings new hope and choices for players, such swift growth is also accompanied by information chaos and decision difficulties. This explosive growth of information is like placing players in a foggy maze, making it hard for them to find truly worthwhile games to invest their time in. In this vast digital ocean, the signals of quality games are drowned out by endless noise, making the selection process for players exceptionally difficult.
To address this issue, it is particularly important to draw lessons from the mature platform models of the Web2 era. For example, mobile game platform TapTap and PC game platform Steam are both industry exemplars with mature systems and high user satisfaction.
TapTap, established in 2016, aims to create a high-quality mobile game sharing community app. Its mission is to "help every player discover great games and help every great game find players who love it." TapTap quickly rose in the game distribution market with its unique "no joint operation" and "no revenue sharing" business model, becoming a community for game communication and sharing among young people. In 2022, the platform had over 573 million active users, with annual downloads reaching 801 million, a year-on-year increase of 32.33%, and cumulative game reservations exceeding 118 million.

TapTap international version product page
Steam, operated by Valve Corporation, is a comprehensive game trading platform that provides a space for players to purchase, review, and communicate about digital games. Its greatest advantage lies in providing authentic player reviews and a creative workshop, which expands the playability of games by allowing players to download or create their own game mods. In 2021, Steam reached 132 million monthly active players, with 69 million daily active players and a peak concurrent user count of 27.4 million, with players spending a total of 38 billion hours on the platform, a 21% increase from 2020.

Steam's background poster
The success of these two platforms demonstrates that prioritizing user experience is key to attracting players. In recent years, several emerging game distribution platforms have appeared in the Web3 gaming field, all striving to provide better services and experiences for players. The following will detail these platforms to help players find promising and high-quality Web3 games. In this age of information overload, filtering quality games for players will become a new direction and key for industry development.

Overview of Web3 Game Aggregator Platforms: Helping Players Quickly Capture Quality Projects from an Opaque Industry

1. Zealy: A Web3 Task Platform Deeply Integrated with Discord
Zealy, formerly known as Crew3, is a Web3 task platform focused on the release of digital assets, physical and virtual events, and tasks. The platform's uniqueness lies in its integration with Discord, emphasizing social attributes and user engagement. It offers a variety of activity templates, such as daily check-ins, content creation, and invitation tasks, and is committed to providing clear categorization and a points ranking system. It filters out real users through a series of authenticity verification measures, such as writing articles, screenshot proofs, and invitations, to reduce the impact of automated participants.
2. Galxe: A Platform Combining Web3 Traffic and Digital Identity
Galxe, formerly known as Project Galaxy, is currently one of the largest Web3 traffic platforms, providing project parties with opportunities for NFT issuance while also offering users chances to participate in community activities and discover new projects. Galxe analyzes on-chain data and labels user behavior by constructing digital identity credentials called Galxe ID and on-chain markers known as OAT. This approach aims to provide customized services while generating Credential collections for third-party applications, such as token distribution.
3. Wemix: A Global Blockchain Gaming Platform with Multi-Chain Features
Wemix is a blockchain-based global gaming platform developed by Wemade Tree. It not only provides a game DAPP platform but also includes a wallet and digital asset marketplace. Wemix aims to build a blockchain gaming ecosystem centered around user "experience value," surpassing the limitations of traditional blockchain gaming projects that focus solely on digital asset exchange. The platform's core competitiveness lies in its sustainability, benefiting from Wemade's 20 years of experience in the global gaming industry. Wemix addresses scalability and transaction cost issues by adopting a hybrid "multi-chain" infrastructure, striving to set new standards in the blockchain gaming field.
4. DeGame: A Multifunctional Platform Leading Web3 Game Innovation
Since its launch in 2021, DeGame has rapidly risen to become a key gathering place in the blockchain gaming sector, representing a one-stop NFT/GameFi aggregation platform. This platform is renowned for the diverse chain game information it provides, currently listing over 2,500 games and 550 tokens, covering 57 different blockchain networks. DeGame has not only successfully attracted the attention of over 200,000 users and more than 50 guilds but has also integrated the advantages of many platforms such as Galxe and Zealy in terms of functionality and services, providing rich game data and news while offering project parties a channel for activity release and users opportunities to receive airdrops.

DeGame new product page
Top Communities: Aggregates communities from over 10,000 WEB3 game projects globally, allowing users to jump to the project's official website, official Twitter, or official community with one click, providing a comprehensive understanding of GameFi projects and enabling interaction with project parties or community members.
Feeds: As an information flow entry in the Web3 ecosystem, this feature concentrates on displaying all news in the Web3 industry, supporting both PGC and UGC models, allowing vetted quality creators to publish content and deliver valuable information to users.
Quest: A task publishing window that combines fairness and incentives. Ordinary users, game project parties, KOLs, and development teams can publish customized tasks and set rewards, promoting interaction among Web3 users and increasing traffic and ecological value.
Leader Board: Provides real-time game data rankings, conducting regular data analysis and rankings of global WEB3 games, KOLs, and gaming guilds, while allowing users to rate and evaluate games, achieving true decentralized game ratings.
Gaming: Displays recent popular WEB3 games and new game launch reminders in real-time, allowing users to download with one click and start their gaming experience.
Event: Provides the most comprehensive entry for Web3 game activities, including online and offline events, allowing users to freely choose to participate. Eligible players can also publish their own events here.
Discover: Gathers high-quality game videos from across the internet, allowing video creators to upload their game videos, providing game strategies, tutorials, and funny videos to help users conveniently discover the content they need.

The Development Momentum of Web3 Games May Accelerate Further: The Industry Calls for Quality Aggregator Platforms

As a one-stop NFT/GameFi aggregation platform, DeGame has demonstrated its unique comprehensiveness and innovation in the Web3 gaming field. Its wide range of game types covers various blockchain technologies and can attract a broad user base and gaming guilds. This diversity and comprehensiveness are significant characteristics that distinguish DeGame from other platforms.
By continuously upgrading and optimizing its features, DeGame shows a profound understanding of industry dynamics and user needs, positioning itself not just as an information aggregation platform but as a key force driving the development of the Web3 gaming sector.
From the current trends, DeGame exhibits strong potential and prospects. Its upcoming new version and feature highlights indicate that the platform will continue to maintain its leading position in the industry and may become a key driver of future development in the Web3 gaming field.
Considering its comprehensiveness, innovative capabilities, and market adaptability, there are ample reasons to hold positive expectations for DeGame's future development. This platform is not only an ideal choice for Web3 gaming enthusiasts but may also become an important force driving further innovation in the entire gaming industry.