Blockchain Gaming Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Game Type (Role Playing Games (RPG), Multiplayer Games, and Collectible Games), By Technology (Web-based, Android, and iOS), and Regional Forecast, 2023–2030

The global blockchain gaming market size was valued at USD 128.62 billion in 2022. The market is projected to grow from USD 154.46 billion in 2023 to USD 614.91 billion in 2030 at a CAGR of 21.8% during 2023–2030.

A blockchain game is a video game with features utilizing cryptography-based blockchain technologies. It uses elements of blockchain, such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency in the games, allowing the players to buy, sell, trade, and earn revenue through the game by making transactions. These platforms provide gamers with a transparent environment to trade in-game assets and create new opportunities.

Blockchain technology has revolutionized the gaming industry by opening new opportunities, allowing secure and transparent transactions, innovative gameplay mechanics, and new ways to play games. For instance,

• In 2017, CryptoKitties was the first known blockchain game where players could breed, own, and exchange kitties as assets in the game. This game falls into the pay-to-earn category, where players must first buy the Ethereum cryptocurrency. After purchasing this currency, players are able to buy a virtual pet that acts as an NFT.

Moreover, blockchain technology has become conventional and widely adopted across various gaming industries as more developers are incorporating blockchain features into their games by providing real economic incentives and transforming gaming into a feasible source of income for professional players and streamers.

The market report provides a study of blockchain gaming services offered by market players such as Dapper Labs, Inc., Sky Mavis, Animoca Brands Corporation Limited, Illuvium, and others.

COVID-19 IMPACT

Increasing Adoption of Online Gaming among Users amid COVID-19 Pandemic Boosted Market Growth

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted various markets across the globe. With most of the world's population under lockdown, virtual gaming platforms experienced a spike in traffic and usage. This created major activity on blockchain-based gaming platforms, notably higher than usual.

The social distancing protocol amid the pandemic encouraged the entire population to go online for basic needs, remote working, and entertainment. The sudden interest in blockchain gaming has observed a rise in community engagements concerning sharing information and earning more through crypto gaming. For instance,

• In March 2020, The Sandbox, a mobile creation game, launched a virtual space called LAND. This game enabled Ethereum users to buy more LAND with non-fungible token technology.

The COVID-19 pandemic positively affected the market due to the increased demand for blockchain gaming technologies and better gaming experiences.

LATEST TRENDS

Growing Demand for Decentralized Games for Better Gaming Experience Propels Market Growth

Blockchain technology has revolutionized the gaming industry with the emergence of decentralized gaming. This innovative concept reshapes gamers' interaction with virtual worlds, offering various benefits. Decentralized gaming influences blockchain technology to offer players ownership of in-game assets, transparency, and better security. For instance,

• Oasys is a decentralized blockchain gaming platform that characterizes the objectives of Web3. It offers possession in the hands of developers and players and allows maximum flexibility regarding how to monetize their products best.

In addition, with players fully owning their in-game assets, play to earn games have developed an essential part of the crypto world, enabling players to earn rewards simply for playing and achieving missions. The blockchain based games offer rewards such as tokens and NFTs, which can be traded for other tokens or sold on dedicated exchanges. This creates a new level of value for in-game assets in blockchain technology.

With the potential to transform the gaming industry, decentralized gaming will become the future, favoring significant growth in the market during the forecast period.

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DRIVING FACTORS

Increasing Demand for NFTs and Cryptocurrencies across the Gaming Industry Aids Market Growth

The convergence of blockchain technology and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has led to the evolution of the gaming industry. These cutting-edge technologies transform gamers’ experience, create multiple opportunities, and introduce ownership and value to the gaming ecosystem.

NFTs have gained popularity as a new way for creators to monetize their digital content, offering a new way for gamers to collect and trade in-game items to generate revenue. NFTs are a sense of community as players collaborate, trade, and compete in a decentralized ecosystem. For instance,

• In November 2023, JJCVerse, an idealistic project managed by dedicated gamers, is accompanying a new era by integrating blockchain and NFT systems and introducing its digital currency, JJC coin, and functional NFTs into the gaming universe.

With the adoption of NFTs in blockchain technologies, gamers can have more ownership and productive making opportunities. This also helps generate economic returns on their time invested in gaming sessions, fueling the growth of the market.

RESTRAINING FACTORS

Implementation of Regulatory Framework across Blockchain Platforms Restrains Market Growth

Various law enforcement agencies are regulating their oversight of the crypto sector. The regulatory framework adjoining cryptocurrencies and NFTs might disappoint gamers and developers from discovering blockchain games to their full potential.

Moreover, some governments have engaged various alternatives to control cryptocurrencies, while others have excluded or restricted their use. In addition, it creates insecurity for game developers and players, challenging the regulatory and legal landscape. As blockchain technology evolves and matures, regulatory frameworks are likely to advance to report these issues.

According to the Blockchain Game Alliance report, the adoption of games by the players is still a major obstacle for this industry. As per this report, 51% of the users believe that player onboarding availability is the biggest challenge, while 37.2% consider poor gameplay an issue. These factors may affect the demand for this industry.

The implementation of regulatory frameworks across cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and virtual economies is a major restraining factor for global expansion.

SEGMENTATION

By Game Type Analysis

Role Playing Games to Grow in Popularity Due to Special Features Offered on Gaming Platforms

Based on game type, the market is categorized into Role Playing Games (RPG), multiplayer games, and collectible games. The role playing games segment is set to hold the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to game developers’ creation of gaming platforms with special characters, themes, additional weapons, accessories, and other features. Such games focus on particular characters or figures in games while playing. The players play the role of the game character to battle against the opponent and unlock special rewards.

