Just a few days ago, we looked at the DappRadar 2021 industry report and found a spread of interesting details. It’s clear the direction blockchain gaming is going with growth so wild that it wouldn’t make sense if it were outside of the madhouse that is crypto. And as the year comes to a close, more reports are being published that further flesh out the details of just how impactful 2021 has been for blockchain gaming.
BGA 2021 Report: Key Takeaways
The Blockchain Gaming Alliance formed around the same time that we did — 2018 — and their aims are simple: raise awareness and accelerate adoption. They have a number of key figures on their board and members include the likes of Galaxy Interactive, Polygon, Ubisoft, AMD, Polkadot, and many others. As a result, they have access to a lot of information most do not, and their report for 2021 makes for interesting reading.
There is a lot of overlap with DappRadar’s report as their report was one of the sources of data for BGA’s report. Nevertheless, it’s worth looking at all of the key takeaways. Below are the most noteworthy points:
- From week 1 of Q1 2021 to Q3 2021, the number of wallets interacting with blockchain games went up 2,453%.
- WAX blockchain’s number of active wallets grew by 1,082%.
- Splinterlands increased its active users by 3,267% from the end of Q2 2021.
- Virtual world dapps (loosely “metaverses”) had their market cap exceed $4.6 billion by the end of November.
- Over $4 billion was invested in blockchain gaming companies, with Forte leading the way after raising $900 million alone.
It is worth reading both this report and DappRadar’s report in full as there is nuance that isn’t easily captured in bite-sized stats. For example, one of the most interesting findings from BGA’s research was that 68% of respondents see Play to Earn as the biggest driver of growth, but 85% say true ownership of digital items is the most important aspect of blockchain gaming. I could not agree with these two statements more and it’s encouraging that much of the industry appears to be on the same page.
While there is a mountain of positives to encourage those on either side of the current crypto fence, there are a few considerations that I am going to unpack in an upcoming article on the state of blockchain gaming. The primary one highlighted in this report is that over half of the respondents listed “regulatory uncertainty” as the biggest industry challenge. This isn’t too much of an issue for indie studios, but it’s likely a large barrier for the big publishers and developers in gaming.
As I wrote earlier this week, 2021 has been a significant milestone for blockchain gaming, but it’s an hors d’oeuvre compared to what is to come.
