Blockchain gaming’s growing influence in the crypto-space cannot be ignored, with a recent report from data firm DappRadar revealing that 38% of all crypto transactions in April were related to gaming. However, the popularity of meme tokens such as PEPE’s recent billion-dollar market cap and its subsequent crash by 63% has been cited as reasons for the 10% decline in daily active wallets to approximately 672,000 compared to the previous month.
Interestingly, the meme token craze also seems to have affected the virtual worlds trading which decreased by 74% in the past month. Despite this downturn, gaming platforms like The Sandbox and Topia continued to experience growth.
The rapid success of the new gaming-oriented blockchain network, Sui, launched just last week, is also worth noting. The network’s namesake token has already appreciated 3,800% since its ICO, and boasts 40 games currently being built on its platform.
As for the most active gaming chains, WAX retains the top spot with popular games like Splinterlands and Alien Worlds. However, Ethereum sidechain network Polygon is closing in as the second-most popular chain for gaming. Notably, DappRadar suggests that bot activity issues might be plaguing some WAX games, and both Splinterlands and Alien Worlds have been addressing numerous bot user problems this year.
Ethereum scaling solution Arbitrum witnessed a significant user spike in April, growing over 118% compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, Immutable X saw a more modest growth of about 9%. Simon Davis, CEO and co-founder of the studio Mighty Bear Games, which is building on Polygon, believes that Arbitrum’s surge is mainly attributable to the network’s late-March token airdrop.
Davis further explains that the decentralized gaming ecosystem Treasure and its users received a large portion of the airdrop allocation, which inspired other high-profile projects like Pirate Nation to move to Arbitrum, increasing the ecosystem’s visibility. He asserts, “Arbitrum is gaining strong momentum and establishing itself as one of the top destinations for Web3 gamers.”
As various blockchain networks compete to attract gaming projects to their platforms, it becomes increasingly evident that a multi-chain future awaits the world of Web3 gaming. The ongoing influence of meme tokens, bot activity issues, and new entrants like Sui paint a fascinating picture for the future of blockchain gaming. Time will tell which platform ultimately prevails or how this multi-chain ecosystem shapes the landscape of gaming and crypto transactions.
Source: Decrypt
