Market of games

Because of the centralised structure of today's video games, players do not actually own their in-game assets. If they quit playing a game, or if the developer shuts down the game server, any of their assets obtained in the game will be lost forever.

Players can now envision the future of decentralised gaming thanks to the advent of blockchain. Items acquired or purchased in one game can be transferred to another for usage, giving digital game assets real-world worth. Due to scarcity, some of these in-game assets might be worth thousands of dollars.

Consumer in-game spending has now surpassed the value of game purchases, accounting for the majority of the electronic game market. A huge 87% of gamers in the United States acknowledged buying downloaded content, with in-game cash, aesthetic enhancements, and weapon upgrades being just a few of the important purchases. Fortnite, League of Legends, and Overwatch are among the most popular games that use this monetisation model. In-game purchases are anticipated to reach $74.4 billion by 2025.

The number of worldwide gamers increased by 5.3% from 2015 to 2021 compared to 2020, according to Newzoo's 2021 Global Gaming Market Report, and currently exceeds 3 billion people. Total global gaming revenue increased 1.4% year over year to $18.03 billion in the same year, with mobile gaming income accounting for 52% of the total global market.

Gaming is a massive and indispensable kind of entertainment. It's now been integrated with blockchain, resulting in a new game model: GameFi.

In July, the Blockchain Game Alliance said that there were over 804,000 unique players linked to blockchain-based games. According to the research, the number of wallets relating to gaming activity increased by 2,453%, from 29,563 during the first week of 2021 to 754,000 in Q3 2021. The blockchain industry as a whole generated 1.54 million Unique Active Wallets (UAW) in Q3, up 25% from the previous quarter and 509% year over year (YoY). Therefore, the number of wallets relating to gaming is a large majority of this activity. The accumulation and exchange of in-game assets that may be traded with other players appear to be a significant driver of demand.

This year, blockchain game companies have also closed huge funding rounds and received great media coverage in 2021. Animoca Brands achieved unicorn status with a capital raise of $88 million in May, then raised $138 million in July and another $65 million in October.

Dapper Labs took the world by storm with NBA Top Shot generating $230 million in gross sales in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Axie Infinity became the first game to surpass $1 billion in NFT sales (now over US$3.6 billion), and the short documentary, Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines, produced by Emfarsis, Yield Guild Games, and Delphi Digital, received coverage on CNBC, and has since been viewed over 750,000 times on YouTube.

For the industry, 68% say play-to-earn has been the biggest driver behind industry growth. And 83% value gameplay as the most important aspect when assessing games overall, while 85% say that true ownership of digital goods is the most important aspect of blockchain games.

Moving forward, 86% believe at least some of the traditional gaming industry will leverage blockchain within two years. And 43% say education about the core concepts underpinning blockchain gaming is the next biggest pain point.

The play-to-earn paradigm is gradually catching on, from Splinterlands to Dr Who trade cards. Blockchain technology appears to give a clear avenue for traditional gaming companies who seek player retention to provide gamers more reasons to stay in the game.

GameFi began a period of exponential growth in March, according to Footprint Analytics, which lasted until August when transactions stabilised. During this time, GameFi's transactions experienced two growth peaks, on April 9 and December 27.