Yield Guild Games


                    
                    The “failed” blockchain games are those that have seen their 14-day moving average number of active users down more than 99% from its peak.
                    More than three-quarters of all blockchain games launched in the last five years are dead in the water, according to a recent study from CoinGecko.Out of 2,817 games launched between 2018 and 2023, which were included in the study, only 690 of them still have a somewhat active player base. CoinGecko defines a “failed” Web3 game as one where the 14-day moving average number of active users drops 99% or more from its peak.More than 75% of Web3 games have failed over the last five years. Source: CoinGeckoWhile 2021 saw the highest number of blockchain games launched in a single year with 738 games, the following year — marred by major crypto collapses, saw the highest number of games to fizzle out, with 742 failing in a single year.This puts the average failure rate of Web3 games at around 80% for any given year since 2018, according to CoinGecko. CoinGecko noted that years of lower failure tended to coincide with the back of bull markets, while higher failure years came toward the start of bear market cycles. Related: Free-to-play Web3 games hold the key to mass adoption — YGG co-founderCryptoKitties was one of the first Web3 games that gathered hype in late 2017, but its adoption has since fizzled out. Decentraland, The Sandbox and Axie Infinity are among other Web3 games that have launched in the earlier years and are still widely used today.Per recent data, Alien Worlds, Splinterlands and Planet IX had the three highest average unique active wallets used between Jan. 1 and Apr. 22, 2023, according to CoinGecko.While 2022 had the highest number of failed games, 2023 has slowed the trend, with only 507 failed projects as of Nov. 27.“The lower failure rate could perhaps indicate a stabilization in the state of web3 gaming,” CoinGecko said.Magazine: 65% plunge in Web3 Games in ’23 but ‘real hits’ coming, $26M NFL Rivals NFT: Web3 Gamer

