Published on: 02/12/2022
DappRadar: Blockchain gaming industry survives crypto winter
DappRadar and the Blockchain Gaming Alliance have reported that the blockchain gaming industry remained strong throughout November despite the fall of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
According to the report, the number of daily unique active wallets (dUAWs) averaged 800,875 last month, down from just over 900,000 in the previous two months. Blockchain games accounted for 46 percent of total blockchain activities as they continued to dominate the crypto space — ahead of decentralized finance.
WAX, the most popular gaming protocol, saw a four percent increase in daily activities in November, with an average of 344,284 UAWs per day, up from October. Furthermore, with 212,000 dUAWs, WAX’s AlienWorlds increased its user base by 25 percent.
Splinterlands landed in second place, trailing only WAX’s AlienWorlds, with 169,000 dUAWs, a five percent increase from the previous month. “Upland, the AR mobile estate game, continues to decline in activity, and in October, it reached 31,595 dUAW,” the report reads.
In October, BNB Chain, a distributed blockchain network, was the second-most popular gaming protocol, with an average of 171,269 dUAWs, but experienced a 35 percent drop in November.
Hive surpassed BNB Chain as the second-most popular gaming protocol in November. Despite an eight percent decrease last month, it still has an average of 156,369 dUAWs this month.
The mobile game Trickshot Blitz had an increase in the number of activities by 70 percent month over month, reaching 23,086 dUAWs. According to the report, interest in Axie Infinity also declined. They had an average of 19,434 dUAWs in October, a 21 percent decrease from September.
The report also revealed that FTX’s collapse had affected a few blockchains. The Solana blockchain, which was tightly associated with FTX, took a major hit. Solana’s gaming activities dropped by 89.42 percent last month to just 2,326 dUAWs, the lowest it has ever recorded.
Metaverse stats last month
Last month, The Sandbox completed Alpha Season 3, with over 353,000 unique users across 98 brand-generated experiences. While The Sandbox’s NFT trading volume tumbled by around 33 percent to just over $1 million, it finished the month with large land sales.
The Sandbox is auctioning off 1,967 LANDs in a current sale, which includes 50 estates, 695 regular LANDs, 134 premium LANDs and 19 one-of-a-kind LANDs. Both standard and premium LAND sales will be distributed using a blind ballot system.
The sales began on November 24 and will continue until early in the New Year, potentially contributing to a significant increase in The Sandbox’s trading volume next month.
Decentraland, another popular metaverse, also saw a drop last month, with its trading volume falling 54 percent and sales down more than 23 percent. The decrease in metaverse land sales is tied to the events at FTX, which accelerated a drop in land trading volume that started in July.
Despite the drop in metaverse sales, the overall health of the blockchain gaming space appears to be positive, based on the amount of money invested. Throughout November, blockchain games and metaverse projects successfully raised $534 million in new funding. Fenix Games, a Web3 game publisher, spent $150 million last month to acquire, invest, and distribute its blockchain game investments.
