"Web3 gaming is dead" (once again)
GC ALPHA 40
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
GFAL’s match-3 game, Diamond Dreams, is launching its Beta tomorrow
Party Icons announced that CB2 is coming with a $500K prize pool
The Treeverse is now live on Epic Games and the Play Store (open for everyone)
The rewards season will start somewhere in the next few weeks
Battle Derby launched its P2A platform - earn OOO points by completing quests
Make sure to connect your Snag ID in-game to start earning points
Wildcard’s next exhibition event will happen this week (somewhere during GDC)
Participate and engage for a potential WC token airdrop
You can also sign up for playtesting Wildcard on Steam
MARKET TALK
“WEB3 GAMING IS DEAD”
I was away from CT this weekend and returned to a discourse on the argument of “Web3 gaming is dead” (yet again), a conversation sparked by Vader’s post. I quote:
“After billions of dollars invested in web3 game studios & thousands of games shipped in the last 4 years” and “The gaming audience doesn't care about what web3 offers and the crypto audience isn't interested in the gaming kumbaya”
These arguments point back to the discussion of the lack of crypto gaming adoption being an audience problem, as discussed 2 weeks ago
I acknowledge that audience-product misalignment is a large part of the equation, but writing "Why Does Crypto Gaming Feel Stuck?" helped me see it's more a multifaceted problem (audience, product, and builder)
Sparkc, Kam, and Arto capture it is the product and builder problem well:
Sparkc: “The 'crypto gaming is dead' crowd is missing that: the most talented team’s games aren’t ready yet, thus we haven't even tested the most promising ideas”
Kam: “Yes billions of dollars were invested but into largely inexperienced teams or first time builders who raised with nothing but a pitch deck and a trailer from VC’s blinded by greed”
Arto: “Shots on goal is not the same as playing the lottery a million times. You can learn to shoot better. Initially crypto gaming expected there to be no goalie. THAT was always a bad bet.”
Further, you could argue the "best shots on goal" can address some of the misalignment between players and games
Wildcard and its crypto “meta game” could be a strong contender here
Of course, we can’t ignore the counter-arguments of the people defending crypto gaming (also mentioned by Sparkc)
Funding is drying up, and the new wave of quality devs that entered the space over the last year has been lackluster
I.e., we’re relying on success coming out of the teams that started building multiple years ago, but we all know gaming is such a hit-driven business
Furthermore, Jonah captures some of the other inherent problems of crypto gaming as well, which pretty much comes down to many of the arguments Gabe Leydon has made
Overall, I think it’s too early to start saying “Web3 gaming is dead” (neither is it inevitable) and it’s important to understand people will create “drama” on CT when sentiment is low (people are bored)
REFLECTING ON CRYPTO GAMING 2025
Q1 2025 is almost over, so let’s reflect on a few of the accomplishments (and failures) of this quarter so far (maybe a bit premature, but sometimes I run out of ideas…):
Raises announced (remember an announcement ≠ actual date of raise), excluding funds:
ZKCandy: $4M
Beratone: $2M
Fableborne: $4.6M
Beamable: $13.5M
Goat Gaming: $4M
Gamerboom raised: $9M
Acid Labs raised: $8M
Infinity Ground raised: $2M
Peer Global: $10.5M
Auto Legends: $1M
M10: $3M
Largest events, announcements, and occurrences so far:
“The gamefi Renaissance” led by Onchain Heroes
Open Ronin and multiple teams migrating
More NFT collections pivoting to games: Goblintown and Creepz
Axie Infinity introducing Atia’s Legacy
Gaming on Abstract
Multiple studios closing and downsizing
Large underperformance of almost all new TGEs
Best performing TGEs (by highest FDV):
B3, XTER, SERAPH, and SONIC
Best performing NFTs (by volume and price performance):
Sabong Saga, Fishing Frenzy, Onchain Heroes, Fableborne Kingdoms, Pixel Heroes Adventure, and Gigaverse
Probably missed a couple of things, but these seemed the most notable to me
ON THE RISE
RCADE Network shared its roadmap and announced updates, game launches, and the RCADE TGE date
FIFA Rivals released a new trailer and is launching this Summer