The blockchain gaming sector reached 7.4 million each day Distinctive Lively Wallets (dUAW) in 2024, marking 421% progress from a yr in the past, in line with analytics platform DappRadar.
And DappRadar stated gaming accounted for 26% to 29% of the blockchain trade’s exercise, fluctuating all year long as decentralized finance (DeFi) gained momentum throughout the first quarter and the fourth quarter. It helps that Bitcoin has reached all-time highs of $103,847 (for a market valuation of $1.9 trillion).
DappRadar launched its 2024 Blockchain Gaming Yearly Report, in collaboration with the Blockchain Gaming Alliance.
DappRadar stated, “2024 was a transformative yr for blockchain gaming, marking a shift towards mainstream adoption. The yr noticed exceptional consumer progress, the launch of floor breaking applied sciences, and important strides in participating non-Web3 customers. Regardless of a difficult macroeconomic setting, the gaming sector remained resilient, showcasing its potential to redefine digital leisure.”
The report stated Immutable outperformed Ethereum with $330 million in non-fungible token (NFT) buying and selling quantity, underscoring its rising affect in blockchain gaming.
Meahwhile, blockchain gaming investments fell to $1.8 billion, representing a 38% decline in comparison with 2023, marking the bottom level since 2020. This mirrors the decline in VC investments in video games that peaked in 2021 after which declined ever since. That has left a whole lot of corporations that secured funding throughout the increase unable to get follow-on rounds for enlargement.
The 7.4 million each day Distinctive Lively Wallets (dUAW) represented a brand new document for Web3 gamers, with over 5.7 billion on-chain gaming transactions. The addition of greater than 1,600 new video games on DappRadar
2024 concluded on a excessive observe for the blockchain gaming trade, marking one other yr of progress, innovation, and adaptation.
Nonetheless, DappRadar stated 2024 was not with out its challenges. The sector witnessed each groundbreaking achievements and notable setbacks, all of which formed its evolution and highlighted its resilience. The metaverse sector skilled a pointy 80% decline in buying and selling quantity in comparison with 2023, with gross sales counts dropping 71% over the identical interval.
Prime-performing video games of the yr based mostly on on-chain metrics included Pixels, which transitioned to the Ronin Community and launched Pixel Dungeon, and World of Dypians, which expanded its metaverse and launched customized consumer options.
Gaming NFT buying and selling volumes have been dominated by Guild of Guardians, which topped the charts in 2024 following its world launch in Might.
The metaverse sector skilled a pointy 80% decline in buying and selling quantity in comparison with 2023, with gross sales counts dropping 71% over the identical interval.
Blockchain gaming investments dropped 38% year-over-year, reaching a complete of $1.8 billion,marking the bottom level since 2020.
Yearly gaming leaders
By distinctive energetic wallets, listed here are the highest 10 video games that dominated the rankings.
Pixels retained its high place all year long. In 2024, the sport transitioned from Polygon to the Ronin Community, considerably bettering scalability.
Key milestones included the enlargement of the Farm Land NFT assortment, enabling gamers to customise and handle digital plots. Moreover, December noticed the launch of Pixel Dungeon, a collaborative effort with Crack and Stack, introducing fast-paced Web3 gameplay to its ecosystem.
Amongst new releases, Off The Grid had an enormous launch. On October 8, Gunzilla Video games launched Off The Grid in early entry for PlayStation 5 and PC through the Epic Video games Retailer. Influencers similar to Ninja helped the sport get consideration out of the gate, however visitors fell after the influencers moved on to different video games.
World of Dypians continued its rise, significantly following a significant patch launch on Epic Video games in Might. This replace, developed in collaboration with Core DAO, Viction, and MultiversX, added new areas throughout the downtown part of its metaverse, enhancing exploration and gameplay. In December, the introduction of .wod domains through SPACE ID Protocol allowed gamers to personalize their identities and foster group engagement.