Over 75% of Web3 games ‘failed’ in last five years: CoinGecko


                    
                    Three gaming executives believe mainstream audiences will play a factor in the overall success and future of Web3 games.  
                    Web3 game developers have been battling to gain the attention of mainstream audiences for years, and according to three former gaming executives, that market is essential for the industry’s future. Video games have become a favorite pastime for a lot of people all over the world and have even evolved into a sport. Overall, there are more than three billion Web2 gamers worldwide as of 2023, according to Exploding Topics. Most are considered casual gamers who play regularly but rarely invest significant time.Jennifer Poulson, who has worked in the gaming industry for 18 years, including at Web2 gaming companies Bandai Namco (Tekken, Elden Ring, PacMan) and Riot Games (League of Legends), believes mainstream audiences are “absolutely” important for the future of Web3 games.Speaking to Cointelegraph, Poulson, who is currently vice president of game partnerships at Immutable Games, said in her mind, “Bringing mainstream players into the Web3 space will be essential in the coming years.”“However, it isn’t so much that we need to entice mainstream players to take the leap into Web3; rather, we need to be building games that are fun to play and will appeal to all gamers,” she added.Mainstream gamers aren’t particularly fond of crypto, especially when nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are involved. Blockchain entertainment firm Coda Labs released its Global Web3 Gamer Study in 2022 and found traditional gamers were not fans of crypto or NFTs. Respondents rated their feelings about them at 4.5 and 4.3 out of 10, respectively.Poulson believes working with mainstream publishers and studios will be crucial for the future of Web3 games.Because “it’s less about attracting mainstream audiences, and more about working with publishers and studios to understand how and why to integrate Web3 elements into their games.” Related: Grinding out a living: Can blockchain games really offer a sustainable income?“The reality is that these are all just games. Some have Web3 elements, and some don’t; as long as they are fun to play, this is what, in essence, determines whether a game is successful or not,” Poulson added. Web2 gaming companies have also been hesitant to adopt Web3. According to a Nov. 13 State of Web3 Gaming report released by Game7 — a decentralized autonomous organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of blockchain technology in gaming — six out of 10 Web3 games are being excluded from mainstream distribution platforms. However, the report found some progress in marrying the mainstream with Web3 and blockchain games. Video game digital distribution service Epic Games Store has been listing more Web3 games every year, peaking at an all-time high of 69 in October 2023.Could Web3 games survive without a mainstream audience?Mainstream audiences are important for the future of Web3 and blockchain games, but if the bulk of those players don’t ever make the switch, Poulson believes they will survive and likely “continue as they are today.” Related: Web3 gaming investors more ‘choosy’ in crypto winter — Animoca’s Robby YungHowever, she thinks that eventually, all games will have elements of Web3, whether gamers are aware of them or not. “More than likely, the underlying technology will morph into the mainstream gaming world where the average gamer can finally realize the benefits it offers, especially when it comes to ownership of in-game digital assets,” Poulson said. “Eventually, gamers will not know they are even playing a blockchain game; the Web3 elements will be so seamlessly integrated into gameplay that it will be a similar experience to what playing a game is today.” Daniel Paez, a former senior manager at major gaming company Blizzard (Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft), also thinks mainstream audiences are critical for the future of Web3 games because of the sheer size of the player base. According to an Oct. 9 report from CoinGecko, over 800,000 people play Web3 games daily, regardless of market conditions. However, on average, the Web2 game Minecraft has over 11.9 million daily players.Paez, the current vice president and executive director for the Web3 card game Gods Unchained, told Cointelegraph that while mainstream audiences are necessary for Web3 and blockchain games to thrive, he is not convinced they are required to survive. According to Paez, the key to longevity for Web3 games will be to focus more on the player experience instead of blockchain elements. “This, of course, puts them into direct competition with thousands of other games, but the benefits greatly outweigh the cons,” he said. “The market for gamers is significantly larger, and you begin to build out communities of players who share the game experience with each other, as opposed to communities of users who hold assets from the same game.”Paez says Web3 games in search of “longer lifespans” will need the mainstream audience long term because selling content and experiences to players is the foundation of the games industry.“The challenge for blockchain games is figuring out how the blockchain element can really improve the perceived value a player has of the game,” Paez said. “The payoffs from figuring this out are huge!” he added. According to the online data gathering platform Statista, the traditional gaming market is projected to generate over $400 billion in 2023. It is expected to continue growing and reach $584 billion by 2027. In contrast, the Web3 and blockchain game market has yet to come close to such lofty heights. According to data from market intelligence firm Grand View Research, it was valued at just over $4.8 billion in 2022, with projections predicting growth in the coming years. Ultimately, Paez believes there will always be room for more “GameFi-esque type games,” however, they will be at the mercy of the crypto markets, which are notoriously volatile.GameFi, short for game finance, allows players to earn rewards in the form of tokens or NFTs. Players can then use these rewards to purchase in-game assets and cash them out for fiat currency. One breakthrough application will be all it takesMichael Rubinelli, who has previously worked at Disney, THQ and Electronic Arts, told Cointelegraph he thinks mass market adoption is vital for the future of Web3 gaming.Rubinelli, who is currently the chief gaming officer at Web3 gaming platform WAX, said that to attract players, there needs to be a “guiding principle” that clearly shows the benefits of Web3 to both Web2 developers and players. This “breakthrough application” is what Rubinelli says Web3 games are in search of right now. “Until such a killer application emerges, conventional gaming companies are likely to remain observers, awaiting guidance from those who pioneer the path,” Rubinelli said.Related: Free-to-play Web3 games hold the key to mass adoption — YGG co-founderIt’s anyone’s guess if mainstream gaming companies will ever come on board with Web3 games. According to a 2022 survey of Web2 game developers by Coda Labs, three out of four expect to work on Web3 games in the future but did not provide a firm timeline. Overall, Rubinelli thinks Web2 gamers are important but feels a key indicator of whether Web3 games will stand the test of time will be whether the industry can achieve specific objectives.“It’s not about whether a mainstream audience is drawn in or not; rather, it’s about reaching a pivotal moment that enables all stakeholders to achieve their product and business objectives,” he said.“Even if the audience doesn’t materialize, the enduring concept remains: players desire ownership and control over their digital assets.”

