Blockchain Games: Rise or Fall in 2024?

The blockchain games industry segment showed initial growth in 2024, but then gave up. 

According to DappRadar, the blockchain game segment saw a sharp increase in volume from $6.2 million to $23.1 million in early January. This trend continued the next day with another jump to $26.89 million. It then dropped back to $6 million. 

Volume change in blockchain gaming for January. Source: DappRadar

Meanwhile, the number of unique active wallets (UAW) remained virtually unchanged during January despite the jump in volume. However, this overall number has started to decline from December’s gains. 

On Dec. 29, 2.79 million UAW appeared in the blockchain gaming segment On Dec. 31, the number dropped to 2.44 million but remained above normal levels. In January, new unique active accounts were no more than 1.7 million. 

Change in the number of unique active wallets over three months. Source: DappRadar

Have blockchain games departed the arena?

According to the Big Blockchain Game List, 2023 was one of the worst periods for blockchain games. For the entire year, 407 projects closed, representing 31% of all games. Among the closed games in 2023 are popular ones like Blankos Block Party and Goals.

The number of closed game projects for 2023. Source: Big Blockchain Game List

This trend started back in Q1 2023. Analysts then noted that 248 projects departed at the beginning of the year. This is 35% more than in 2022. It is also interesting to note that among the suspended games in Q2,  more than two In three (69%) were still in development. The decision to throw in the total might have been due to low investor interest and project funding issues.

Analysts at Coin98 calculated that GameFi had almost $14.7 billion in investments between 2009 and 2023. The sector ranks third among the rest in this ranking. Centralized finance (CeFi) and Sevice are in first place with $38.9 billion and $31.1 billion respectively.

However, decentralized finance (DeFi) has attracted fewer investors than GameFi. The industry has managed to raise $7.3 billion over the years.

Investment in the crypto industry from 2009 to 2023. Source: Coin98 Analytics

It can be assumed that blockchain games are experiencing a crisis, which started in 2023. Apart from this sector, the performance of the NFT market has also lagged behind the 2022 figures.

The gaming industry continues to evolve. New projects like Mailbot, UrbanChange, and DeepGame try to make a name for themselves. Even so, many projects fail or are put on ice. An example of this is the game Splinterlands. The number of transactions for one of the most popular games in the play-to-earn genre fell from 3.46 million in 2021 to 505,640 recently.

New blockchain games. Source: DappRadar