Value Decryption: How to dig into the next Axie Infinity through major Web3 game platforms?

The crypto gaming industry, as one of the hottest industries in the digital age, has proven its huge potential and appeal in the last bull market, and the wealth economy formed by chain games is also one of the main reasons for attracting everyone's attention. The last month of 2023 has now arrived. With market fluctuations and changing player needs, the industry is also facing many challenges.

The concept of a GameFi project that will explode every year seems to be unable to continue in 2023, but the arrival of 2024 is also expected by everyone. There are many predictions pointing to certain projects in 2024 that will lead the development of the industry. This article will analyze the status of the traditional game industry and the encrypted game industry, explore their future development directions, and highlight several platform projects that can help users better participate in Web3.

In recent years, the overall gaming industry has experienced unprecedented rapid expansion, especially during the COVID-19 epidemic, when global market revenue increased significantly. This growth is due to people spending more time at home and exploring new forms of interactive entertainment. The outbreak of Axie Infinity is also closely related to this. At that time, industry analysts predicted that by 2026, the size of the overall gaming market may reach an eye-catching US$321 billion. This prediction was based on the market growth trend at that time and the increasing popularity of blockchain technology in the gaming field. The gaming aspect has injected incredible power into the gaming industry.

However, according to the 2022 Global Game Market Report released by Newzoo, global game market revenue fell by 4.3% year-on-year last year. This downward trend was mainly due to the gradual end of the epidemic and people began to resume normal social and work life, thus reducing In addition, some major game brands have postponed the release of their key projects from 2022 to 2023. Games such as Steam, Xbox and Playstation have all dropped significantly, which has also affected the market to a certain extent. Overall performance.

Newzoo’s data report diagram

In addition, the chain gaming industry, which has made outstanding contributions in 2021, has also been greatly affected by the bull-bear cycle in the crypto market, thus failing to bring the same positive impact to the overall gaming industry as before. Therefore, we can actually see that the development of blockchain games is also one of the new main forces affecting the market size of the overall game industry.

As mentioned above, in the latest wave of development in the field of digital games, although it is a bit stunted during 2022 and 2023, it is generally believed that this sluggish situation will gradually reverse, and even usher in an explosive year in 2024. So whether blockchain games will also take off by riding on this strong wind is also what everyone is paying attention to.

Blockchain games use blockchain technology to provide players with unprecedented gaming experience and value creation opportunities. This constantly evolving technology provides unlimited potential for blockchain games.

In the world of traditional gaming, players often face one core problem: the frustration they feel after investing so much time in a game. This feeling often stems from a game's limited replay value, causing players to eventually abandon the game. However, blockchain technology offers a variety of innovative solutions to this problem.

First of all, one of the most significant innovations in blockchain games is the application of in-game NFTs. These blockchain-based non-fungible tokens allow players to truly own, buy, sell, and trade in-game items that also have real value outside of the game. This change in ownership not only enhances players' sense of participation, but also brings a new dimension to the game's economic system. In-game NFTs (non-fungible tokens) allow players to own and resell in-game items such as weapons and skins, giving real value to game assets.

In addition, Play2Earn mode provides players with substantial rewards for their efforts by earning assets by completing game tasks. Play2Earn mode is changing the way players interact with games. In this mode, players earn real assets by completing game tasks or achieving specific achievements, which not only increases the appeal of the game, but also provides players with a new source of income. This economic incentive mechanism brings new business models to the gaming industry while also attracting a wider player base.

The history of human game development

Another important feature of blockchain games is their cross-platform capabilities. The cross-platform nature of blockchain games enables PC, console, mobile and blockchain players to seamlessly connect, enhancing the accessibility and interactivity of the game. Through blockchain technology, players can seamlessly experience games on different devices and platforms, thus breaking the boundaries between traditional game platforms. This cross-platform interoperability not only improves game accessibility, but also provides players with a richer and more coherent gaming experience.

With the continuous advancement of technology, especially the integration of VR and AI, the potential of blockchain games will be further explored. AI-driven NPCs (non-player characters) provide players with a personalized gaming experience, making each player's gaming journey unique. At the same time, the integration of VR technology into blockchain games brings players an immersive virtual reality experience. Finally, in-game advertising provides developers with ways to make money while also providing players with more opportunities to interact and participate. The combination of these technologies heralds the arrival of a more immersive and personalized gaming world, providing players with new ways to explore and interact. Therefore, blockchain games are not only a hot spot in the current game industry, but also an important direction for future game development. As the market matures and players become more accepting of new technologies, blockchain games are expected to become a key force in promoting the progress of the entire gaming industry. These innovative solutions work together to greatly enhance the appeal and durability of blockchain gaming.