With the integration of blockchain technology in the RPG, users can create their characters and items by enabling ownership of digital assets, items, and characters, constituting control over their gaming experience. For instance,

• In September 2023, Planetarium Labs, a Web3 gaming company, introduced two innovative blockchain games, Verse8 and Immortal Rising 2, the company’s fully on-chain idle RPG game. These games were launched to redefine the gaming experience for players.

Multiplayer gaming has become increasingly popular as it is getting both traction and participation from regular gamers. The trend is enduring with the collectible games segment due to the requirement of unique digital assets that can be stored on a blockchain and traded or sold securely and transparently.

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By Technology Analysis

Web-based Games Witnesses Increasing Demand Owing to Easy Access and User-Friendly Gaming Experience

Based on technology, the market is analyzed into web-based, Android, and iOS. The web-based segment holds the highest market share due to its easy accessibility and user-friendly gaming experience. The web-based games can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, which allows developers to reach a wider number of gamers or players than with a traditional application. For instance,

• In March 2023, Zone, a blockchain gaming enterprise, introduced a crypto-gaming platform for gamers in Kenya. The web-based platform will enable gamers to play and direct payouts of prizes along with deficient transaction payments and ensure complete trust.

The Android segment is projected to grow substantially over the forecast period. The adoption of smartphones, in-app purchases, open-source environment, and ease of development of the Android system favor segment growth.

REGIONAL INSIGHTS

Geographically, the market is categorized into five key regions: North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific.

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North America holds the highest blockchain gaming market share. It is expected to continue its dominance due to the popularity of NFTs among users. According to WAX’s survey, 50% of blockchain gamers in the U.S. own cryptocurrency, while 80% of the players are interested in using their cryptocurrency to make transactions in gaming. Owing to this, various U.S. gaming companies are integrating blockchain services in the games that would serve as a digital art marketplace. For instance,

• In October 2022, Horizon Blockchain Games raised USD 40 million in Series A funding to grow products and scale operations. This funding enabled Horizon to grow Sequence, an all-in-one developer platform and smart wallet in Web3 games, and introduce Niftyswap, a Semi-Fungible Token (SFT) marketplace.

Europe is expected to grow prominently during the forecast period. This is due to proactive support and investments by governments and tech giants across the region to create a beneficial environment for gaming development and support interactive experiences. For instance,

• In March 2023, Nefta, a Web3 technology platform, partnered with Block Born, a blockchain gaming launchpad provider. By integrating Nefta’s whitelabel suite into Block Born’s platform, it enables developers access to tools for developing effective Web3 games.

Asia Pacific is expected to hold the highest CAGR over the forecast period due to the huge number of gaming players and the presence of gaming developers in China, Japan, and South Korea. The interest in blockchain technology is growing due to the popularity of mobile gaming among the new generation and heavy investments made by various Web2 gaming companies in experimenting with adopting Web3 components. For instance,

• In April 2023, Square Enix partnered with Elixir, a Web3 platform company, to drive the adoption of blockchain games Symbiogenesis, an NFT-focused game, and allow more Web3 games on the store.

The blockchain gaming market growth in the Middle East and South America regions is mainly driven by the growing gaming industry, Web3 development, and strengthening regional investment. Moreover, with growing smartphone penetration, the number of people playing mobile games is increasing, helping the acceleration of the consumption rate.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

Market Leaders Focus on Expanding Their Product Offerings to Gain Competitive Edge

Key players in the global market, such as Dapper Labs, Inc., Sky Mavis, Animoca Brands Corporation Limited, Illuvium, WAX, and others, are focused on expanding their geographic boundaries. These companies are introducing new gaming experiences to bring digital ownership to the users by making it safe and through easy Web3 games.

List of the Key Companies Profiled:

• Dapper Labs Inc. (Canada)


• Sky Mavis (Singapore)


• Animoca Brands Corporation Limited. (China)


• Illuvium (U.S.)


• WAX (China)


• Immutable (U.S.)


• The Sandbox (China)


• Mythical Inc. (U.S.)


• Splinterlands (U.S.)


• Wemade Co., Ltd. (South Korea)

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS:

• November 2023 – Sky Mavis partnered with ACT Games, a Korean publisher, to announce ACT’s gaming titles to the Ronin network, an Ethereum sidechain. The partnership would initiate the integration of ACT Games into the Ronin network, creating an essential step in imposing blockchain technology for gaming.


• October 2023 – Animoca Brands announced the acquisition of Azarus, a Web3 streaming platform company. The acquisition aimed to adopt Azarus’ advanced technology into Animoca Brands’ collection by enhancing streaming abilities within Web3 games.


• June 2023 – Illuvium collaborated with GameStop, a video game and product platform, by introducing about 20,000 Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) collections, signifying a specific avatar of an Illuvial with a different expression.


• June 2023 – GameOn, a Web3 game developer, raised USD 1.7 million in funding from Dapper Labs and Lightning Capital for its gaming platform for digital collectibles, PLAYN3XT. The funding would improve its PLAYN3XT gaming platform, allowing sports and gaming players to own and use their digital collectibles through collaborative gameplay.


• March 2023 – Immutable announced a partnership with Polygon Labs, an Ethereum scaling blockchain protocol developing company, to accelerate the adoption of Web3 gaming. This partnership would offer best-in-class platform products with Polygon's technology to increase digital ownership for gamers globally.

REPORT COVERAGE

The research report includes prominent regions across the globe to gain a better understanding of blockchain gaming. Furthermore, it provides insights into the most recent industry and market trends and an analysis of video games that are being adopted globally. It also emphasizes some of the growth-stimulating factors and restraints, allowing the reader to obtain a thorough understanding of the industry.

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REPORT SCOPE & SEGMENTATION