Author: Stacy Muur Source: substack Translation: Shan Ouba, Jinse Finance
Delphi’s latest research report provides an in-depth analysis of Web3 games and draws the following key conclusions:
Web3 Games Lag: Compared to other cryptocurrencies, the market capitalization of Web3 games has fallen 33% since the beginning of 2024, while other cryptocurrencies have only fallen 14%.
Still Dominant: Despite this, Web3 games remain an active sector, accounting for 30% of all dApp activity and having 2.1 million daily active wallets.
Despite the challenges, Web3 games still have great potential. As the technology continues to develop and the user experience improves, Web3 games are expected to become an important driving force in the cryptocurrency field.
Key Takeaways
Web3 play funding peaked between February and March, with monthly investments ranging from $60 million to $100 million, totaling $673 million in 2024. However, this only accounted for 41.35% of Q1 2022 transaction volume.
In 2024, more than 50 games were launched, among which games such as Xai, Pixels and Notcoin saw significant growth.
Xai raised $40M in 3 months. Pixels peaked at $4.8B FDV and 1M DAU within 3 weeks of launch. Notcoin attracted 35M users and reached a $1B market cap with no external funding.
Portal’s FDV dropped from $4 billion to $280 million, and Overworld Incarnas lost 75% of its value. Mavia and Pixelmon also dropped by more than 60% after the TGE.
Shooters remain the leading genre in Web3, with Off the Grid standing out with $110M in funding and partnerships with Sony and Microsoft.
Among MMORPGs, the most anticipated is MapleStory Universe , which has raised $100 million in funding.
Pirate Nation is a fully on-chain game that has grown to 100,000 active players and $1 million in revenue in the last 6 weeks.
Mobile games such as Fate of the Kings and Dragon's Blaze have grown rapidly, attracting hundreds of thousands of users. Dragon's Blaze has been downloaded more than 3.5 million times.
Ronin and the TON ecosystem lead Web3 gaming. Ronin benefits from the success of Axie Infinity, while TON provides seamless integration with Telegram and access to 900 million users. The success of Notcoin and Hamster Kombat further confirms this.
This article highlights key points from Delphi's "Mid-Year Gaming Review" report.
Web3 Games Worth Watching
Below, I’ve highlighted some recent games worth watching, most of which are not yet tracked on DappRadar.
Off the Grid[shooting]
Description: Off The Grid is a cyberpunk-themed battle royale game developed by Gunzilla Games.
Chain: Avalanche
Investment amount: US$101 million
Overview: Off the Grid attracted over $110 million in funding, had a team of over 380 people, and partnered with Sony and Microsoft to release the game on PlayStation and Xbox, setting a new industry standard.
MapleStory Universe [MMORPG]
Description: MapleStory Universe expands Nexon's renowned MapleStory IP into a virtual world ecosystem hosting a variety of applications based on this beloved game series.
Chain: MapleStory subnet, powered by Avalanche
Investment amount: US$100 million
Summary: MapleStory Universe received over $100 million in funding from Nexon in 2023. MapleStory Online has attracted over 100 million lifetime players and remains a significant player in the MMORPG space.
From July 24 to August 2, NEXPACE invited more than 1,000 players to participate in the MapleStory N Vanguard test. Peak concurrent player count reached 714, and 92% of participants returned multiple times during the test. The team reported a retention rate of 79.97% after seven days.
EVE Frontier [MMORPG]
Description: EVE Frontier is a single-shard survival game set in a dark, dystopian space, where humanity struggles to survive and rebuild a shattered world. In March 2023, CCP announced that it had raised $40 million for the game's development.
Investment amount: US$40 million
Summary: Leveraging a proven IP will provide a significant advantage in user acquisition, allowing them to target the loyal fan base of MapleStory and Eve Online.
