Summary
- Blockchain gaming showing strong signs of resistance to crash with 197% YoY growth
- Investment in blockchain gaming on course for $10b by EoY
The past few weeks have been a bloodbath than some have seen before, but at no more hardened to its heat. Every token and project has been hit and it feels as if the neverending procession of bad, market-moving news is speeding up. But, there is some warmth to bask in if you’re looking for a safe haven.
Contrary to what some may believe, I don’t seek positive statistics in crypto; in fact, I spend a lot of time looking at the negative ones in an effort to avoid confirmation bias. However, blockchain gaming as a subsector of crypto has a lot of reasons to feel bullish, even in such a drastic downturn.
When it comes to research on the industry, I lean on a few resources more than any others: DappRadar (which includes Blockchain Gaming Alliance), Chainalysis, and Greyscale Research. There is a swamp of statistics currently — particularly since the Terra crash — that show at best a slow of growth, and at worst, a massive contraction. In May we saw fewer NFTs traded, USD trading volume down by 20%, DeFi market value down by 45%, as well as “hundreds of billions more stablecoins than usual sold for cash.”
So, where’s the good news? In DappRadar’s May 2022 report:
Investments keep piling up to Blockchain games. The gaming category is resisting the crypto crash with only a 5% decrease in activity and 197% growth year-over-year.
I will compound this further with some stats from earlier this year and before. In 2020, investment in blockchain gaming was around $80 million, and in 2021 that grew to over $4 billion. From the middle of April until the middle of May this year, we saw $3 billion invested in blockchain games and we’re on course for $10 billion by end of year.
Nevertheless, there are arguably areas padding the great numbers for blockchain gaming and the metaverse. For example, Bored Ape Yacht Club’s metaverse project, Otherside, made up $760 million of the $850 million spent on gaming and metaverse NFTs in May — the highest number for any single month.
We are in bleak times, there’s no doubt about it, but for our little corner of crypto, there is dry land and hope. Growth and investment in the sector are still superb and show no signs of slowing down, at least not in accordance with the rest of the industry. All we can do is keep our heads down and keep building.
