The web3 gaming market is exploding, and big studios are taking note.
According to a report by Coingecko, 29 of the world's 40 largest gaming companies are already investing in web3, either by developing their own blockchain games, investing in web3 gaming projects, or hiring for blockchain positions.
The world is one breakout game away from seeing web3 gaming go mainstream. Thanks to our platform, game studios can now effortlessly develop, distribute, and monetize their games without worrying about the underlying technology and its complexities – all they need to do is focus on making high-quality, fun games players will enjoy.
But why should you build a web3 game anyway? Here are three reasons why top gaming studios are capitalizing on blockchain gaming.
Reason 1: Massive Market Opportunity
Game studios are waking up to the blue ocean opportunity of web3 gaming, with recent projections estimating the market will grow from $4.6 billion in 2022 to a staggering $65.7 billion by 2027.
Our very own Robbie Ferguson, co-founder and President of Immutable, is incredibly bullish on the future of web3 gaming. "Everyone is still massively underestimating how big web3 gaming is going to be," he stated at the recent Token2049 conference.
This is why, here at Immutable, we partnered with King River Capital and Polygon Labs to launch the world’s largest ($100 million) web3 gaming fund, which will support developers and studios in transitioning to web3 gaming.
With over 330+ games now building on Immutable, nearly 40% of these games will be launched in 2024. There's been nearly $20 billion US invested into games and gaming platforms in the last 4 years.
Beyond substantial funding, gamers are also entering the web3 gaming space, with monthly active users skyrocketing this year.
The game plan for studios is laid out: the funding is there, the player base is growing – all that’s left is to focus on creating fun games that people want to play.
Reason 2: New Digital Ownership, Distribution & Monetization Models
Web3 gaming is uniquely positioned to align the incentives of players and publishers, in contrast to traditional gaming, where players often bear the brunt of experimental monetization models.
"Everyone hated free-to-play when it first came out,” Robbie notes. “They revolted against any new form of modernization, and quite frankly, why shouldn't they because it's often been at their [the gamer's] expense,"
Web3 gaming is the first time the system is trying to align the incentives between players and publishers.
When players are given true ownership of their digital assets, and game developers no longer have to continuously extract more value at the expense of anyone else in a negative or zero-sum way – everyone wins.
For example, Magic: The Gathering has roughly $20 billion of physical cards in circulation. But every year they’re unable to monetize any of the secondary trading of these physical cards. So they're forced to issue $30-50 million of new cards, making these new cards more powerful than the old ones, a phenomenon known as power creep.
A much simpler business model if studios could take 2% of every transaction in perpetuity, no matter where they trade. And that model is now available to game developers in web3.
Blockchain and NFT technology make that business model a possibility. When players have the option to sell, you create brand new monetization mechanisms with secondary marketplaces and royalties. This is what will take the size of gaming from $150 billion to trillions of dollars.
But it’s not easy to develop a web3 game from scratch. It’s complex, confusing, and expensive.
Immutable makes it easy for you by providing developers with powerful tools, a wide range of features, and a robust ecosystem for designing, building, and launching high-quality web3 games with speed, ease, and security.
Our platform's end-to-end solution includes APIs and SDKs, allowing developers to focus on creating engaging gameplay experiences without needing to be experts in blockchain technology.
Reason 3: Increased Player Retention & Engagement
Getting players to play your game is one thing, keeping them playing is another.. Web3 gaming gives developers more tools to ensure players keep coming back.
Our flagship games Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians prove this point.
With traditional games, a typical monthly average revenue per user of $20-30 is considered high, and for newly released titles, that could go up to $80-120 in the first weeks and months post-release.
Our data from Gods Unchained shows that web3 gamers transact over $130 monthly, sustained over the years, while playing 24% more daily than the top 25% of mobile games.
Web3 gamers are also willing to make more transactions than Web2 gamers – showing developers that web3 users are willing to buy and trade more items.
One of the main blockers to mass web3 gaming adoption has been onboarding. However, with products like Immutable Passport, onboarding players has become much easier.
A key driver of our growth is Immutable Passport, our authentication solution that simplifies the onboarding experience for players while offering them a secure digital wallet, protection against fraud, and seamless authentication across web3 games and marketplaces.
Game studios create amazing web3 games on Immutable
Web3 gaming is set to disrupt the $200B+ gaming industry.
Studios that embrace this paradigm shift early will be best positioned to capitalize on the massive market opportunity.
With Immutable's platform, developers can create web3 games that:
- Jump on the massive market opportunity provided by web3 gaming
- Tap into new digital ownership, distribution & monetization models
- Leverage game design tools that increase player retention & engagement
Immutable is the home of web3 gaming.