Seraph: In The Darkness gained traction with its devoted fanbase, concluding a 3rd spherical of alpha testing in January. By December, the sport’s official Steam web page debuted, that includes detailed data, media property, and wishlist performance—cementing its repute as a compelling Web3 title.
Regardless of the waning hype round move-to-earn mechanics, Sweat Financial system remained strong. The platform launched Magic Keys to bolster safety inside its Sweat Pockets app and launched multi-chain integration, beginning with BNB Chain, for seamless cross-chain transactions.
StarryNift stood out with modern options just like the build-to-earn citizenship system and decentralized identification (DID) card protocol. Enhancements included customizable bot instruments, third-party integrations, and AI-driven NPC interactions through a sophisticated SDK infrastructure, elevating consumer experiences throughout the digital world.
Apeiron’s AGW Invitational Match in June attracted widespread consideration, with high guilds competing in a double-elimination format. The sport’s S3 launch launched revamped PvE dungeon modes, a mission system, and an immersive storyline, enriching its gameplay ecosystem.
One other new launch was RavenQuest, a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG, honored because the “Greatest Journey Recreation” on the 2024 GAM3 Awards. The sport captivated over 1.7 million Twitch viewers throughout its early entry phases and hosted a sold-out Section 3 land sale in December.
Telegram-based gaming increase
Telegram emerged as a hotspot for informal blockchain video games. Notably, Hamster Kombat, launched in March, amassed over 300 million gamers by mid-year. This recreation’s humorous Web3 parts inspired viral sharing and consumer engagement.
The Open Community (TON), related to Telegram, turned a number one platform for on-chain gaming, averaging round 108,000 each day Distinctive Lively Wallets (dUAW) all year long. Prime gaming dapps on TON included Catizen and Lingo. Moreover, different networks, similar to Mantle, explored integration with Telegram, increasing the ecosystem’s versatility.
Web2 gaming goes Web3
Web2 corporations continued to maneuver into the Web3 area, little by little.
Ubisoft: The French online game big continued exploring blockchain with Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. This top-down multiplayer shooter launched Web3 parts like NFTs, that includes characters similar to Rayman. Gamers wanted a Niji Warrior NFT to take part.
Champions Ways: Grimoria Chronicles: Regardless of providing participating technique gameplay, the sport’s reliance on NFTs, priced between $7 and $63,000, sparked group debates.
Sony and Soneium: Sony made strides in Web3 by launching its devoted blockchain division, Soneium, emphasizing modern gaming options within the decentralized area.
Sega’s transfer: Sega partnered with Line and launched Kaia, signaling its entry into blockchain-powered experiences, merging basic franchises with decentralized know-how.
CCP Video games’ EVE Frontier: CCP Video games expanded its EVE On-line universe with EVE Frontier, integrating blockchain mechanics to boost player-driven economies and interactions.
Sq. Enix’s expansions: Sq. Enix developed Symbiogenesis, a blockchain-based narrative journey, and invested in Soccerverse and Hyperplay, cementing its function as a Web3 innovator.
NFTs in Gaming
DappRadar additionally revealed the highest gaming NFT collections, evaluating them by buying and selling quantity and gross sales rely metrics.
Main the pack is Guild of Guardians, essentially the most traded gaming NFT assortment by quantity in 2024. Formally launched globally on Might 15, 2024, this title is offered on iOS and Google Play, making it broadly accessible. Gamers assemble groups of heroes, often called “Guardians,” to discover dungeons, battle enemies, and gather sources, mixing immersive gameplay with NFT utility.
Gods Unchained maintains a powerful presence on platforms just like the Epic Video games Retailer, its official web site, and Google Play for Android customers. This multi-platform availability ensures broad accessibility and enhances the consumer expertise, solidifying its place as a key participant within the NFT gaming market.
Regardless of years available in the market, Axie Infinity continues to carry its group, sustaining excessive engagement and industrial viability for its in-game NFTs. The sport’s resilience and flexibility underline its sustained reputation.
