In summary
- Blockchain games are being driven by better user experiences and lower friction on onboarding.
- Big studios like Sony and Square Enix entered the market with layer 2 solutions.
- Playability is now being prioritized over token economies in new play-to-earn models.
Blockchain gaming is reaching a new stage of maturity, with a growing number of players accessing games more seamlessly, according to an organization focused on advancing technology in the gaming sector.
However, there are changes in the sector that could create dramatic changes as traditional game developers come into play.
The changes coincide with the entry of major studios like Sony and Square Enix into the space through Layer 2 solutions, according to an industry survey published by the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) this week.
However, public perception remains a key obstacle.
The report shows that 66% of projects are still trying to establish credibility, fighting the misconception that blockchain games are linked to scams.
Despite this, the ease with which players can enter blockchain games has improved, with friction rates in the onboarding process dropping from 79.5% last year to 53.9% in 2024.
This is mainly due to better user experiences that make introducing players to blockchain games less complicated.
“At the heart of this growth is the principle of player empowerment,” BGA president Sebastian Borget wrote in the report.
Borget talks about the ownership narrative that has been the main point of attraction for players exploring blockchain-based experiences. The report shows that more than 71% of its respondents consider this the “biggest benefit that blockchain gaming offers.”
“Since the last market cycle, more efforts have been put into UX and UI, prioritizing a fluid experience similar to what players would expect from Web2 games,” a portion of the report states.
The alliance noted that the trend will expand in 2025, with a new emphasis on player experience over financial mechanisms.
Blockchain gaming platforms are moving away from the obvious elements of the crypto ecosystem – such as token economies and NFT marketplaces – towards seamless integrations where Web3 functionality operates in the background.
Play-to-earn aims for a new goal
Blockchain gaming is aiming for a new goal with the arrival of 2025, and the Blockchain Game Alliance shared its predictions with Decrypt.
The transition from traditional centralized game servers to blockchain infrastructure shows how games have embraced the ownership narrative, BGA said.
While conventional games rely on regional server networks for stability and data management, blockchain integration enables true digital ownership through on-chain asset tracking and trading.
In that sense, the play-to-earn models that emerged in 2020 have also changed drastically to focus more on how on-chain features could be used for games.
Such a shift has spawned merit- and activity-based iterations, notes Andrew Campbell, better known in the Web3 communities as Zyori.
“The original play-to-earn model suffered from two critical flaws: hyperinflationary rewards that grew uncontrollably with user adoption and a lack of sufficient token sinks to create deflationary pressure,” Campbell wrote in the report.
Fully on-chain games and autonomous worlds
The report also introduced two new terms: autonomous worlds (AW) and fully on-chain games (FOCGs). They describe games that are closely native and live entirely on-chain as autonomous experiences.
This includes game rules, player items, and in-game economy, rather than keeping just a few pieces on-chain while running the main game client on regular centralized servers.
Autonomous worlds allow games to “improve based on community input” by putting “elements of game state and logic on-chain,” Gillian Pua, chief of staff at Sovrun (formerly BreederDAO), told Decrypt.
This aspect also influences how fully on-chain games could work in the near future, with advances in AI merging with blockchain infrastructure.
“With on-chain transparency, AWs also provide the perfect foundation for AI Agents to thrive, enabling intelligent, adaptive gameplay that responds to player behavior in real-time,” Pua said.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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