In the encrypted game industry, if you put aside the playability of the game, its related NFT or tokens are the main reason for attracting users' attention, but the issues related to token economics are also a prominent challenge. At the heart of the issue is the fact that many crypto gaming tokens have experienced devaluation amid market volatility, often due to a combination of unsustainable economic models, excessive selling of tokens, poor game quality, and bear market environments. This "hard-to-break curse" not only affects the confidence of players and investors, but also threatens the healthy development of the entire industry.

In order to solve this problem, the industry needs to make comprehensive improvements in the following three aspects:

1. Product quality: First, the company must focus on building high-quality game products. This means that the game must not only have great graphics, engaging characters, and a rich narrative, but also ensure that the game itself is sufficiently engaging and entertaining. The first motivation for players to participate in the game should be the fun of the game itself, not just to obtain rewards.

2. Community participation: Crypto gaming companies should pay more attention to the voice of the community, because players are not only users of the game, but also the key to its revenue and success. The company should listen to players' needs and suggestions, such as content, technical and narrative improvements they would like to see in the game. By using a blockchain voting system, players’ opinions and participation can be more effectively absorbed to jointly shape the development of the game.

3. Token Economics Model: The most critical thing is that the token economics model needs to be redesigned and improved to ensure its sustainability and stability. This includes implementing deflation mechanisms, allocating in-game fees to protocol stakers, providing loyalty rewards, optimizing voting mechanisms, prioritizing the quality of reward games, and imposing certain restrictions on users with larger stakes. These measures aim to create a more fair and sustainable economic environment, thereby enhancing the value of the token and stabilizing the market.

In summary, by improving product quality, strengthening community participation, and reforming the token economics model, the crypto gaming industry can overcome current challenges and achieve long-term and healthy development. This will not only help improve players’ gaming experience, but will also bring more stable and sustainable growth to the entire industry.

Web3 games are developing rapidly and are moving forward amid various accompanying problems. For users and players, if they want to figure out how a blockchain game project is, they can learn from the product quality, community situation, and token economics model mentioned above. Starting from other aspects, now to achieve this, users can use various tools and applications to better discover and analyze potential good projects, such as market analysis tools, community forums, and project evaluation platforms, etc., all of which can provide users with valuable information and insights to help them make smarter investment decisions. Through these tools, users can not only capture market trends in a timely manner, but also manage risks to a certain extent and ensure asset safety. The following platforms provide users with a direct channel to understand the Web3 project in these aspects:

Galxe: Web3 task platform, users can generate NFT certificates after receiving tasks

Galxe, formerly known as Project Galaxy, is a high-profile task collection platform in the Web3 industry. What is unique about Galxe is that it attracts them to actively participate in on-chain interactions by distributing various Web3 project tasks to users, and then records and generates corresponding NFT vouchers to reward their participation.

For users, these tasks include simple behaviors, such as following the project party’s Twitter, retweeting, liking, and joining the community, as well as more specific project experiences, such as token exchange, staking, borrowing, minting, etc. This not only provides users with a way to earn rewards, but also allows them to learn more about and participate in different projects.

For project parties, Galxe is a powerful channel that can help them attract and reach target users, especially in the early development stages of the project, which is crucial for the promotion of products and features.

According to Galxe’s official website, the platform has attracted more than 11 million unique users and promoted the development of more than 3,000 partners such as Optimism, Polygon, and Arbitrum through reward programs. Users can search and filter tasks released by different chain game projects on Galxe’s official website to receive airdrop rewards, while also providing them with the opportunity to learn about the project.

Galxe has also opened up the Space app, allowing users to create community spaces without requiring prior permission. This makes Galxe one of the largest Web3 task platforms currently available. As of June 24, 2023, Galxe has cooperated with more than 2,700 project parties/communities, launched more than 10,000 tasks, and has more than 11 million Galxe ID users. In addition, project parties can issue NFTs on the platform and provide minting qualifications to users who meet the conditions. They can also use the platform's data credentials to provide customized services. Users can easily view the tasks released by various projects and find potential airdrop opportunities, participate in community activities, and explore new projects.

Galxe also introduces a set of digital identity credentials, called Galxe ID, as well as tokenized OAT from the chain. Through the analysis of on-chain data, Galxe labels different users with various labels, and for each task, a set of credentials is also generated, which can be exported to third-party applications for application (such as token distribution).

In short, Galxe is not only a Web3 game task platform, but also an ecosystem that promotes knowledge sharing, community participation and market discovery. As its user base continues to expand and its functions continue to be optimized, Galxe is expected to become a leader in the field of Web3 games. For ordinary Web3 users, how to maximize profits and seize opportunities for high-quality projects is an important issue, and Galxe provides a wealth of tasks and rewards to help users better discover and analyze potential good projects. Through Galxe, users can accumulate valuable on-chain interaction records to make more informed investment decisions. At the same time, this also provides a powerful channel for the project party to attract and interact with potential users and accelerate the development of the project.

