- Investment in blockchain gaming witnessed a steep decline of 72% in 2023.
- This downturn raises concerns about the sustainability and attractiveness of blockchain gaming projects to investors.
- A significant number of blockchain games, totaling 410, were discontinued in 2023.
Blockchain gaming once hailed as the next frontier in gaming innovation, has experienced a significant downturn in investment in 2023. According to an analysis by BanklessTimes.com, investments in blockchain gaming have fallen by a staggering 72%. Despite the setback, the sector still attracted substantial funding, reaching $1.4 billion.
BanklessTimes CEO Jonathan Merry weighed in on the data:
The blockchain gaming industry faced several challenges in 2023, leading to a sharp decline in investment. One significant factor contributing to the downturn was the abandonment of existing blockchain games either due to prolonged inactivity or a funding shortage compunded by the bear market's impact.BanklessTimes CEO Jonathan Merry
Blockchain Game Discontinuations
In the first half of 2023, 248 games were discontinued. This was followed up with the discontinuation of 162 games in the second half for a total of 410 games whose developers have given up on their prospects. This is around a third of all the games the portal has recorded.
In 2023, the largest group of discontinued games were listed across two or more blockchain networks. Of the single-chain games, BNB chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain) saw the highest number of discontinuations.
Among the biggest games on the list is Blankos Block Party, a non-fungible token (NFT)-based multi-player game similar to Roblox. At one point, the game was attracting over 60,000 active players monthly. Mythical Games, the studio behind the game, raised $75 million in 2022, with Wall Street veteran Mike Novogratz among those betting on the game. In mid-December, the game announced it would shut down its PC version.
Another high-profile exit was by GOALS, a Swedish gaming studio that raised $15 million in 2022 and another $40 million last year to build sports-related blockchain games. It has since announced that it’s no longer interested in integrating blockchain into its games.
2024 Holds Promise for Crypto Gaming
For a long time, blockchain gamers have treated themselves as elitists, sidelining any criticism blockchain games have received. That has resulted in blockchain games never really crossing over and appealing to traditional gamers.
But the tides are turning; traditional gamers are looking for something new. That makes now the right time for crypto game devs to refine their strategies.
Developers must go where the wind is blowing, cut down on talks about the earning factor, and push the fun narrative if they want to make their games look appealing.
The same goes for leading gaming corporations who have started to see the potential in blockchain gaming. They must not rush — and must keep their focus on their core audience at all times. That could lead to the simplification of core crypto gaming concepts, making 2024 the year in which traditional gamers embrace what decentralized gaming has in store.
However, gamers will have to wait and see what the developers actually do. Perhaps by year-end, we may witness blockchain games receiving the same notoriety and hype that GTA games received when they redefined the open-world genre when they arrived.
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