2024 Web3 Gaming Industry Review: Innovation and Challenges Coexist

In 2024, the Web3 gaming industry is showing a complex situation, achieving significant progress while also facing numerous challenges. The daily active user count has surged over 300%, and traditional gaming companies have begun to specifically lay out plans in this field. However, from the market performance perspective, the market capitalization of this sector has only increased by 60.5%, significantly lagging behind other crypto sectors. With Bitcoin reaching an all-time high, a key question arises: "Has Web3 gaming missed the best development opportunity in this bull market?"

However, behind these surface data, 2024 marks an important transformation period for the industry. The industry has moved from a purely speculative phase to maturity. This report will analyze how Web3 games evolve in the market cycle of 2024, exploring key metrics, technological advancements, and strategic shifts in this sector. From infrastructure development to user engagement models, we will explore how the industry builds sustainable growth while addressing the challenges of mainstream adoption.

Overview of Key Annual Indicators

• Market Cap: Reached $31.8 billion, an increase of 60.5%
• Trading Volume: $5.2 billion, an increase of 18.5%
• Number of transactions: 5.3 billion, a decrease of 30.3%
• Daily active users: reached 6.6 million by the end of the year, an increase of 308.6% compared to the beginning of the year.
• Active games: 1,361 out of 3,602 games are active (37.8%)
• Annual financing: 220 financing events, totaling $910 million

Leading public chain:

• Trading volume share: BNB Chain ( 23.1% ), Ethereum ( 17.6% ), Blast ( 19.2% )
• Transaction Volume Proportion: WAX ( 33.6% ), Aptos ( 11.6% ), Ronin ( 16.1% )
• Daily active users: opBNB 220,000, Ronin 110,000, Nebula 45,800, daily average in December (

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Market Performance Analysis

) Market Value Performance

The Web3 gaming sector is expected to see strong growth in 2024, but it will underperform compared to other crypto sectors. The market capitalization of gaming tokens will reach $31.8 billion by the end of the year, a 60.5% increase from the previous year. Although this sector hit a year-to-date high of $47.4 billion in March, it is still significantly lower than the historical high of $114.1 billion reached in November 2021.

Despite the overall strong performance of the cryptocurrency market in the second half of 2024, especially in the last two months driven by Bitcoin, game tokens have lagged behind other sectors. Web3 games ranked eighth in market capitalization growth among the top ten sectors, significantly trailing behind leading sectors: Meme coins (421.1%), AI and Big Data (168.0%), and the Solana ecosystem (124.1%).

This underperformance also extends to community attention. In the most watched segments, Web3 games only account for 6.7% of the views in the top ten segments, ranking ninth, as the focus of attention throughout the year has mainly been on Meme coin-related projects.

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) Trading Volume Analysis

The key performance indicators of the Web3 gaming sector in 2024 are mixed; trading volume has increased, but the number of transactions continues to decline.

In 2024, the total transaction volume of Web3 games reached $5.2 billion, an increase of 18.5% compared to 2023. Although it has reversed the declining trend since 2021, the transaction volume is still significantly lower than the peak of the previous cycle. The data for 2024 is only 6.2% of the 2021 peak of (841 billion ) and 15.1% of the 2022 transaction volume of (345 billion ).

The total number of transactions in 2024 reached 5.3 billion, a decrease of 30.3% compared to the previous year. This level is comparable to the 5.1 billion transactions in 2021, but it has not reversed the declining trend that began in 2022.

Daily active users ( DAU ) achieved significant growth throughout 2024, increasing from an average of 1.6 million in January to 6.6 million in December, a growth of 308.6% over the year. This growth surpasses the previous cycle peak of 1.8 million DAU set in November 2021. Although this data may include some bot activity, this growth still demonstrates significant user engagement in the industry.

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Ecosystem Development

) Competition and Evolution of Public Blockchains

In 2024, there will be significant changes in the dominant positions of different public chains in Web3 games, with each chain showing different advantages in terms of transaction volume, transaction count, and user participation.

The BNB chain maintains its dominance in trading volume, achieving a trading volume of $1.2 billion with a market share of 23.1%. Following is Ethereum with $920 million and a market share of 17.6%. Blast and Ronin occupy market shares of 9.2% and 9.0%, respectively.

Despite a 30.3% overall decline in the number of transactions in the industry, certain public chains have shown strong performance. WAX leads with 1.8 billion transactions, accounting for 33.6% of the total (. Aptos has emerged with its "tap-to-earn" model through the Telegram game Tapos, achieving 620 million transactions ), of which 540 million transactions were generated in August alone. Ronin and opBNB maintain transaction counts of 321 million and 318 million, respectively.

User activity across various chains has shown significant growth, especially in the second half of 2024. opBNB has emerged as a standout in user engagement, with an average daily active user count reaching 2.2 million in December, surpassing the long-time leader Ronin(110 million). Nebula, as a SKALE Layer 2, ranks third with an average DAU of 458,000. Public chains like NEAR, Sui, and Sei have entered the top ten in DAU, demonstrating the expanding competitive landscape of the ecosystem and users' willingness to try new platforms.

