BGA Cryptogaming Report for Q3 2021

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Q3 of 2021 proved that crypto games, fueled by the game-to-earn (P2E) movement, are not going anywhere. In the third quarter of 2021, the number of new unique active wallets (UAW) connected to gaming decentralized applications (dApps) reached 754, accounting for almost half of industry activity. The cryptogaming footprint in the NFT space has become more visible as in-game NFTs accounted for over 000% of NFT's record trading volume.

The crypto game industry is more exciting than ever. Axie Infinity has gone beyond its gaming status by taking P2E beyond the blockchain. 50% of Axie Infinity players have never interacted with the blockchain before. Splinterlands has also become one of the most popular, while BSC has doubled its DeFi offering by adding a huge chunk of GameFi decentralized apps. In addition, the metaverse continues to prepare to become a digital place for creativity, play, commerce and communication.

Key findings

  • In Q3, the blockchain industry registered an average of 1,54 million UAWs per day, 49% of which interacted with blockchain-based games.
  • The gaming footprint is becoming more prominent in NFT, as NFT in-game collectibles generated $ 2,32B in sales during Q3, accounting for 22% of total NFT trade in the industry.
  • Axie Infinity became the best-selling collection, surpassing NBA Top Shot and CryptoPunks; at the time of writing, Axie has generated over $ 2,5bn. trade turnover.
  • Axie Infinity brought in $ 2,08bn in the third quarter alone. this amount is 19% of the total NFT trading volume over the same period of time.
  • Virtual worlds (not including Axie Infinity) are gaining momentum, with trading volume exceeding 56,4 million in the third quarter, up 21% from the previous quarter.
  • Polygon's Arc8 targets the mobile gaming segment, a $ 79 billion market with over 2,5 billion players; Arc8 has attracted 378 UAWs in the past 000 days.

WAX is one of the most popular blockchains with high gaming-related usage. WAX registered an average of over 350 daily wallets in Q000. The network contains the popular Alien Worlds app, one of the most popular games in the world (author's note: It is important to add here that there are unrepresentative statistics for Alien Worlds, since it is known that the game was captured by bots and this figure can be divided by ~ 100)... WAX has expanded its P2E offering with Farmers World, a farm in which the player manages resources, tools, and land to ensure sustainability. The game launched in July and has since made over 10 million transactions. The declining dominance of WAX in games is countered by the expansion of the game space in BSC and HIVE. Blockchains that dominate games have grown by 20% and 12%, respectively. More on both blockchains later. However, this is just another way to prove that the blockchain gaming space is expanding nowadays.

Despite the solid player base found on WAX, web usage dominance dropped 31% from Q2. At the end of June, WAX has concentrated nearly 82% of the UAW connected to all Play-to-Earn games. (author's note: again, a lot because of Alien Worlds and R-planet), up from 51% at the end of July. This despite the fact that the number of active WAX ​​gaming wallets increased by 53% compared to the previous quarter.

It can be argued that Axie Infinity is the real catalyst for a game-to-make revolution. After switching to the Ronin sidechain, the game has reached impressive levels. In Q3, Axie Infinity became the best-selling collection ever, surpassing the most popular NFT collections such as CrypotPunks and NBA Top Shot. As of this writing, Axie's trading volume is over $ 2,5 billion. In the third quarter alone, Axie Infinity's trading volume was $ 2,08 billion, or 83% of the game's historical trading value.

The app developed by Sky Mavis is already exemplary for crypto games. According to the team itself, Axie has surpassed 2 million daily active users (DAU).

The cherry on top is that gaming studio Sky Mavis has received a $ 152 million investment from several venture capital funds led by a16z. This will help the team develop the game even further. In the coming months, Axie Infinity will bring enhanced PVP combat and Earth exploitation capabilities.

Metaverse

One of the most fascinating concepts in the blockchain gaming space is the metaverse. The Metaverse is a network of virtual environments where players can move value and data freely without having to change their online identity. The importance of these virtual worlds is growing exponentially as they strive to become a place where people form communities to create, play, trade and communicate.

In Q3 2021, virtual worlds brought in over $ 56,37M. deals, first of all, The Sandbox. TSD is one of the most important projects in this landscape. He has confirmed important collaborations with companies such as Atari, The Walking Dead and most recently Snoop Dogg. The latter helped the sandbox achieve more than $ 17 million in sales in the third quarter thanks to land sales.

In addition to brand collaborations with The Sandbox, signals from global brands have also begun to emerge in other metaverse projects. For example, Coca-Cola partnered with Decentraland to launch its first NFT collection in the virtual world. Burberry and Blankos joined forces to launch the NFT collection based on the fashion brand, which sold out in seconds.

All in all, the metaverse is one of the most exciting concepts in the industry. It is highly likely that the metaverse will become a place where fashion brands digitally monetize their assets. Plus, the metaverse could be home to some of the most anticipated games.

BSC goes to GameFi

Binance Smart Chain is a blockchain that is often associated with decentralized finance. However, online gaming activity has grown significantly since July. During Q3, BSC attracted 608 UAWs daily. 000, or 168% of these UAWs, are connected via gaming decentralized applications. Analyzing the same scenario that unfolded Q000, less than 28% of UAW BSCs are in blockchain games. The 2 UAW represents an impressive 2% growth over the previous quarter.

