Blockchain Games See a Drop in Users and Volume After Strong Performance in May

Ruholamin Haqshanas
Last updated: | 2 min read
Source: AdobeStock / Anton

 

Blockchain games have seen a drop in the number of users and trading volume over the past 30 days after delivering strong results in May.

The top three blockchain-based games in terms of users, Alien Worlds, Axie Infinity, and Splinterlands, have seen a 12%, 37%, and 9% drop, respectively, in the number of unique wallet addresses interacting with the games over the past 30 days, according to data by DappRadar.

The trading volume across Alien Worlds and Axie Infinity has also fallen sharply, dropping by around 73% and 60%, respectively.

Meanwhile, in total, more than 805,420 users interacted with blockchain games on June 21, compared to 1.25m on May 21, according to DappRadar.

Likewise, the trading volume across blockchain games was around USD 6.98m on June 21, compared to USD 19.8m on May 21, which represents a drop of around 65%.

The downturn in blockchain gaming comes after the industry delivered strong results in May, defying the bear market.

According to a report by DappRadar, blockchain games “fiercely” defied the bear market expectations in May with sustained growth and little to no drop in the number of users.

“Blockchain games are the vertical keeping pace up for the entire industry in a harsh bear season blasting the market,” the report said, adding that blockchain games have “confirmed their status as the blockchain vertical that is better navigating the bear season.”

More specifically, 1.15 million daily Unique Active Wallets (UAW) interacted with blockchain games like Splinterlands, Illuvium, and GRIT on average in May, decreasing only 5% from the previous month.

In comparison, being affected by the crypto market crash, the activity across the decentralized application (dapp) industry fell to its lowest point since last September, registering 2.22 million daily Unique Active Wallets (UAW) in May.

Meanwhile, Illuvium´s first land sale, Splinterlands, The Galaverse, and move-to-earn projects have kept the interest in blockchain gaming alive in May.

Splinterlands, a collectible card game that has become the most active blockchain game, attracted 350,000 daily UAW in May, shrinking only 4% compared to the earlier month.

The game also successfully launched the sale of its first 2,000 governance token SPS validator node licenses on May 26, which sold out in less than 15 minutes, burning SPS 14.5m and allocating almost USD 4m to the game’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

Illuvium, one of the most anticipated blockchain games, managed to sell 20,000 land plots for ETH 4,018 (worth USD 72m at the time of the sale) in May despite the unfavorable market conditions.

Moreover, the popular move-to-earn (M2E) game registered 2 million monthly users last month. The project’s governance token GMT also became a popular option among investors as the number of unique wallets holding the token kept rising despite the sour market sentiment.

There has also been a consistent amount of capital flowing into the blockchain gaming industry. Since May, USD 1.4bn has been raised by Web 3 games and related metaverse projects. In total, USD 4.9bn has been poured into the industry so far this year.

“Blockchain gaming is proving to be a true survivor during this bear market,” DappRadar concluded. “We are on the cusp of finally seeing a good amount of blockchain games with truly immersive game mechanics that take entertainment to the next level.”

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