By George Ward
In the past year, the play-to-earn blockchain gaming sector experienced a decline as players focused more on enhancing their gaming experience. However, DappRadar’s latest report reveals that in January 2023, gamers accounted for almost half (48%) of all dApp activity.
Increased Interest In Gaming Tokens – DappRadar
In January, the top gaming tokens experienced an average increase of 122% in market capitalization. The Gala Games ecosystem’s digital utility token, GALA, recorded a surge of 218% in price.
The report states that the growing interest in gaming tokens is due to increased attention from mainstream audiences in the industry. Gala Games, for instance, generated headlines by acquiring a new mobile gaming studio.
The gaming studio manages assets worth over $20 million and has developed 15 games. Sara Gherghelas, a blockchain analyst, stated that relying on on-chain metrics from the last two years makes it reasonable to conclude that blockchain gaming will remain a substantial part of the sector.
According to Gherghelas, blockchain gaming has already established itself as a sector in the conventional gaming industry. “As blockchain technology becomes increasingly popular, it will encourage more people to embrace Web3 games, which will eventually go mainstream,” She added.
In 2023, the Wax blockchain remains the leader in active gaming activity, boasting 331,000 unique active wallets. Although the top three blockchain gaming ecosystems witnessed an uptick in gaming protocols compared to last year, the BNB Chain was an exception.
At the start of 2023, the blockchain sector witnessed heightened activity. Robust funding contributed greatly to this increased activity.
This sets the stage for what many describe as blockchain gaming’s “building” year. Besides, this phrase encompasses the sector’s emphasis on creating more high-quality games.
$156M Invested In Blockchain-Based Gaming In January
In addition, Gherghelas commented that the level of investment flowing into this vertical is “growing considerably.” Moreover, the total investment in the blockchain gaming sector skyrocketed last year.
The total investment in 2022 was approximately $7.6 billion, which marks a 105% upswing from 2021. Notably, investments in the blockchain gaming sector exceeded $156 million last month.
Furthermore, the report emphasized the metaverse’s contribution to blockchain gaming development. It noted that the metaverse had helped increase blockchain gaming activity in 2023.
According to the findings, the trading volume for digital world-related games reached $44.5 million last month. This figure represents a 114% surge from the previous month.
Despite a 19% decline in sales, the industry’s overall growth can be traced to the accomplishments of major metaverse platforms such as Decentraland and The Sandbox. These platforms recorded an 83% and 114% rise in trading volume, respectively.
DappRadar’s 2022 report indicates that Web3 gaming made up almost 50% of all blockchain-based transactions last year.