Translation: Blockchain in Vernacular
The Web3 gaming industry has evolved significantly since its inception. Originally driven by the "play and earn" (P2E) model, the industry is now moving towards a more balanced "play and earn" approach that prioritizes the appeal of the game and the potential to make money. This shift addresses the sustainability issues of a pure P2E model, especially in developing countries where gaming guilds play a key role.
As we look at the state of Web3 gaming in 2024, these foundational shifts provide the foundation for our analysis of current market trends, player behavior, and economic impact…
1. Player base dynamics
The number of players in Web3 games has been gradually declining since 2023. The player base has shrunk from 6.03 million in 2023 to around 1 million monthly active users currently.
January 2024 was the month with the most players in the first half of the year, with about 1.73 million players. It is worth noting that compared with the industry peak in November 2021, when there were about 21 million players, the number of players now is one twentieth of that at the time.
2. Player classification and activity
Current data shows that the vast majority of gaming addresses are inactive. Only 1,970 addresses are classified as active addresses, while 1,450 are classified as inactive investor addresses. Notably, only 14 addresses are identified as hardcore players across all Web3 games. This distribution depicts a market with only a small number of core, highly engaged users.
3. Blockchain distribution of game contracts
In terms of the number of active game smart contracts, Polygon leads with about 12,400 contracts. BNB Chain is close behind, but the number of contracts is only about one-tenth of Polygon. Ethereum and Avalanche lag far behind, with only a few hundred game contracts on each blockchain. The reasons for this distribution include factors such as transaction costs, speed, and ecosystem support.
4. Token standards in games
Among all game contract addresses, ERC20 tokens are the most common, with more than three times the number of ERC721 tokens. ERC1155 tokens are the least common, with approximately 18.9 million instances.
5. Game performance and user engagement
In the past six months, some games have performed very well, such as Matr1x, Cellula, and Yuliverse. They are among the top in terms of active unique wallets and have very high user engagement.
6. Asset Minting in the Game
CryptoMines leads in asset minting, with approximately 24.8 million NFTs, followed by Bomb Crypto and Flowerpatch.
New game asset minting fluctuates monthly, reaching a peak in December 2023 with approximately 318,000 new assets.
Although the bull market in early 2024 drove asset prices upward, on-chain data shows that the gaming industry is still in a cooling-off period without significant real growth.
7. Game activity mode
Analysis of gaming activity shows that engagement is highest during the afternoon hours in the UTC time zone, with more than 95 million transactions. This time period corresponds to morning hours in the United States and evening hours in Asia. Activity is lowest during the evening hours in UTC, falling to about two-thirds of peak levels.
The weekly pattern shows that Thursday is the most active day for on-chain transactions, averaging around 277 million, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday. Activity is significantly lower on weekends.
Note: The pictures in this article are from: bitsCrunch