Written by Stacy Muur

Translation: Plain Language Blockchain

Since early 2024, the performance of Web3 games has lagged behind other encrypted AltCoin fields, with its Market Cap losing 33%, while the AltCoin market has fallen 14%.

However, Web3 games still remain a powerful player, accounting for 30% of all dApp activities, with a daily active wallet count of 2.1 million.

Let's delve into the key insights from the latest Delphi research on Web3 games.

Key Highlights

Web3 game funding peaked between February and March, with monthly investments ranging from $60 million to $100 million, reaching a total of $673 million by 2024. However, this only accounts for 41.35% of the volume in the first quarter of 2022.

In 2024, more than 50 games were launched, among which Xai, Pixels and Notcoin saw significant growth.

Xai raised $40 million within 3 months. Pixels reached a peak of $4.8 billion FDV and 1 million DAU within 3 weeks of launch. Notcoin attracted 35 million users and achieved a Market Cap of $1 billion without external funding.

Portal's FDV fell from $4 billion to $280 million, and the value of Overworld Incarnas shrunk by 75%. After TGE, Mavia and Pixelmon also fell by more than 60%.

Shooting games remain a leading game genre in Web3, with Off the Grid standing out for its $110 million in funding and partnerships with Sony and Microsoft.

In MMORPGs, the most anticipated is 'MapleStory Universe', with a financing amount of up to $100 million.

"Pirate Kingdom" is a completely on-chain game that has been continuously developed in the past 6 weeks, with 100,000 active players and revenue of $1 million.

The mobile games like 'Fate King' and 'Dragon Fire' have developed rapidly, attracting hundreds of thousands of users. The download volume of 'Dragon Fire' has exceeded 3.5 million times.

Ronin and TON ecosystem lead the Web3 game. Ronin benefits from the success of Axie Infinity, while TON offers seamless integration with Telegram and access to 900 million users. The success of Notcoin and Hamster Kombat further confirms this.

This summary highlights the key points of Delphi's 'Mid-Year Game Review' report.

1, Web3 games worth following

Below, I have highlighted some recent games worth following, most of which are not yet tracked on DappRadar. For statistics on the hottest games, please use this dashboard.

1）Off the Grid [Shooting Category]

Description: "Off The Grid" is a cyberpunk-themed battle royale game produced by Gunzilla Games.

Public Chain: Avalanche

Investment amount: 101 million US dollars

Overview: "Off the Grid" has attracted over 1.1 billion dollars in funding, with a team of over 380 people, and has partnered with Sony and Microsoft to release games on PlayStation and Xbox, setting new industry standards.

2）MapleStory Universe [Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game]

Description: 'MapleStory Universe' expands Nexon's popular 'MapleStory' IP into a virtual world ecosystem and hosts various applications based on this beloved game series.

Public chain: MapleStory subnet, supported by Avalanche

Investment amount: 1 billion dollars

Fact: In 2023, MapleStory Universe received over $100 million in funding from Nexon. MapleStory Online has attracted over 100 million lifelong players and remains a significant player in the MMORPG field.

From July 24th to August 2nd, NEXPACE invited more than 1000 players to participate in the MapleStory N pioneer test. The peak simultaneous online player number reached 714, and 92% of the participants returned multiple times during the test period. The team reported that the retention rate after seven days was 79.97%.

**3）EVE%20Frontier [Large-scale multiplayer online role-playing game]

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 development of the game.

Investment amount: 40 million US dollars

Fact: Using verified %20IP%20 will bring significant advantages in user acquisition, enabling them to target loyal fan groups of 'MapleStory' and 'Star Wars: Star Wars'.

4）MetaCene [Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game]

Description: MetaCene is developing a blockchain-based MMORPG set in a surreal post-apocalyptic world. Players redefine civilization using various non-fungible tokens. The game aims to create an accessible Web3 experience focused on player-centric entertainment, governance, and AIGC-driven creation.

