Web3 Gaming Is Inevitable; Here’s Why
If you’ve played games in an arcade before Console games became a thing, Would you have argued against Mobile, Pc, console and Web3 gaming being inevitable? Well, The Odyssey was developed in 1972 by Magnavox. It was deemed to be the very first home video game console ever made.
While new gamers may not know about this console, It ushered in a new gaming experience. And since the Odyssey in 1972, the gaming world has seen a plethora of innovations. From the Consoles era in the 80s and 90s with the Sega SG-1000 in 1983, NES Family Computer in 1983, Sega Master in 1985, Nintendo Family Computer Disc System in 1985 to Sony Playstation in 1994, Nintendo 64 in 1996, and Dreamcast in 1998
Every piece of tech built defied what you would call possible at that time, yet, the evolution simply would not stop. Even with the new Playstations and Xbox 15 — the innovations with Mobile games, PC games, and Web3 Games are now dominating consoles with user adoption.
Nothing is Inevitable in Gaming — especially with Web3 Games!
Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed a technological advancement that has pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in gaming. Not just in the consoles but also in how the game is being played.
If you can remember when online multiplayer was just new, however, fast forward to today about 3.31 billion gamers worldwide are connected via multiplayer, representing a +4.3% year-on-year increase. Historically, every major shift in gaming has been driven by one thing: demand. When gamers demanded more immersive experiences, we saw the rise of virtual reality.
When they wanted more accessible play, mobile gaming took off, generating over $103.5 billion in revenue in 2022 alone. Now, users are demanding more ownership, more control, and more opportunities to monetise their in-game efforts — this is where web3 comes in.
We have seen games like Axie Infinity and Decentraland attracting millions of users and generating millions in revenue through decentralised play-to-earn models. The numbers don’t lie. In Q2 2024, the Web3 industry experienced a significant surge, with daily Unique Active Wallets (dUAW) reaching 10 million—a 40% increase from the previous quarter.
This upward trend was notably reflected in the blockchain gaming sector, which closed the quarter with 2.8 million dUAW, marking a 33% rise from the prior period. This is setting the stage for an exciting gaming experience. This article will explore why Web3 is the next catalyst for gaming to enter a growth phase again, what’s been developing in the Web3 gaming space in recent quarters, and what it takes to succeed.
Gamers Love Innovation and the gaming Industry keeps Innovating
What began with a small group of enthusiasts focused on arcade games quickly grew between the 2000s – 2010s when iPhone and Android devices were released, making games more accessible.
Those casual games like Angry Birds sparked an interest within people that kept them swiping and immersed in its simplistic gameplay. More games like Candy Crush and Clash of Clans pushed gaming to a wider array of audiences such that by 2010 the number of mobile game players outpaced console and PC gaming.
Fast forward to 2020 when the lockdown restricted social interaction. People looked “for ways to both entertain themselves and maintain their social connections,” Bartosz Skwarczek, the CEO and co-founder of online gaming marketplace G2A.com stated
This demand significantly spiked during the lockdown as millions of people turned to gaming for entertainment and to escape the boredom caused by isolation. Gaming became a haven for many, and the market grew by 26% before the end of 2021.
This began a shift in how people consume gaming content, with Mobile leading the way
Mobile gaming apps raised approximately $77 billion in revenue, as revealed by Statista, and this number is projected to hit $98.4 billion before 2025. Following up on data from Neezoo, a top provider of market intelligence for the gaming industry,
Also, according to Newzoo’s 2021 market report, 2.5 billion are mobile gamers> This is more than half of the total gaming population. However console games like Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: scaled through a timely launch and sold 13.4 million units in the first 6 weeks.
When you look at the initial revenue model for games, it was quite simple, you either pay once to purchase a game or to spend some time on the arcade machine, then we moved to subscription services and the sale of downloadable content (DLC).
While these have impacted the buying patterns of games, one of the most notable shifts in the evolution of gaming was microtransactions. You know, that moment when you customized your in-game character— to get a better game skin, cosmetics or weaponry— or you purchased battle passes to access exclusive gaming events.
Free-to-play games like Fortnite, Genshin Impact and League of Legends leveraged these in-game purchases and by the late 2010s, it became a dominant revenue model. The evolutions of Microtransactions have led us to where we are now — web3 games, that do not only run on Mobile and PC, enable Micro transactions but also allow players to own their gaming assets — this could be the most disruptive innovation in gaming.
Web3 Gaming: The Next Evolutionary Step
Web3 games answered the call for more ownership in a unique way. And this is why it is Inevitable. Like every other innovation coming before it, Web3 games are here to stay.
By leveraging blockchain technology, web3 games give players full autonomy, and an opportunity to be in control of the game’s economy and their in-game assets. It puts players in charge of all the gaming aspects and gives room for players to own, trade, and sell digital assets (like characters, weapons, or land) outside of the game’s ecosystem through NFTs.
Imagine investing significant hours and money each day, playing the games you love and acquiring so many in-game assets only to lose every one of them in a twinkle.
When millions of Chinese lost access to World of Warcraft (WoW) and other hit games, one gamer posted on Weibo (China’s X-like platform) “I cried all night…When I woke up, I still didn’t want to accept”. The sting of such an experience can linger a long time and there are many more similar scenarios like the shutdown of Ubisoft’s Might and Magic X: Legacy and Sony’s removal of Helldivers 2 from 117 countries.
In each of these scenarios, the gamers lost every one of their assets and investments. With Web3 games, players own their assets and these games allow players to control their rewards in a decentralized space where no one controls the data. What this means is no developer can pull the plug on your favourite game and cause you to lose your hard-played assets.
Another interesting edge in Web3 games is that you have the opportunity to use your rewards outside of the game and use your in-game characters across different games. The rules and transactions of these games are managed by smart contracts— housing the terms and agreements and capable of self-execution to ensure transparency.
Players can earn in Web3 games through multiple streams. For games like Axie Infinity with an in-game currency, gamers earn by completing tasks and other activities. In Axie, gamers earn Smooth Love Potion (SLP). Some games like Alien Worlds also incorporate DeFi elements which allows gamers to stake the game’s native currency to earn passive rewards.
In card games like God’s Unchained, players collect NFT cards of different characters and items that can be traded on marketplaces. These decentralized marketplaces are powered by the blockchain and aid peer-to-peer transactions without the need for a middleman.
Robbie Ferguson, the president of Immutable, while explaining the growth of digital assets, said:
Everyone is still massively underestimating how big web3 gaming is going to be. Gaming goods are essentially the largest digital goods category that exists.
Innovations like interoperability in web3 games make it possible to use the in-game assets you’ve acquired in one game across multiple gaming platforms. Same with NPCs, AI, and DePins — the future of gaming is exciting.
Will History repeat itself with games?
Games always evolve, from consoles, to PC to Mobiles and then we saw the innovations with payments and microtransactions and now it’s gearing towards ownership. Since the 90s the industry has proven that innovation is inevitable
And this pattern has placed web3 games in an interesting trajectory. Making it the next step in the gaming industry. Just like Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Chairman of Animoca Brands said, Web3 games it is set to
“…redefine the gaming industry by putting control back in the hands of the players… moving towards a world where gamers are not just players but true owners and participants in the virtual economies they engage with”
By leveraging blockchain technology, Web3 games offer unprecedented levels of ownership, control, and monetization opportunities for players. The ability to truly own in-game assets, use them across different games, and trade them freely addresses long-standing issues in traditional gaming models making these games inevitable.