GDC insights reveal where the industry is headed:
GC ALPHA 41
Disclaimer: None of this information should be taken as financial advice. DYOR + I will hold some of the assets that are spoken of in this newsletter.
(P2A) EVENTS & SOCIALFI
Fishing Frenzy: Uncharted Waters (S2) is now live with Frenzy points and trading
King of Destiny’s Minotaur Labyrinth is starting today (lasts for 72 hours)
Fableborne is launching a 4-day closed playtest on the 26th of March
You can pre-register for ONE Fight Arena and earn pre-launch rewards
Presale registrations for Dungeons of Fortune are now live (my ref link)
MARKET TALK
THE GAMEFI RENAISSANCE CONTINUES
Last week, we got more action coming from the gamefi scene again, now fueled by Defi Dungeons (DD) and Dungeons of Fortune (DF)
DD is a “fantasy idle RPG” coming to Solana (“the OCH of Solana”)
To launch its token DD used a fair launch, facilitated through its GOLD Vault. Users could buy tokens by depositing funds into a Meteroa Vault for 24 hours. After the Vault closed users could claim their tokens and trading started
A total of 10% (100M) of the token’s supply was allocated to the Vault, aiming to raise $3M USDC, however, the Vault got oversubscribed by 4300%, raising a total of $130M+ (I just realized I only received $2.94 in GOLD…)
$130M is a strong indicator of the demand by traders for idle, degen games. And the EOY prediction by Hunter, seeing this category as a pocket of growth in 2025 has been spot on so far
Unfortunately, there was a front-end issue on the GOLD-USDC Alpha Vault, making USDC withdrawals for unused USDC temporarily unavailable.
This kind of killed the chart, as users weren’t able to buy with the USDC they deposited (of which less than 5% got allocated to GOLD)
DF is another idle game coming to Base (“the OCH of Base”)
They haven’t launched their token yet, however, launched a pre-registration event, which got the attention of high-signal people like Gorilla, Ico, and Moritz
The event features a raffle where everyone has an equal chance to win. More referrals increase your chances. Referral links will carry into the game launch, earning you a share of tokens spent by users you refer
Both top referrers and top referral groups will earn a GTD spot
Abstract, Solana, and now Base. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the idle RPGs pop up on Monad and Berachain soon as well
Furthermore, OCH has shown how big these games can be in generating NFT volume. So, overall this seems pretty bullish for NFTs
(2ND HAND) INSIGHTS FROM GDC
I didn’t attend GDC myself this year, but have been trying to stay up to date by reading a bunch of takeaways from people who attended:
Starting with Antonio, which provides a more gloomy view of GDC, commenting on there being more chains than games, a lot of game studios shutting down, and ecosystems being more focused on side events than users
But we didn't have to attend GDC to learn these things, right?
Ryze reflected on the amount of AI tooling startups for games taking over booths and a major Web3 gaming reset being due: “…fundamental innovation is needed” (e.g. Apptokens)
I am seeing more devs starting to talk about the need for Apptokens
Ada said that Web3’s presence was much smaller on the expo floor, but outside the convention, the events were packed. What further stood out to me is this quote: “The sentiment wasn’t “doom.” It was maturity.”
Project O stood out as the favorite game among people in the Wolves DEN this year
Kevin Lambert (the co-founder) further shared his story of how he ran into an old co-worker at Microsoft, who was pleasantly surprised
Hunter mentioned even the best games in Web3 are worried about funding, everybody was mentioning “revenue”, funds that chased gaming in 2021 are focusing on new things, and how little the number of games that have a shot at success there are
Caleb shared that Web3 gaming is “dead” for how we know it, reflecting on how this industry was built on bad practices and fake promises and why a cleansing was necessary
“Web3 gaming is not dead, but it has matured into a space that is much harder to succeed in”
Gaming in Web2 isn’t looking too bright either, gauging from this non-Web3 tweet: “a lot of us are in the same boat. we are all looking for work.”
Plus, all the major booths of AAA studios have pulled out (?)
Furthermore, Kosta commented on an interesting conversation about the overall gaming industry’s struggles, covering AAA costs and consolidation, distribution challenges, AI potential, blue oceans, and more.
Overall, a good dose of Web3 gloom and a bit of hope (excitement) for the handful of teams that are pushing the boundaries