Public Chain: Rangers, but Apostle Non-fungible Token collectibles on the ETH network

UAW (30 Days): 38.32k

UAW ATH: 57.06k (March 25, 2024)

Fact: MetaCene was founded by game experts with over 20 years of industry experience from companies like Shanda Games, Blizzard, Perfect World, etc.

In the past 30 days, the number of UAW has significantly risen from 898 to 371,000, an increase of 4031.4%.

5) Avalon [Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game]

Description: Avalon is the world's first multi-chain, truly open-world MMORPG, built with Unreal Engine and integrated with multiple blockchains. The game is set in a fantasy medieval kingdom, where players use their Non-fungible Tokens to explore the world and compete for Cryptocurrency and rare Non-fungible Token rewards. The game's setting is inspired by the legend of King Arthur and the alternative history of the Knights Templar.

Public Chains: ImmutableX, Base

Fact: MetaCene and Avalon are both led by industry veterans who played a key role in shaping EverQuest and Diablo II, two games that defined the MMORPG genre.

6）Big Time [大型多人在线角色扮演游戏]

Name: Age of Greatness

Description: Big Time is a multiplayer action role-playing game for PC that combines fast-paced combat with an open game economy. Players actively generate and exchange in-game items. The game seamlessly integrates Web3 elements to ensure they do not hinder the gaming experience, thus attracting a wider audience.

Chain: Ethereum

Fact: Big Time has revitalized the Web3 gaming landscape after the Bear Market, generating over 100 million dollars in revenue since the preseason and positioning itself as a formidable Web3 native competitor.

7) Pirate Nation [Full Chain Game]

Description: 'Pirate Nation' is an innovative game developed by Proof of Play, which combines the game with Blockchain technology. Players collect pirates and dispatch them on adventures to gather materials, treasures, and pirate coins. Through multiple adventures, the pirates accumulate experience and level up.

Chain: Ethereum, Apex Chain

Fact: Pirate Nation achieved an amazing 2,400% rise in just three months. This rise, along with the impressive $1 million in-game revenue in the past six weeks, highlights its strong position in the FOCG field.

Apex Chain aims to support the Pirate Nation ecosystem and is one of the most active chains, processing over 2.5 million transactions daily. In terms of volume in the past month, it ranks second only to Base in the EVM Layer 2 solution.

8）Infinigods [Mobile Game Studio]

Projects: Infinimerge, Immortal Siege, King of Destiny

Description: Infinigods is a Web3 game studio specializing in providing cross-platform experiences for web and mobile devices. Infinigods is committed to creating a casual game ecosystem that connects games to each other through its unique Non-fungible Token series and intellectual property, all inspired by ancient mythology.

Chain: Ethereum

Fact: 'King of Fate' is a Web3 luck-based combat game developed by Infinigods. Its user base has been quietly rising, with nearly 1 million downloads and over 250,000 monthly active users (MAU)

9) More games worth observing are:

Capsule Heroes - Free PvP Fighting Game.

Matr1x - an entertainment platform involving Web3, AI, and e-sports, with 24K independent Wallets last month.

Fableborne - a isometric multiplayer game with over 77K downloads.

Treeverse - an MMORPG being developed by the Endless Clouds team.

Dypians World (WoD) - a multiplayer online role-playing game, currently has the highest number of 700K 30-day active Wallets on DappRadar.

Source: DappRadar

2. Summary

Delphi says there are currently no clear signs that gaming will be favored in the fourth quarter, given the current market conditions where meme coins and the Solana ecosystem outperform most other Web3 sectors. In addition, a significant issuance is expected in the next six months, which could intensify competition and further disperse liquidity.

However, they hope that games like Off The Grid, Maple Story Universe, and Fableborne can have a positive impact on the sentiment of the Web3 and Web2 markets. Such content should still be seen as the best Trojan horse in the Crypto Assets field, and they believe there are reasons to be optimistic in the short to medium term.