Web3 Gamer – Cointelegraph Magazine

As the year draws to a close, every gaming company and its dog is dropping its annual review report.

A recent report from blockchain gaming accelerator Game7 found that many game developers are forced to take a nap instead of releasing new games.

There were only 223 Web3 games released this year. This is a 65% decrease compared to the 640 games launched in 2022, and significantly more than the 811 games launched in 2021.

So what happens when production suddenly plummets?

Well, the optimistic answer is that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Robbie Ferguson, co-founder and president of Immutable, seems to believe that many great Web3 game hits are on the horizon, but patience will be needed.

Ferguson told the Magazine that there has been a significant surge in funding for Web3 games recently and that developers are focused on creating standout hits.

“Last year was really interesting. There has been a huge influx of investment into Web3 games. This just delays the game’s production until it becomes a hit. Over the past three years, approximately US$15 billion has been invested in Web3 games. age.”

Immutable currently has over 200 games on its platform, and according to Ferguson, games like Shardbound Blade Of God, Arkbound, and Galactico Manager 24 “have collectively received over eight figures in funding and have launched over 10 million player hits.” do.

Likewise, John Stefanidis, CEO of Balthazar Gaming DAO, notes the amount of cash flowing into the Web3 gaming scene, despite new money originating from the retail sector not yet flowing back into the overall cryptocurrency market.

“My appetite has noticeably increased. The project has been minted and is raising money again. I think faith in Web3 has continued to grow even during bear markets,” says Stefanidis.

But the real hits in 2024 won’t be those throwing money at players to keep them hooked, at least according to Yield Guild Games co-founder Gabby Dizon.

In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Dizon declared that the most successful Web3 games in 2024 will focus on being completely free-to-play to attract players on Play-to-Earn (P2E).

Keep an eye on AAA first-person extraction shooter blockchain game Shrapnel to see if it turns out to be a hit or miss.

The game is receiving tremendous attention from the industry.

Set on Earth in 2038, your goal is to collect and safely extract valuable in-game assets while facing off against enemies and rival players.

The long-awaited Illuvium game and other big titles are expected to be released in the coming months.

〉 Preparing for extraction. pic.twitter.com/kq6B07Ub97

— SHRAPNEL 🔺 (@playSHRAPNEL) September 13, 2023

But Stefanidis told Magazine that the games that will score big may be the ones that do the classics and promise less while offering much more.

“I think the challenge facing games right now is trying to deliver on the huge number of promises they made, and struggling to get users behind them when other promising games come out. Much less.”

Ferguson predicts that “first hit” blockchain games will foster entirely new narratives, as developers will be able to see the “playbooks used to create successful games.”

“By the end of this year, there should be no more obstacles to games that are successful enough to be successful.”

Blowfish Studios Announces Phantom Galaxies Early Access

The team behind new sci-fi action RPG game Phantom Galaxies described the gaming space as “challenging and unpredictable” when they announced early access to the game.

Are you feeling a little market jitters as developers release new games?

Thank you, Rangers 🫡

As our Early Access journey progresses, we’d like to say a huge thank you to the talented Rangers team. Their tireless work behind the scenes continues to be the backbone of our success ✨

Gaming spaces can be tricky and unpredictable, but… https://t.co/F8QMTvKRYw

— Phantom Galaxy (@the_phantom_g) November 17, 2023

It may be unnecessary, as the title has garnered considerable attention online and already has over 100,000 followers on the X platform, also known as Twitter.

Published by Blowfish Studios, a subsidiary of Web3 giant Animoca Brands, Phantom Galaxies is available for free on both Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Set in the aftermath of an interstellar war, the game unfolds as the Commonwealth and the Confederacy join forces to create a Ranger squadron of skilled mecha pilots who protect a human colony at the edge of space.

Players will join a squadron as a junior officer, an “ensign”, piloting the shapeshifting Starlighter and fighting against pirate forces and aliens.

According to the official blog post, you can use credits, ores, and U-Cubes to upgrade your Starfighter using an official governance token called Astrafer.

There are three ranger tracks in the game. The first two, Standard and Advanced, reward all players upon reaching a certain level. But here’s the sad thing. Unfortunately, Astrafer is not part of the rewards for these two tracks.