Mainstream approval critical for blockchain games — Gaming execs

Source: AdobeStock / 2ragon To increase adoption, in 2024, most successful Web3 games will move away from the play-to-earn (P2E) model to free-to-play, according to Gabby Dizon, the co-founder of Yield Guild Games. Dizon told Cointelegraph that a new wave of Web3 games will be taking over soon. Now we see games like Axie Infinity […]
The post Web3 Game Adoption Hinges on Free-to-Play Approach, Says YGG Co-Founder appeared first on Cryptonews.

Web3 Game Adoption Hinges on Free-to-Play Approach, Says YGG Co-Founder


                    
                    Gabby Dizon, the founder and CEO of Yield Guild Games says a renewed focus on free-to-play gaming will help put a booster on Web3 game adoption.
                    Next year’s most successful Web3 games will pivot from play-to-earn (P2E) to instead focus on being completely free-to-play to dr in players, says Yield Guild Games CEO and co-founder Gabby Dizon. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Dizon said unlike games such as Axie Infinity — which require players to purchase at least three Axie nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to play — the new wave of hyper-successful Web3 games will seek to remove as many of the financial and technical barriers to entry as possible. “There's this big realization that for millions of people to be able to get into a game, they have to be free-to-play first.”“There's an evolution of the business model where the games are free to play, and then at some point along the way while you're playing, then you're able to mint an NFT or start earning tokens, but a lot of new games aren't really starting with requiring NFT ownership at the start,” he said.This shift towards a free-to-play model is part of a wider effort from Web3 game developers to put gameplay first and tokenomics second, Dizon explained.He added the shift forms a large part of the solution to speculative Web3 gaming bubbles. By creating games that players want to keep playing, they’ll reinvest their capital in the game and prevent the in-game economy from becoming a cash-generating machine, Dizon sa. Running near-parallel to the decline in crypto prices, blockchain games witnessed their own downturn as players and revenues trickled out of the ecosystem following the sudden collapse in Axie Infinity-related asset values in late 2021. Surveys from October 2022 showed that even the most adamant crypto gamers were leaving in droves citing the over-financialization of gameplay, lack of fun,and confusion around crypto wallet tech.Dizon thinks all of that is about to change. “After Axie became popular two years ago, a lot of very experienced teams took a look at its rapid ascent and thought: 'Now it's a real industry, maybe I could do better by making my own game,'” he said.“A lot of these teams got funding in late 2021 and for a really good game, it typically takes maybe 2 to 3 years to make.”For the past 18 months, Dizon and other Web3 gaming industry leaders have been eagerly awaiting the launch of a series of new Web3 games in Q4 such as the Nov. 16 open beta Epic Games store launch of the blockchain-based trading card game Parallel. PRIME time is almost here. https://t.co/fXBVvboxx6— Gabby Dizon | YGG ️⚔️ (@gabusch) November 19, 2023

“Expect to see lots of really high-quality games, with high-quality teams behind them as well as new experiments in tokenomics and earning models,” he said.Related: Blockchain game Illuvium goes mainstream with looming Epic Games Store listingDizon pointed to the introduction of the ERC-6551 token standard or “token bound” accounts in gaming as a reason to be excited about blockchain-based games in the future as some developers are using it to thread artificial intelligence into games.“You can actually start attaching AI behaviors to your avatar and you can give it instructions: ‘I want you to go out to the world, craft me a gun, kill some monsters, and then bring the treasure back,’” Dizon said. “Then, a few hours later, you can check the wallet that's embedded in it and it's like, oh, I got these things back.”Dizon believes this kind of automation will greatly reduce the amount of “grinding” needed in games — allowing players to jump in for the fun parts while leaving the boring stuff to AI. “I think it's going to be the start of a new game genre of you interacting with AI and not having to play the game all day,” he said. “You set parameters for the AI and just let it do things in the game world.”“It's going to get really interesting, man.”Magazine: Asia Express: No civil protection for crypto in China, $300K to list coins in Hong Kong?

