The Web3 gaming industry has undergone significant evolution since its inception. Initially driven by the "Play to Earn" (P2E) model, the industry is now shifting towards a more balanced "Play and Earn" approach, prioritizing the appeal of the games and the potential for earning.
This shift addresses the sustainability issues of the pure P2E model, especially in developing countries where gaming guilds play a crucial role.
As we examine the state of Web3 gaming in 2024, these foundational changes provide a basis for analyzing current market trends, player behavior, and economic impacts.
1. Player Base Dynamics
Since 2023, the number of Web3 game players has gradually declined. The player base has shrunk from 6.03 million in 2023 to about 1 million monthly active users currently.
January 2024 was the month with the highest number of players in the first half of the year, with about 1.73 million players. Notably, compared to the industry peak of about 21 million players in November 2021, the current number of players is one-twentieth of that time.
2. Player Classification and Activity
Current data shows that the vast majority of gaming addresses are inactive. Only 1,970 addresses are classified as active, while 1,450 are classified as inactive investor addresses. Notably, only 14 addresses are recognized as hardcore players across all Web3 games. This distribution depicts a market with only a small number of core, highly engaged users.
3. Blockchain Distribution of Game Contracts
In terms of the number of active game smart contracts, Polygon leads with about 12,400 contracts. BNB Chain follows closely, but its number of contracts is only about one-tenth of Polygon's. Ethereum and Avalanche lag significantly, with only a few hundred game contracts on each blockchain. Factors such as transaction costs, speed, and ecosystem support contribute to this distribution.
4. Token Standards in Games
Among all game contract addresses, ERC20 Tokens are the most common, outnumbering ERC721 Tokens by more than three times. ERC1155 Tokens are the least common, with about 18.9 million instances.
5. Game Performance and User Engagement
In the past six months, some games have performed exceptionally well, such as Matr1x, Cellula, and Yuliverse. They rank among the top in terms of active independent wallet numbers, with very high user engagement.
6. Asset Minting in Games
CryptoMines leads in asset minting volume, with about 24.8 million NFTs, followed by Bomb Crypto and Flowerpatch.
New game asset minting volumes fluctuate monthly, peaking in December 2023 with about 318,000 new assets.
Despite a bull market at the beginning of 2024 driving up asset prices, on-chain data indicates that the gaming industry remains in a cooling period, with no significant real growth.
7. Game Activity Patterns
An analysis of game activities shows that participation is highest during the afternoon hours in the UTC time zone, with transaction frequency exceeding 95 million times. This period corresponds to morning in the US and evening in Asia. Activity is lowest during the UTC nighttime, dropping to about two-thirds of the peak level.
The weekly pattern shows that Thursday is the most active day for on-chain transactions, averaging about 277 million times, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday. Weekend activity is noticeably lower.