The diversified trends in the use of various chains indicate that the ecosystem is maturing, with different public chains finding their own positioning for various gaming experiences and user preferences. Major networks are no longer just providing basic blockchain facilities but are evolving into comprehensive platforms for game developers. The Arbitrum Foundation's $2 billion ARB Game Catalyst Program, Starknet Foundation's $50 million STRK token distribution program, and significant Grant programs from Sui and Xai all demonstrate how various chains attract and retain quality gaming projects through strategic incentives.

Technical Infrastructure Improvement

Capacity Upgrade

The blockchain processing capacity has significantly increased, with the current network's transaction processing volume per second being more than 50 times higher than it was four years ago. This growth is attributed to the rise of Ethereum Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks, including Immutable zkEVM, game chains based on Avalanche L1, Oasys, SKALE, and Arbitrum Orbit, as well as other high-throughput blockchains like Solana, Sui, and Aptos.

The gaming-specific blockchain has also made significant progress. Ronin announced its Layer 2 plan Ronin zkEVM in June 2024, allowing Ronin developers to create their own zkEVM Layer 2. Immutable zkEVM has taken a strategic step towards greater accessibility by removing deployment whitelists and enabling permissionless deployment. Additionally, Avalanche has completed the most important "Avalanche9000" upgrade since its mainnet launch in 2020, focusing on addressing the barriers to customized L1 builds and improving interoperability.

( Gas fees reduced

The "Cancun" upgrade of Ethereum in March 2024, ) also known as "Proto-Danksharding" or "EIP-4844" ( is an important milestone that significantly reduces the fees for L2 networks. The impact is very significant, with Gas fees dropping from several dollars to a few cents or even lower, eliminating one of the biggest friction points faced by blockchain game developers and players.

) Cross-chain interoperability enhancement

Chainlink cross-chain interoperability protocol ( CCIP ) achieved significant development in 2024, enabling developers to create games that can interact with multi-chain assets. This improvement significantly enhances the interoperability of in-game items.

The adoption of standardized formats for digital assets, especially ERC-721 and ERC-1155, has become more widespread. These standards ensure that NFTs within games can be recognized and utilized across various games and platforms, simplifying asset transfer and interaction.

2024 also witnessed the significant rise of decentralized platforms supporting cross-chain gaming. Platforms like Portal, Fractal ID, and Web3Games provide the necessary infrastructure for seamless asset transfers and interactions between different blockchain ecosystems.

Project Development

2024 is an important year for the development of Web3 games. In addition to traditional game companies entering the market, the ecosystem has also witnessed several significant game releases. Anticipated games such as Off The Grid and MapleStory Universe have entered early access, while Illuvium has finally launched officially. Pirate Nation successfully completed the token generation event (TGE) and launched a successful "play-to-airdrop"( event.

) Active Game Analysis

As of November 30, 2024, the total number of blockchain games has reached 3,602, an increase from 2,997 in January. However, the active game metrics show some challenging trends. Out of the total number of games, only 1,361 (37.8%) remain active on-chain, meaning 2,241 ###62.2%### are inactive. Furthermore, despite the increase in total games, the number of active games has actually decreased compared to 1,387 in January.

In-depth analysis of user engagement metrics shows a further concentration in the market. The number of games with over 100 months of active users ( MAU ) decreased from 586 in June 2022 to 522 by the end of 2024. In November 2024, 161 games ### accounted for 4.5% of the total ( achieving over 10,000 MAU, of which 96 games ) accounted for 2.7% ( surpassed 100,000 MAU.

This trend of user concentration indicates that the market is maturing, with successful games attracting larger audiences. This phenomenon is influenced by several factors, including intense competition, rapid iteration strategies, and the "head effect" formed by leading games in the ecosystem.

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Innovative Pattern

) Cross-Platform Gaming Trends

Mobile games emphasize accessibility and a seamless user experience, establishing their position as a major platform for Web3 gaming in 2024. The mobile-first approach has influenced how developers design blockchain games, focusing on intuitive interfaces and simplified onboarding processes. In the newly launched Web3 games of 2024, mobile games account for 29.4%.

Social platforms, especially Telegram, have become a powerful catalyst for the adoption of Web3 games, accounting for 20.9% of newly released Web3 games. Telegram's success stems from its large user base, streamlined in-app experience, and ability to bypass traditional app store restrictions. The platform's influence peaked in the third quarter of 2024, with 11 games surpassing 10 million MAU. Notably, TON successfully converted this massive user base into on-chain participants, creating spillover effects in Web3 gaming, Meme coins, and DeFi sectors. This success has prompted multiple blockchain networks outside of TON to compete for Telegram traffic, with Aptos, Sui, Core, and others launching or supporting Telegram-based games.

Similarly, Line announced plans to launch 20 mini dApps in December 2024, marking a growing interest from mainstream messaging platforms in the integration of blockchain gaming.

The console gaming sector remains relatively undeveloped in Web3 gaming, with major manufacturers like Microsoft and Sony maintaining a cautious stance. However, new approaches are beginning to emerge to bridge this gap. Some developers, such as Gunzilla Games' Off The Grid, choose to incorporate core gameplay.