The most expensive option for players is the Elite Track. Currently, this track is the only way to get Astrafer in the game, but don’t worry. I swear this will never happen again.

“The Elite Track is currently the only way to earn ASTRAFER in-game, but that will change in the future.”

However, if users do not like making money, the standard track is available for free.

Disney’s Web3 platform is ‘inadequate’

After throwing its metaverse plans out the window along with 50 jobs earlier this year, Disney decided to dip its toes into the non-fungible token space.

A partnership with Dapper Labs, a blockchain and metaverse company, has created an NFT platform called Disney Pinnacle that will bring iconic cartoon characters from the past century to the market.

Be the first to track, collect and trade digital pins featuring your favorite characters. Only available at Disney Pinnacle. 🌟

Join the waitlist at https://t.co/VCeadWRHTU! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/GQa084CkW4

— Disney Pinnacle (@DisneyPinnacle) November 14, 2023

The platform will feature collectible and tradable digital pin-style Pixar icons, as well as heroes and villains from the Star Wars galaxy.

But… do the rumors of multi-billion dollar companies jumping into the Web3 space still hold true?

Ilja Moisejevs, co-founder of Solana NFT marketplace Tensor, believes this isn’t really worth the fuss.

“I’m not sure if it’s an unpopular opinion. However, Disney, Nike, Sbux, and the next generation of Web2 brands joining Web3 are not involved. That’s like worrying if Walmart will start using the web in 1999. Of course it will happen eventually. 99% of web value capture is done by web-based startups.”

Not sure if this is an unpopular opinion. However, Disney, Nike, Sbux, the next generation web2 brand joining web3…

… It doesn’t matter.

That’s like worrying if Walmart will start using the web in 1999.

Of course they will eventually. 99% of web value capture is done by web natives.

— Announcement | Tensor ⚛️⚡️ (@_ilmoi) November 19, 2023

Hot Take: NFL Rivals

NFL Rivals is a mobile blockchain game released by Mythical Games in collaboration with the National Football League (NFL).

The gaming team only recently said goodbye to the Ethereum blockchain and jumped to Polkadot. They pointed out Ethereum’s slow transaction speeds and wallet-draining costs.

You don’t have to be a sports expert before looking at NFL titles.

To be honest, this isn’t a game that will excite die-hard sports fans. It’s simple and that’s the beauty of it.

I was blown away by the gameplay and I swear I’ve never seen an NFL game before.

If you’re looking for a new game to kill time during a delayed flight or entertain yourself when you’re late for a date, this is it.

Even better, it doesn’t cost you a penny to play on your iPhone or Android.

The tutorial was surprisingly efficient, unlike the endless tutorials. Throws and kicks were covered and the game was straight into play without any fuss.

When you join a game, you will wear the team manager hat. Recruit players for each game, level them up, recruit better players, and discard underperforming players.

Reaching level 4 in the game unlocks the option to buy, sell, and trade individual NFL players for NTF in the Mythical online marketplace.

I took a quick look at the market and the biggest collectible is Jaquan Brisker, which is selling for a whopping 100 million MYTH.

That’s about $26 million USD, in case you’re wondering.

If you’re not ready to shell out that type of cash, don’t worry. You can get the item at a discounted price for just 1.5 Misconceptions with Justin Houston (about $0.39 USD).

What I like about NFL Rivals is that it fits perfectly on the iPhone screen, unlike some football and tennis games where your thumb obscures half the movement. It’s not cool.

controls? It’s pretty smooth. Even if you have chubby fingers, this game won’t require you to pull your hair out.

More information about the Web3 gaming space

— Popular game studio Avalon debuted its new user-generated content (UGC) MMORPG in a 90-second trailer.

— Immutable is collaborating with Japanese game developer Black Tower Studios to release the Web3 game Arkbound.

— Gaming giant Ubisoft has announced plans to launch an Ethereum Nonfungible Token (NFT) for its upcoming game Champion Tactics.

— PancakeSwap expands its gaming services with the launch of the PancakeSwap Gaming Marketplace.

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Ciaran Lyon

Ciaran Lyons is an Australian cryptocurrency journalist. He is also a stand-up comedian and radio and TV presenter for Triple J, SBS and The Project.