Women Are More Optimistic About Blockchain Games Than Men: Web3 Gamer

Female Web3 Gamers Are More Optimistic Than Men: Blockchain Gaming Alliance

According to the Blockchain Gaming Alliance (BGA), women in the Web3 gaming industry are more hopeful than men about blockchain gaming success in the coming year.

“Female respondents expressed more optimism, with 38.9% expecting more than 40% adoption within the next year, compared to 25.1% of male respondents,” according to the BGA 2024 Annual Report. The survey collected 623 responses from Web3 gaming industry participants around the world, ranging from infrastructure and marketing to design, content, investments, media and AI.

Nearly half of male survey respondents believe less than 20% of the gaming industry will adopt blockchain in the next 12 months, while only a quarter of female respondents shared the same downward outlook.

Web3 Boomers are more conservative.

According to the survey, younger people in Web3 gaming are more confident that blockchain is the “natural” next step for gaming.

The majority (81.6%) of young gaming professionals (18-24 years old) believe that blockchain adoption in the gaming industry will reach more than 20% in the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, boomers are playing it safe. Less than half (43.2%) of respondents aged 45 and older agree.

Several executives shared their insights with BGA, and the consensus suggests they are optimistic about the year ahead.

Native Network creator Jesse Pollak says on-chain gaming “bridges the gap between virtual and real ownership.”

“On-chain gaming allows players to actually own their assets and achievements and take them from one game to another,” says Pollak.

Gillian Pua, Chief Executive Officer of Sovrun, said that on-chain gaming and autonomous worlds are a pivotal change in the gaming landscape. “These advancements open up new possibilities for immersive and interactive experiences.”

Not everyone is on board. “On-chain gaming is still a niche market that is struggling to find product-market fit,” Matt Dion, founder of gaming consulting firm Always Scheming, told BGA.

“The recent drive to integrate AI agents has been particularly influential in generating new interest in this field,” Dion said.

BGA is an organization promoting blockchain in the gaming industry and is comprised of some of the most prominent executives in the industry.

Axie University pivots to support ‘all games’

Three years after the 2021 Axie Infinity boom, Axie University in the Philippines has had to make major adjustments to its operations.

The university, which once supported thousands of Filipino players with Axie Infinity as its main source of income, saw most of its academics leave by September 2021. Revenues from the once-lucrative game plummeted after the cryptocurrency market crash, falling below the national minimum wage.

Spraky, co-founder of Axie University and community leader at Yield Guild Games, had two choices. It was either make the university sustainable or close it. Looking back, he’s glad he decided to keep doing it.

In an interview with Web3 Gamer in the Philippines, Spraky, a quirky and charismatic personality with a cult-like following in the Philippine gaming scene, explained that his initial mission in college was to provide Axies to aspiring Filipino players. We are experiencing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. I’d like to make money playing Axie, but I need some financial support to get started.

Like many people in the Philippines, Spraky discovered Web3 gaming during the pandemic. “During that time, many of my friends and family were affected by job loss,” he says.

A friend’s Facebook post about Axie Infinity piqued my curiosity and led me to explore the possibility of getting paid to play the game.

Together with two other colleagues and help from Yield Guild Games, they started Axie University.

At its peak, thousands of users played games on Axie University’s properties, and it operated under a revenue-sharing model with the university.

However, after the cryptocurrency crash, the number of users began to decline rapidly. They had to change direction.

Over the years, the university expanded into other ecosystems. “We now call ourselves AXU because we are here as a guild for all games, not just Axie,” says Spraky.

This is more of a mentoring platform for people who want to get involved in any part of Web3.

“There are a lot of opportunities out there. You just need to know what you want to do with this space.”

Spraky says the main Metaverse program teaches anyone new to Web3 everything they need to know – young or old. They educate and prepare you with skills to use in the Web3 space.

The university also offers scholarships to game players across the entire YGG ecosystem, providing them with in-game assets and sharing in revenue.

“If you are an academic, you get 70% of the token income,” says Spraky.

Spraky’s Web3 journey, from the twists and turns of Axie University’s construction to where it is today, is the focus of the Metaverse Filipino Worker documentary, scheduled for full release in 2025.

BEAM node sales begin, investors see ‘huge alpha’

The Beam Foundation has launched a node sale campaign to allow users to earn rewards for acting as network validators.

According to Beam, early users who lock down a node in the first week can see their profits triple by week 2.

Node sales began on December 17th, and the token price was $1,250 each until December 24th. Afterwards, the price rises to $3,750 per token.

“BEAM nodes are huge alpha,” cryptocurrency investor VirtualBacon said in an X post on December 19.

“After the Q1 Horizon upgrade, nodes will be transferable and therefore available for sale,” VirtualBacon explains.

Crypto critic Jonny told his 99,300 X followers: “Who would tarnish one of the deepest treasures in gaming and the flagship AVAX L1?”

Beam uses blockchain technology to provide game developers with a sovereign network, allowing them to build games where players have ownership of assets. There are currently about 20 games on the platform.

The Beam network, currently operating as an Avalanche subnet, will transition to a “permissionless proof-of-stake consensus mechanism” after Etna upgrades to the Avalanche network and Horizon upgrades to the network.

The Horizon upgrade is expected to be completed by the end of January 2025, and no later than the first quarter of 2025. Once this upgrade occurs, rewards will begin flowing to network validators.

Beam says, “The rewards are intended to serve as an incentive for validators to verify and secure the Beam network.”

Other news

— Gaming platform Immutable has registered 250 games this year, which is more games in one year than “the last few years combined.” Immutable’s belief for 2025 is that “regulatory clarity and surging institutional demand will further accelerate the mainstream adoption of Web3 games.”

— Hong Kong-based gaming software company Animoca Brands released its latest investor update, revealing that its cryptocurrency asset balances increased by approximately 40% throughout November.

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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.