User activity on blockchain gaming decentralized applications (DApps) skyrocketed in September: A number of games saw significant increases in the number of active users.
According to data from DappRadar, seven of the top 10 games in terms of the number of “unique wallet addresses interacting with dapp smart contracts” increased in the last 30 days, with the top five games in the green during that period.
At the time of writing this article, DApps that saw growth in the period include gaming platform Web3 Gameta, and GAMEE’s Alien Worlds, Solitaire Blitz, Benji Bananas and Splinterlands, Farmers World and Arc8 blockchain-based games.
In a blog post on September 27, DappRadar noted that eight of the current top 10 blockchain games are mobile-first, which could eventually “bring millions of users onto the blockchain.”pointing out:
“Dapp games like Gameta, Benji Bananas, Upland, and Trickshot Blitz allow anyone with a mobile device to earn crypto with little prior knowledge, investment, or risk.”
“Using daily activities like hyper-casual mobile games as a hook ensures that users find fun once they interact, while robust tokenomics can encourage daily use and retention,” he added..
DappRadar said that one of the possible reasons for a rise in popularity of blockchain games despite the bear market, is the idea of “bleeding in the bear market and running in the bull market”:
“The idea that storing cryptocurrencies and investments in a bear market pays off in a bull is all but proven at this point.”
The biggest increase in users came from Benji Bananas (Polygon) by Animoca Brands, which saw a 2,016.54% increase in the last 30 days. Notably, this game was a Web2 mobile app until March of this year. So, Animoca introduced “play to win” (P2E) elements through Ape Coin (APE), affiliated with Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Although it is not clear what caused the number of users of Benji Bananas to increase so much, this month organized a P2E gaming event that offered a number of valuable in-game NFTs to winners.
Of the top 10 games, only Axie Infinity, Trickshot Blitz and Upland have seen a decline in the last 30 days.
The rise of blockchain gaming this month comes as publications like Bloomberg note in a September 28 article that highly correlated NFT trading “frenzy” is all but dead. Notes that overall NFT trading volumes are down 97% since January as proof of that.
As Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu noted via Twitter on September 30, Merely looking at NFT sales volume metrics does not necessarily paint the full picture of NFTs or the game.
Siu highlighted that NFT prices have generally declined in line with the price of their paired assets., such as ether (ETH), while many games – which do not usually attract attention – require NFTs that are relatively cheap. Instead, he emphasized that user activity and the number of people entering the Web3 is where to focus.
6/ Judging an entire market simply by one metric is imperfect you need to take a multifaceted lens eg. @TheSandboxGame has seen record growth in users in its last season despite the market and blockchain wallets continues to rise https://t.co/brvDgCAhqh
— Yat Siu (@ysiu) September 29, 2022
6/ Judging an entire market simply by one metric is imperfect; you have to have a multifaceted lens, for example. @TheSandboxGame has seen record user growth in its latest season despite the market and blockchain wallets continuing to rise https://t.co/brvDgCAhqh
Gods Unchained breaks the top 10 NFT sales charts
For its part, the card battle game based on NFT Gods Unchained has seen their NFT sales volume creep into the top 10 for NFT sales volume in the last 30 days, according to Cryptoslam.
Gods Unchained has seen a 373.25% increase in the last 30 days, standing at $10.8 million at the time of writing.. This is the first time the game has surpassed $10 million in NFT sales since January, after a very slow period between February and August.
This could be due to talk of a “Season 2” update to improve gameplay and lore, as GameStop is offering free NFT packs to Pro members this month.. Additionally, an esports tournament with a $70,000 prize pool was announced earlier this week.
Gods Unchained has also seen a significant increase in active users in the last 30 days, gaining 28.50% to stand at around 14,180. according to DappRadar. However, the game still has a long way to go to reach the top 10, as its user count puts it at number twenty-eight.
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