DeGame: Cumulative financing of 10 million USD+, 500,000+ registered users, and 1.8 million+ users completing tasks

Since its establishment in 2021, the DeGame platform has rapidly grown into an important player in the Web3 gaming field. As of October 15, 2023, DeGame has attracted more than 500,000 registered users and established more than 2,000 communities in its community module. The number of users who have completed tasks has reached more than 1.8 million. These data fully demonstrate the influence and appeal of DeGame in the Web3 gaming community.

On May 30 this year, DeGame announced the completion of its second round of financing of US$6.5 million. This round of financing was led by Folius Ventures, Kenetic Capital, and A&T Capital. The cumulative public financing amount is at least US$10 million.

In terms of functionality, DeGame provides a comprehensive and rich Web3 game discovery and participation experience. The platform includes 4,795 games, 77 types of chains and 1,356 types of Tokens, covering almost all major projects and tracks in the Web3 game market. Users can easily access and participate in these projects with a simple search or click.

DeGame's functional modules such as Top Communities, Quest, Leader Board, Gaming and Event provide users with an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface. These modules not only display the project community, prize tasks, project rankings, application downloads, and online and offline activities, but also enable users to easily switch and participate in different projects without having to switch back and forth between multiple platforms.

Official website page image of DeGame’s new product

In addition, the Feeds and Academy functions of the DeGame platform have strong user-generated content (UGC) characteristics. These functions allow professional Web3 creators around the world to share industry news and insights through graphics, text and videos, helping users clear their cognitive blind spots and solve the problem of information asymmetry. This open and collaborative content ecology not only enhances the interactivity of the community, but also provides a platform for users to learn and grow.

To sum up, DeGame is not only an aggregation platform for Web3 games, but also an ecosystem that promotes knowledge sharing, community participation and market discovery. As its user base continues to expand and its functions continue to be optimized, DeGame is expected to become one of the leaders in the field of Web3 games.

As mentioned above, Web3 games are developing rapidly and are facing various accompanying problems. If we put aside the playability of the games, for ordinary Web3 users, how to seize the opportunity of high-quality projects in this immature market? Opportunities and maximizing returns are the main issues that everyone is concerned about. To achieve this today, users need to use various tools and applications to better discover and analyze potential good projects, such as market analysis tools, community forums, and project evaluation platforms, etc., which can all provide users with valuable information and insights. , helping them make smarter investment decisions. Through these tools, users can not only capture market trends in a timely manner, but also manage risks to a certain extent and ensure asset safety.

Zealy: a prize-winning task publishing platform that helps Web3 applications expand community size and activity

Zealy (formerly known as Crew3) is a high-profile Web3 application aggregation platform. It rebranded in early April this year and successfully completed a $3.5 million pre-seed round of financing. The main goal of the platform is to help Web3 applications expand community scale and activity, and provide users with a publishing platform that integrates digital assets, online and offline activities, and prize-winning tasks.

Zealy's product homepage brings together projects in various Web3 segments, including startups, chain games, DeFi, infrastructure, NFT, Metaverse, and Web3 learning platforms. The Web3 community is divided into new communities, selected communities, and popular communities. and the upcoming community and other four major modules. Users can easily search for various projects, especially chain game projects, on the homepage of Zealy's official website, and can also look for potential chain game communities in the upcoming community section.

It should be noted that users need to bind the Metamask wallet and complete signature authorization to register a Zealy account to unlock more features. Zealy is a platform focused on community promotion, and its main goal is to help the Web3 community continue to grow and develop. It takes Web3 Discord as its development positioning and has high social attributes. In the Zealy community, there are various activity templates, including daily check-in, content creation, invitation tasks and other operational tasks. Compared with other platforms, Zealy is more focused, clearly classified, and has a points ranking system. In Zealy, some project tasks require users to complete tasks such as writing, screenshots, invitations, etc. to filter out a large number of automated behaviors and ensure the authenticity of users.

The tasks provided by the platform are mainly related to specific projects, including following the project party's Twitter, forwarding, joining Discord, registering a project account, answering project-related questions, etc. Most of these tasks are used by project parties to market and attract users. Therefore, Zealy's business model is biased towards the B-side and is a traffic platform. By providing these tasks, Zealy not only helps the project propagandize, but also provides users with an opportunity to earn rewards while maintaining the diversity and authenticity of the tasks.

