Methodology
This study includes two main focuses:
Analyze the internal structure of game segments;
Construct a panoramic view of the current mainstream projects in the market.
To this end, we screened the top projects with a market value exceeding $50 million, including large games not yet issued tokens but have high awareness and attention in the community. If certain projects span multiple fields, they are classified into the most relevant vertical tracks.
Game Ecosystem Map
As of January 2025, the Web3 game ecosystem can be divided into three major verticals: infrastructure, games, and ecosystems.
#Infrastructure
Infrastructure covers the technological foundation of Web3 games, including development frameworks, game engines, AI tools, data management systems, and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network).
To avoid excessive stratification, this classification standard is relatively broad. For example, the 'data' category includes both data analysis platforms and in-game data rights protocols (such as IP protocols).
#Games
Includes all playable Web3 game types, further subdivided by different gameplay categories. Among them, 'AA+ level games' represent higher quality vertical tracks.
#Ecosystem
Ecosystem projects aim to build network effects, covering platforms, studios, game guilds, task systems, and incubators/launch platforms. Platforms mainly refer to aggregation of game distribution channels.
For specific project names, please refer to the appendix at the end.
Market Panorama
Overall Trends in Web3 Games
#Annual Transaction Volume
Although transaction volumes remain high, they have decreased from the peak in 2022.
#Annual Funding Scale
From $84 billion in 2021 to $5.58 billion in 2024.
2021-2022: Speculative sentiment drives capital inflow, with NFT assets, GameFi tokens, and 'play-to-earn' models dominating the market, but lacking sustainable user stickiness.
2024-2025: Speculative capital decreases, actual player participation rises, indicating the industry is shifting towards real gaming demand.
#Daily Active Player Count
User base continues to grow, and game adoption rates continue to rise.
#Web3 Game Market Value (CoinMarketCap Data)
After excluding the abnormal peak at the end of 2021, the current market value shows little difference compared to the early days, reflecting an improvement in industry health:
Early Stage (2021-2022): Highly speculative, few users but NFT and token speculation boosted market value.
Current phase (2024-2025): Speculation recedes, real players dominate the market.
Game Type Trends
#Developer Structure
The proportion of independent developers is increasing, mainly due to reduced venture capital and the maturation of development tools. With the improvement of tools, the number of future games is expected to grow explosively.
#Project Survival Rate
With the end of the bear market in 2023, interest from studios and publishers in Web3 games has rebounded, and the number of new titles has significantly increased.
Web3 Ecosystem Chain Dynamics
#Top Chain Performance
Immutable and Arbitrum ecosystems have experienced the fastest growth in the past 12 months:
Immutable: Added 181 new games (up 71% year-on-year), with 33% of the projects migrating from Polygon.
Arbitrum: Added 119 new games (up 68% year-on-year) with the Orbit framework, of which 23 are dedicated Web3 game chains.
#User Distribution
In terms of user base, WAX and BNB chains still dominate.
#Migration Trends
Polygon has become the chain with the most migration projects, indicating fierce ecological competition, and stability still needs to be improved.
Smart Contract Development Environment
#EVM Dominance
81% of new game chains are still based on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), mainly due to:
Non-EVM chain development tools are still immature;
Migration costs are relatively high.
#Developer Choice
Project parties actively seek better development environments, forcing the ecosystem to innovate continuously to maintain competitiveness.
Conclusion
Web3 games are shifting from speculation-driven to focusing on real users and sustainable development. Although transaction volume has decreased, the growth in daily active users indicates that the industry is maturing.
Infrastructure Layer:
The improvement of tools has attracted more independent developers, and DePIN and AI technologies further strengthen the technological foundation.
Ecological Competition:
Immutable and Arbitrum have become the primary migration destinations, while EVM chains still dominate the market.
Future challenges lie in ecological stability, project retention rates, and the development of high-quality games. The next phase will focus on:
Innovation;
On-chain deep integration;
User experience optimization.
Decentralized games will enter a new stage of development.
Appendix
Infrastructure
Development Tools: thirdWeb, Metaplex, Altura, Stardust, reNFT
Engines: MUD, Blade Games, Cartridge, Reflekt
AI: PlayAI, Carv, Aethir, Arc, Neural, Freysa, MomoAI
Data: Story Protocol, Helika, Chromia, Spaceport
DePIN: Deeplink, Gaimin, Shaga, Beamable, Cudos
Games
FOCG: Pirate Nation, Primordium, Alien Worlds, Downstream, Sage Labs
Speculative: Duper, RPS.live, Force Prime, Pump.fun
AA+ Level:
Card Games: Parallel, Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, Splinterlands
Shooting: My Pet Hooligan, Shrapnel, Off the Grid, Deadrop
RPG: Metacene, Pixels, Cornucopias, Illuvium, Star Atlas, Mines of Dalarnia, Fusionist
Metaverse: Zentry, Decentraland, Sandbox, Nifty Island, Wilder World, My Neighbor Alice, Mobox, (RACA) Radio Caca
Telegram/Mini Games: Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, Catizen, Wizzwoods, WATC, StepN
Ecosystem
Game Guilds: YGG, Merit Circle
Platforms: B3.fun, Gala Games, Game7, SuperVerse, Bora, TreasureDAO, Myria, Ultra, Ancient8, Sonic
Studios: Nexus Interactive, Big Time, Mythos, Vulcan, Dapper Labs, Gomble, Ready Games, Playmint
Task System: Perion
Incubators: Seedify, Everyrealm
