In April 2024, the Web3 game update: During the market downturn, the number of active users reached a historic high.
Author: Footprint Analytics
Translator: Plain Language Blockchain
In April 2024, after setting a record in March, the Web3 gaming industry saw significant changes. Bitcoin retraced from its all-time high, dropping by 10.4% by the end of the month. At the same time, the market value of blockchain gaming tokens decreased by 30.5%. However, the number of daily active users (wallets) reached a historical high of 3 million, highlighting an increase in user engagement amidst broader market challenges.
This report's data is from Footprint's GameFi research report. This intuitive and user-friendly dashboard will be updated in real-time, providing key statistical data and metrics needed to understand the Web3 gaming industry.
1. Monthly Market Review
In April 2024, after Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $73,068 in March, it retraced, dropping from $71,229 on April 1 to $63,839 on April 30, a 10.4% decrease. Similarly, Ethereum started to decline from $3,643 at the beginning of the month, closing at $3,215 on April 30, down by 11.7%.
Bitcoin (BTC) price and Ethereum (ETH) price
Overall, the industry trends in April remained positive. The Bitcoin halving event on April 20 reduced the network's issuance rate, and a bipartisan bill on stablecoin regulation was introduced by US senators, indicating a potentially clearer regulatory environment. Additionally, in this month, former Binance (BN) CEO Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in federal prison for money laundering violations, demonstrating clearer regulations in the centralized exchange platform industry.
Despite recent quarterly earnings, Bitcoin prices declined in April. Ethereum also lagged behind Bitcoin, possibly due to investor uncertainty about Ethereum's chances of obtaining ETF approval in the US market.
This reflects a general downturn in market sentiment. Public statements from Federal Reserve officials indicate a diminished prospect of rate cuts, consistent with strong economic indicators such as wage employment and consumer price index. Additionally, Uniswap Labs and Consensys received Wells notices from the SEC, highlighting imminent regulatory challenges for decentralized finance projects.
2. Overall Web3 Gaming Market
In April, the market value of blockchain gaming tokens dropped to $16.6 billion, a 30.5% decrease. This decline was mainly influenced by the overall trend in the crypto market and Bitcoin's performance.
The average daily transaction volume of blockchain games was 8.6 million, a 16.7% decrease from March, far below the peak level of around 25 million transactions in the third quarter of 2022.
In contrast, the average daily active users (wallets/players) in April reached 3 million, a 16.9% increase from March, setting a new historical record.
3. Web3 Gaming Chains
In April, a total of 1,572 games were active on various blockchains, with BNB Chain, Polygon, and Wax leading with market shares of 25.8%, 19.5%, and 15.6%, respectively.
In the average daily active users (wallets/players) in April, Ronin, Polygon, and Near led the industry. Ronin maintained its lead, increasing its market share from 25.9% to 29.2%. Near's share grew from 6.4% to 11.3%, and Klaytn's share rose from 2.9% to 6.2%.
On the other hand, BNB Chain's share decreased from 9.1% to 7.4%. Additionally, Linea's share dropped from 7.8% to 0.15% due to the closure of its Web3 game activity "Linea Park."
In the past month, more chains have joined the initiative supported by Arbitrum and Starknet Foundation to boost the Web3 gaming ecosystem. Immutable announced a $50 million Web3 gaming reward program and revealed that its ecosystem is currently developing over 270 game projects, including popular projects like Illuvium and MetalCore.
4. Web3 Gaming Overview
In April, the total number of games reached 3,118, with 1,319 active. Among them, 261 games, accounting for 8.4%, attracted over 1,000 monthly users.
These data have remained stable for some time, with expectations of an increase in popular Web3 games. However, for game studios, developing high-quality games is a time-consuming process. Additionally, bridging the gap between partially on-chain and fully on-chain games is a significant challenge. Creating ideal fully on-chain games requires seamless integration of on-chain elements with the rich user experience of traditional games.
Despite challenges, some games performed well in April.
Several popular games experienced significant user growth on their respective platforms: Pixels gained 1.1 million new users on Ronin, Matr1x Fire attracted 598,200 users on Polygon, and Lifeform garnered 112,500 users on BNB Chain.
Furthermore, Another World built on Klaytn became one of the hottest games. It reached an average of 130,800 daily active users in April, surging from 2.1K on April 1 to 172,900 on April 30, a significant increase far exceeding the previous data of fewer than 50 daily users. This surge in popularity helped boost Klaytn's share of daily active users from 2.9% to 6.2%.
5. Game Investments and Financing
In April, the Web3 gaming industry conducted a total of 17 financing activities, with a total investment amount of $78.7 million, a significant 47.9% decrease from March's financing amount.
In April, Animoca Brands showed significant activity across five Web3 gaming projects. These investments included Anichess, Puffverse, Gomble Games, Iskra, and Planet Mojo.
In April, Web3 gaming platform Gomble Games secured $10 million in funding from prominent cryptocurrency and gaming investors, including Spartan, Animoca Brands, BN Labs, and IOSG Ventures.
Likewise, NFT game Puffverse received $3 million in funding from investors such as Animoca Brands, Spartan, and Sky Mavis. It is worth noting that Puffverse announced plans to fully migrate its main products and assets to the Ronin network in May.
Latest Updates:
Hytopia is set to launch its Beta version after an $8 million node sale.
NFT card game Parallel is set to debut on the Epic Games Store.
AltLayer collaborates with Xterio Games to launch a game-focused Restaked Rollup.
Sui Gaming Handheld focuses on the Steam Deck, supporting PC and crypto games.
Axie Infinity continues to gain momentum, with its ecosystem expanding and attracting more users.
Infinity brings new updates to its ecosystem, including Axie experience points and component evolution.
Founder of Bored Ape, Yuga Labs, has just transferred ownership of the NFT game to focus more on Otherside.
Final Fantasy producer Square Enix collaborates with Animoca to launch an Ethereum-based NFT game.
Disclaimer: Includes third-party opinions. No financial advice. See Risk Warning.Address：https://www.j56.xyz/markets/7150.html
