Author: cointelegraph
Compilation: ChainCatcher
According to a survey by the Blockchain Game Alliance, 42% of respondents believe that the player reward model is the biggest advantage in attracting new users. However, as the GameFi industry develops, Blockchain games will face multiple challenges by 2025.
Tobin Kuo, CEO of Seraph, told Cointelegraph in an interview that maintaining player engagement, adopting new technologies, and building a sustainable in-game economy are the obstacles that GameFi must overcome to remain competitive.
Tobin pointed out that more than 60% of players will quit Web3 games within 30 days. He believes that the lack of long-term incentives and poor game mechanics are the main reasons why Web3 games are difficult to sustain. He told Cointelegraph:
"As the attention economy accelerates, projects must prioritize player-centric design, focusing on immersive storytelling, skill-based rewards, and game mechanics that go beyond 'yield-first' models, rather than relying on trends to attract attention."
In 2025, developing better Blockchain games will also require integrating emerging technologies, such as generative AI, to enhance the player experience. Tobin pointed out that GameFi projects that fail to adopt new technologies in a timely manner typically see a 30%-40% drop in player retention.
According to a survey of the Web3 gaming industry, these issues are considered the biggest challenges facing the GameFi sector in 2024. Source: Blockchain Game Alliance
Building a Sustainable In-Game Economy
Tobin emphasized: "Unstable in-game economies are the main reason for project failures." He believes that building a sustainable token model for Web3 games that controls inflation and is data-driven player rewards is key to maintaining player retention.
He further explained that "dynamic loot distribution, staking-based rewards, and player-controlled economic strategies through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) may become best practices in GameFi development."
For example, the clicker game Hamster Kombat made headlines in July and saw its user base surpass 300 million in less than five months. However, after experiencing what is considered the largest token airdrop in crypto history, the game's active user count plummeted 86%. As of November, the game's player count had dropped significantly to just 41 million, down from its summer peak of 300 million.
State of the Blockchain Gaming Industry in 2024
The Blockchain Game Alliance recently released its "2024 Industry Report," surveying 623 Web3 gaming professionals.
The report shows that about 53% of respondents believe that poor user experience and complex user interfaces are the biggest challenges in preventing new players from entering Web3 games.
Industry insiders outlined the main issues facing the GameFi sector. Source: Blockchain Game Alliance
BGA's earlier report noted that 10% of users abandoned entering Web3 games due to the complexity of setting up a crypto wallet.
At the Blockchain Futurist Conference in August, Long Do, CEO of Anomaly Games, stated that abstracting Blockchain functionality to allow players to interact with the Chain without realizing it is key to driving adoption.
Additionally, the BGA's 2024 report shows that 33% of respondents consider poor game experience to be one of the three biggest challenges the industry currently faces.
According to an earlier 2024 OnePoll survey of over 2,000 adults, the majority of surveyed players lack understanding of Blockchain games.
The survey showed that 52% of respondents did not know what Blockchain games are, and another 32% said they had heard of Blockchain games but had never played them.
Conclusion
As the GameFi industry rapidly evolves, changes in player demands and market competition are driving developers to continuously innovate and optimize. In 2025, how to maintain player stickiness, introduce new technologies, and establish a sustainable economic model will be the key to determining the success or failure of GameFi projects.