Free-to-play Web3 games hold the key to mass adoption, YGG co-founder

Meanwhile, he also predicted that MATIC could rise to as high as $1.50 if it breaks above $0.92. In a YouTube video, the analyst mentioned that an upcoming gaming conference could lead to GMT and YGG surging. An analyst from Crypto Banter shared that RUNE, SOL, MATIC, YGG, and GMT are good altcoins to purchase […]
The post 5 Best Altcoins To Buy This Week as the Market Begins to Rebound appeared first on Coin Edition.

5 Best Altcoins To Buy This Week as the Market Begins to Rebound

The altcoins market has recently witnessed a resurgence of interest and confidence, primarily driven by the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC). This renewed enthusiasm has resulted in a bull uptrend, with most of the top 100 cryptocurrencies benefiting from Bitcoin’s resurgence.  However, the market is currently experiencing a correction as Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) face pullbacks after failed attempts to breach upper resistance lines. Despite this correction, crypto analyst Miles Deutscher shares insights and highlights several altcoins with potentially significant gains. SOL Emerges As Safe Haven In Crypto Market Correction Solana has exhibited remarkable growth, even as the broader market experiences a correction. With a 0.5% gain in the past 24 hours, SOL’s potential for further upside cannot be ignored.  Deutscher suggests that SOL may continue to benefit from the ongoing rotation of investments from other Layer-1 solutions like Avalanche (AVAX) and Fantom (FTM). Thorchain (RUNE) has been on an impressive upward trajectory, prompting investors to consider buying on deep corrections and wicks. The primary decentralized exchange (DEX) on Thorchain, THOR, has also shown positive movement, further bolstering the growth potential. Polygon (MATIC) has recently shown signs of strength and has generated whispers within the crypto community about a potential zero-knowledge (ZK) narrative. If this narrative materializes, MATIC, a leader in the space, could attract significant positive flows.  Related Reading: Cardano: Midnight Devnet Goes Live – Trigger For New ADA Rally? Within the ZK narrative, altcoins like Dusk Network (DUSK), Loopring (LRC), and Mina Protocol (MINA) are poised to benefit. Deutscher believes that each altcoin offers unique strengths and value propositions, and their performance will depend on the strength of the emerging ZK narrative. Soteria (SEI) has gained attention as it enters the top 10 for volume traded by pairs on Upbit. Considered a “new coin,” SEI exhibits fundamentals similar to the next altcoin on the watchlist. Tidal Finance (TIA) is a relatively new token similar to the early days of Aptos (APT). The market tends to favor new and innovative tokens, and although TIA’s rally may have started to cool off, it still holds explosive potential. With a current market capitalization of $700 million, TIA remains an intriguing opportunity for investors. DEX And Gaming Altcoins Poised To Thrive In addition to altcoins, perp decentralized exchange (DEX) tokens like GMX, DYDX, and Gnosis (GNS) are positioned to benefit from market volatility. According to Deutscher, these tokens have shown a correlation between price movements and fundamental factors. If volatility persists, these tokens could present favorable medium-term investment opportunities. Yield Guild Games (YGG) and Gamestarter (GMT), gaming tokens with initial upward movements, are expected to continue outperforming the broader market. These gaming tokens could witness sustained growth with the YGG conference scheduled for November 18. Related Reading: Crypto.com Acquires License In Dubai As Cronos (CRO) Price Slips While the current correction in the cryptocurrency market has led to pullbacks in Bitcoin and Ethereum, the altcoin landscape still offers potential opportunities for investors.  Solana’s continued uptrend, along with the prospects of altcoins like Thorchain, Polygon, and those associated with the ZK narrative, suggest possible avenues for growth. Additionally, emerging tokens like Soteria and Tidal Finance, perp DEX tokens, and gaming tokens may also provide favorable investment prospects.  (This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk). Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com