In fact, BSC's gaming exposure is more visible across the industry. The number of gaming-related BSC UAWs in the second quarter accounted for only 3% of the total for the industry, while in the third quarter, BSCs accounted for almost 23% of the total for the industry.

GameFi - or DeFi Gamification in BSC Games has improved the perception of the network as a blockchain in which games can thrive. Perhaps the first BSC game to see huge numbers of users was CryptoBlades, in which users engage in PVE battles to get $ SKILL, the in-game currency. $ SKILL can be used on CryptoBlades platform by adding GameFi element. (author's note: There is an opinion that there were a lot of bots and multi-accounts in the game, in this regard, according to some sources, the real numbers for users are hundreds of times lower).

At some point in August, CryptoBlades became the most played game by UAW metrics. It peaked on August 6 with 406 UAWs connected to the game dapp, but things went downhill after that and the game dropped 000% in September in terms of usage. The negative downtrend was closely related to the $ SKILL price, which also fell 95% below the July 90 price. Due to the massive drop, the potential revenues that the players received decreased, as a result of which the project collapsed.

The price of MBOX, the game's domestic currency, rose 641% from the previous quarter. While the total locked-down cost of a decentralized app (TVL) has more than doubled since July.

Is there high gaming activity on Polygon?

Polygon is another network where DeFi is thriving and improving its position in gaming. Although to a lesser extent than BSC. In September, the blockchain logged an average of 30 daily UAWs connected to gaming dapps. 000% more than in Q373. But what is the main reason behind the latest rise in Polygon gaming wallets?

According to DappRadar, Gamee, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, partnered with Polygon Studios to improve the appearance of the game on the Layer 2 network. the Polygon ecosystem.

Arc8 started on the right foot. The mobile game has become the most popular decentralized app at Polygon, with over 378 UAW users in the past 000 days.

Arc8's business model is definitely worth considering. The application works in the segment of mobile games, which has not yet been studied in the field of cryptogaming. According to Statista, the mobile gaming sector is expected to generate more than $ 2021bn in revenue in 79. and will attract over 2,5 billion users. The potential is enormous. (author's note: even 1% of this share will be significant).

Apart from Arc8, Polygon has interesting projects such as the GameFi app Aavegotchi and the racing game Revv Racing. In a quick turn of events, Polygon may be in an ideal position to further strengthen the network's popularity outside of DeFi. No wonder the upcoming virtual worlds like The Sandbox and Ember Sword, as well as card games like Doctor Who: Worlds Apart, announced the integration of Polygon into their ecosystem.

Worth watching

Solana games

Solana has taken its rightful place in the DeFi landscape and has an emerging NFT market with infrastructure. Games on Solana are also not far behind. Star Atlas, one of the most highly touted games, is expected to release in 2022. (author's note: in 2022 a mini-game will be released, which is so far from the final result that is shown to us that it can be called a completely different game based on the Star Atlas ad).

Aurory is also expected, another RPG featuring PVE and PVP monster battles, and will be one of the best games to launch on Solana. Project Seed, an ARPG game, will include an interesting DAO model while battling the animals or zeds that inhabit the game's virtual land. Cryowar, another game that will rely on the Unreal engine, aims to become a multiplayer NFT game with a real-time PVP arena. And finally, Ninja Game, another ARPG, will bring some nostalgia to people who grew up on Diablo.

Sale of land

We cannot stress enough the importance of the metaverse, let alone virtual lands in games. Virtual lands will allow owners to increase mining power, get additional resources, and many other functions. Ember Sword, The Sandbox (which already has Snoop Dogg's private mansion), Aavegotchi, and My Neighbor Alice. In these projects, the land is especially promising.

Immutable X Games - like Polygon, Immutable X is an Ethereum Layer 2 solution. Immutable X relies on zero knowledge (ZK) cumulative packets to optimize network latency. In 2019, the project made headlines thanks to Gods Unchained, one of the pioneers of CCI on the blockchain. A mobile role-playing game is also under implementation. Guild of guardians... The game has attracted over 150 subscribers and there will soon be another wave of NFT sales to watch out for. rain, one of the most highly anticipated blockchain games, made it onto the Immutable X network. Illuvium is marked as an AAA game.

GalaGames - The startup, led by Zynga co-founder Eric Schirmeyer, focuses on building truly decentralized blockchain games. Players can own nodes that will eventually become their own decentralized network. So far, the startup has only launched Town Star, a farming game in which players are rewarded with GALA, the network's built-in utility token, and TOWN, the game's own token. In addition, Gala will launch mirandus, a fantasy RPG set in a massive digital world, Spider Tanks in the battle arena, the space epic Echoes of Empire, and Tower Defense Fortified. However, all of these games are still in development.

Sammari

Q3 2021 was probably the most important period in the history of cryptogaming. The Play-to-Earn movement is taking full advantage of the game and some decentralized gaming applications dominate their respective ecosystems. The growth in the number of UAWs connected to games accounts for almost half of the unique active wallets of the entire blockchain industry.

Also of note is the importance of in-game items like NFTs. In Q3 2021, gaming NFTs accounted for over 20% of the record $ 10,6bn. in NFT volumes. The transition between the two spaces is inevitable. In fact, as mentioned earlier, important NFT collections will include games to some extent or become our portrait in the Metaverse. By the way, the importance of the metaverse continues to grow. We already hear about virtual spaces in mainstream media, but crypto games will catalyze our digital life across multiple platforms, forever changing the community paradigm.

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