Pixelmon’s first-generation assortment of 10,005 distinctive NFTs noticed the best quantity enhance in 2024. These NFTs provide unique perks similar to token airdrops, enhanced in-game earnings, early entry to alpha releases, and limited-edition gadgets. In Might 2024, Pixelmon launched Warriors of Nova Thera, a dungeon crawler in closed testing.
With the second-highest enhance in buying and selling quantity, Mavia Land represents the digital plots throughout the Web3 multiplayer technique recreation Heroes of Mavia by Skrice Studios. It launched the Heroes of Mavia cell recreation on iOS and Android in January 2024.
When inspecting collections by gross sales rely, the highest titles mirror these ranked by buying and selling quantity, underscoring their widespread reputation and affect throughout the gaming NFT area.
The gaming NFT market continues to thrive, pushed by innovation, accessibility, and the sustained reputation of key titles. These collections characterize the heartbeat of the ecosystem, bridging gameplay and blockchain utility for tens of millions of gamers worldwide.
In 2024, the metaverse noticed a major decline in each public curiosity and company funding.
As soon as envisioned as the way forward for digital interplay, the idea struggled to satisfy its formidable guarantees. Buying and selling quantity and gross sales counts for metaverse NFT tasks reached their lowest ranges since 2020, marking an 80% lower in volumes and a 71% drop in gross sales in comparison with the earlier yr. This downward pattern displays the challenges going through the sector, DappRadar stated.
Gross sales counts have remained comparatively regular, averaging round 23,000 per thirty days. Nonetheless, buying and selling volumes have been closely impacted by token costs, significantly Ethereum’s fluctuations. The primary quarter of 2024 carried out higher than later quarters, with a complete buying and selling quantity of $60 million in comparison with solely $21 million in This autumn.
Regardless of the general decline, two new tasks made a powerful affect: Mocaverse and Pixels, DappRadar stated.
Launched by Animoca Manufacturers, Mocaverse has emerged as a key participant within the Web3 area. The undertaking launched the MOCA token and Moca ID, an on-chain decentralized identifier with over 1.79 million registrations and integration with 160+ Web3 purposes.
Mocaverse secured $20 million in funding to develop its ecosystem and launched the Realm Community, selling interoperability throughout gaming, music, and training to comprehend its imaginative and prescient of a decentralized cultural economic system.
Initially launched in 2022, Pixels is a browser-based farming MMO that gained important traction in 2024, surpassing one million each day energetic customers. The undertaking transitioned from Polygon to the Ronin Community, enhancing scalability and integrating its Farm Land NFTs into the Mavis Market. With customizable plots and interactive gameplay, Pixels strengthened its Web3 ecosystem.
Whereas the preliminary hype round Yuga Labs‘ Otherside has waned, the undertaking launched “Mission Dragon,” a collection of month-to-month action-packed occasions for NFT holders. In August, “Otherside Poker” offered a singular metaverse poker expertise, full with a charity-focused VIP desk. Otherside additionally rolled out the “Yuga ID,” permitting customers to unify their accounts and NFTs.
Regardless of turbulent instances, The Sandbox introduced plans for a cell model to extend accessibility, collaborated with over 800 manufacturers (a ten% year-on-year enhance), and efficiently closed Alpha Season 4, showcasing constant consumer engagement and platform progress.
Decentraland launched a brand new desktop consumer, delivering enhanced efficiency and extra immersive experiences. Superior AI capabilities have been built-in, enriching consumer interactions. The platform’s creator-first economic system remained a standout characteristic, with creators retaining 97.5% of their gross sales and incomes 2.5% royalties on secondary gross sales—the best income share within the trade.
The absence of a “killer app” able to driving mass adoption led to lowered media consideration and a pivot in focus amongst corporations that had closely invested in digital worlds. Meta, for instance, shifted its priorities from metaverse growth to synthetic intelligence (AI) applied sciences because the yr progressed, DappRadar stated.