MetaCene [MMORPG]
Description: MetaCene is making a blockchain-based MMORPG set in a surreal post-apocalyptic world. Players redefine civilization using a variety of NFTs. The game aims to create an accessible Web3 experience that focuses on player-centric entertainment, governance, and AIGC-driven creation.
Chain: Rangers, but Apostles NFT collectibles on Ethereum
UAW (30 days): 38.32k
UAW ATH: 57.06k (March 25, 2024)
Introduction: MetaCene was founded by game experts from Shanda Games, Blizzard, Perfect World and other companies with more than 20 years of industry experience.
Its UAW numbers have grown significantly over the past 30 days, from 898 to 371,000, a 4,031.4% increase.
Avalon [MMORPG]
Description: Avalon is the world's first multi-chain, true open-world MMORPG, built with Unreal Engine 5 and integrating multiple blockchains. Set in a fantasy medieval kingdom, players use their NFTs to explore the world while competing for cryptocurrency and rare NFT rewards. The game setting is inspired by the legend of King Arthur and the alternative history of the Knights Templar.
Chain: ImmutableX, Base
Description: Both MetaCene and Avalon are led by industry veterans who played key roles in shaping EverQuest and Legend II, two games that defined the MMORPG genre.
Big Time [MMORPG]
Name: Big Time
Description: Big Time is a multiplayer action RPG for PC that combines fast-paced combat with an open game economy. Players actively generate and exchange game items. The game seamlessly integrates Web3 elements, ensuring they do not hinder the entertainment experience, thus attracting a wider audience.
Chain: Ethereum
Summary: Big Time has revitalized the Web3 gaming landscape after the bear market, generating over $100 million in revenue since preseason and positioning itself as a strong Web3 native competitor.
Pirate Kingdom [Fully On-Chain Game]
Description: Pirate Kingdom is an innovative game developed by Proof of Play, a studio that combines gaming with blockchain technology. Players collect pirates and send them on adventures to collect crafting materials, treasures, and pirate gold. Through multiple adventures, the pirates accumulate experience and level up.
Chain: Ethereum, Apex Chain
Introduction: Pirate Nation has achieved an astonishing 2,400% growth in just three months. This growth, along with an impressive $1 million in in-game revenue in the past six weeks, highlights its strong position in the FOCG space.
Designed to support the Pirate Nation ecosystem, Apex Chain is one of the most active chains, processing more than 2.5 million transactions per day. It is second only to Base among EVM Layer 2 solutions in terms of transaction volume in the past month.
Infinigods [Mobile Game Studio]
Projects: Infinimerge, Immortal Siege, King of Destiny
Description: Infinigods is a Web3 game studio focused on delivering cross-platform experiences for web and mobile devices. Infinigods is committed to building a casual gaming ecosystem that connects games to each other through its unique NFT collections and intellectual property, all inspired by ancient mythology.
Chain: Ethereum
Description: Lord of Fate is a Web3 luck battle game developed by Infinigods that has been quietly growing its user base, with nearly 1 million downloads and over 250,000 monthly active users (MAU).
More projects to look forward to:
Capsule Heroes - free PvP fighting game.
Matr1x — an entertainment platform covering Web3, AI, and eSports, had 24K unique wallets last month.
Fableborne - an isometric multiplayer game with 77K downloads.
Treeverse - An MMORPG being developed by the Endless Clouds team.
World of Dypians (WoD) — a multiplayer online role-playing game, currently has the highest number of unique 30-day active wallets on DappRadar at 700K.
Delphi said there are no clear signs that gaming will gain traction in the fourth quarter in the current market, where meme coins and the Solana ecosystem are outperforming most other Web3 sectors. In addition, a large number of issuances are expected in the next six months, which may increase competition and further fragment liquidity.
However, they hope that games such as Off The Grid, Maple Story Universe, and Fableborne can have a positive impact on sentiment in both Web3 and Web2 markets. Such content should still be considered the best Trojan Horse for the cryptocurrency space, and they believe there is reason to be optimistic in the short to medium term.