QuestN: A Web3 task platform that serves long-tail B-end users

QuestN (formerly known as Quest3) is a Web3 task activity platform incubated by Hogwarts Labs. It is also one of the donation projects of GRT14. The platform is characterized by providing services to long-tail B-side users. Unlike most mainstream task voucher platforms, such as RabbitHole and Galxe, QuestN does not set a threshold and allows small B-side customers (such as KOLs, communities, DAOs, etc.) to publish tasks. However, in order to ensure the quality of B-side customers, the platform requires them to bind their official website and social media accounts. For tasks that provide token rewards, the platform also requires B-side customers to deposit reward tokens into the vault in advance for capital verification.

The tasks provided by QuestN are mainly tasks related to specific projects, such as following the project party's Twitter, forwarding, joining Discord, registering a project account, etc. As rewards, users can earn tokens, NFTs, whitelists, and more. These tasks are mainly to help the project party with marketing and attract new users. Therefore, QuestN’s business model tends to be on the B-side and is also a traffic platform.

In general, QuestN provides a platform for small B-side customers to publish tasks, providing them with an opportunity to enter the field of Web3 task activities. This open platform helps promote the development of the Web3 ecosystem and also provides users with a variety of tasks and reward options.

RabbitHole: a veteran decentralized on-chain incentive interaction platform

RabbitHole is a well-established decentralized on-chain incentive interaction platform. Its current products are divided into two categories, namely Web3 new user education platform Skills and advertising placement Quests.

In the Skills category, RabbitHole provides four different skills, including Layer2, DAO, DeFi and NFT. The tasks of these skills mainly cover basic Web3 on-chain operations, and detailed tutorials are provided for each task. Upon completing these tasks, users will receive a non-transferable “Intro to L2” NFT. This part of the task is designed to help new users quickly get started with Web3 and understand how it operates.

Another type of tasks are Quests, which are usually published by a single project party and require users to interact with a specific project. As a reward, users can earn NFTs and sometimes project tokens. However, it is worth noting that tasks to obtain project token rewards usually require users to undergo BrightID real-person authentication to prevent Sybil attacks (that is, a user pretending to operate with multiple identities).

In general, RabbitHole provides a more detailed introductory education on Web3 on-chain operations and is suitable for novice users. However, there are relatively few cooperative project partners, and the business model tends to be on the C side, which can be classified as an educational project. It is worth mentioning that RabbitHole announced the completion of an $18 million Series A round of financing in February 2022, led by Greylock and TCG Crypto, which further proved its importance in the Web3 education field.

HyperPlay: Completed $12 million in funding to enable full interoperability for Web3 games

HyperPlay is a Web3 native game launcher and game store aggregator. Its main function is to automatically connect users' assets, wallets and NFTs to every Web3 game application they participate in. The platform successfully completed a $12 million financing round in June this year.

To use HyperPlay, users only need to enter its official website and click the "Store" button above to enter the Web3 game store page. In the mall, users can search and select Web3 game projects of interest based on detailed classifications, and then enter the game details page to start the P2E (Play to Earn) journey.

One of the advantages of HyperPlay is that it enables full interoperability of blockchain games. Users only need to bind their personal wallet account to the HyperPlay website to easily experience various chain game projects. However, the disadvantage of HyperPlay is that the number of Web3 games it contains is relatively limited, and the game details displayed are not comprehensive enough.

Nonetheless, HyperPlay’s financing success demonstrates the development potential of the platform in the field of Web3 games. It provides users with a more convenient way to participate in Web3 games, which has positive significance for promoting the development of the blockchain game ecosystem.

TaskOn: A Web3 task collaboration platform that supports Web3 project marketing and operational growth

TaskOn is a Web3 task collaboration platform focused on supporting the marketing and operational growth of Web3 projects. As part of the Moonbeam family of apps, TaskOn offers a range of automation features designed to streamline operations.

Among them, the API-Verified function can automatically verify whether participants have completed operations related to specific products, which helps ensure the validity of the task. In addition, TaskOn also has an automatic reward issuance function, allowing rewards to be issued to participants immediately after the event, and event organizers only need to create the event and provide sufficient rewards (which can be tokens or NFTs) to be stored in their TaskOn account. In addition, TaskOn can also create events on behalf of event organizers, further reducing the operational burden on organizers.

Compared with other Web3 task platforms, TaskOn stands out for its simplicity and ease of use, and it is growing rapidly. The platform has also taken a series of measures to prevent bots from participating, and is therefore considered one of the platforms with the highest real user rate, reaching a whopping 92.9% real user ratio.

In general, TaskOn’s business model is biased towards the B-side and is a traffic platform. It provides an effective way for Web3 projects to achieve marketing and operational growth, and is expected to play an important role in the Web3 ecosystem.