Regardless of the setbacks, the mixing of blockchain know-how inside metaverses continued to evolve. Platforms combining digital worlds with blockchain intention to ship on their preliminary guarantees, DappRadar stated. One of many notable lack of mentions within the report was Infinite Actuality, which raised $3 billion this yr.
The Web3 gaming funding panorama
The funding panorama for blockchain gaming in 2024 reached its lowest level since 2020, reflecting a shift in priorities throughout the trade. By year-end, a complete of $1.8 billion was invested in blockchain gaming and metaverse tasks, representing a 38% lower in comparison with 2023.
The yr noticed a powerful efficiency in Q2, matching ranges final seen in Q3 2022 and marking among the finest quarters since. Nonetheless, exercise slowed considerably in Q3 and This autumn, contributing to the general decline. That occurred regardless of an enormous run upward in Bitcoin’s valuation.
In 2024, the vast majority of investments have been directed towards funding corporations, which accounted for 58% of the overall. Infrastructure obtained 23.5%, Web3 gaming titles secured 14.8%, and metaverse tasks claimed solely 3.6% of the funding.
Prime Investments of 2024
A lot of high-profile Web3 gaming investments highlighted the yr’s exercise:
March 2024: Gunzilla Video games raised $30 million for its upcoming cyberpunk-themed battle royale shooter, Off The Grid.
March 2024: Parallel Studios raised $35 million to develop the Parallel TCG universe and develop extra blockchain-based tasks, together with Colony and Wayfinder.
April 2024: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised $7.2 billion for numerous enterprise methods, together with $600 million devoted to gaming investments.
April 2024: Bitkraft Ventures closed its third fund at $275 million, specializing in seed and Sequence A investments in gaming studios, platforms, and applied sciences.
Might 2024: Child Shark Universe accomplished its seed spherical, attaining a $34 million valuation for its metaverse undertaking on the Binance Sensible Chain.
June 2024: The Sandbox raised $20 million by convertible promissory notes, specializing in advancing its decentralized digital world and introducing a cell model in 2025.
October 2024: Accolade Companions launched its third blockchain-focused fund, elevating $202 million for investments in DeFi, gaming, stablecoins, and supporting infrastructure.
October 2024: Azra Video games secured $42.7 million in Sequence A funding to develop “Mission Legends,” a cell RPG geared toward delivering console-quality experiences.
The blockchain gaming trade has matured considerably over the previous few years, DappRadar stated. With the hype round play-to-earn (P2E) subsiding, buyers have more and more backed video games with sustainable tokenomics and player-centric ecosystems.
In 2022, the Web3 recreation trade attracted $7.6 billion in investments, a lot of which went towards play-to-earn fashions which have confirmed to be unsustainable. Nonetheless, a few of these investments have begun to bear fruit, as seen within the beta launches of video games like Illuvium (introduced in 2020), Shrapnel (in growth since 2021), and Guild of Guardians (introduced in 2020).
Financial circumstances in 2024 additionally performed a task within the lowered funding exercise. For 2025, DappRadar hopes that improved financial stability and the discharge of high-quality triple-A blockchain video games will drive renewed curiosity and adoption, setting the stage for a rebound in investments.
2025 might be a pivotal yr for blockchain gaming, significantly if the trade can appeal to new customers and ship on the promise of immersive, triple-A-quality titles, DappRadar stated. This subsequent section of progress can be essential for solidifying blockchain gaming’s function within the broader gaming ecosystem.
Closing phrases
DappRadar stated the blockchain gaming sector has demonstrated resilience and flexibility amid challenges and evolving tendencies. From groundbreaking technological developments to shifts in consumer engagement and funding landscapes, the trade has continued to redefine itself, paving the way in which for a promising future.
The successes and classes of 2024 underscore the significance of innovation, sustainability, and user-centric designs. With high-quality video games on the horizon and rising infrastructure capabilities, the approaching years maintain immense potential for blockchain gaming to develop its affect and bridge the hole between Web3 and conventional gaming audiences, DappRadar stated.
