Play-to-Earn Statistics – The Latest Crypto Gaming Trends
While play-to-earn (P2E) games are a relatively new genre, our play-to-earn crypto statistics show there's been rapid growth of the GameFi market since 2017. More games come out every year, with some attracting hundreds of thousands of players.
Interest in blockchain games continues to rise, particularly in Asia and North America. Major AAA-level crypto games are set to launch in 2024, potentially overcoming the common criticism of P2E games' graphics and gameplay.
It's an exciting time for Web3 games. But are crypto games just hype, or are they here to stay? A look at past and recent P2E trends could help us figure this out. Let's see what the latest play-to-earn crypto statistics suggest.
In This Guide- Key Play-to-Earn Crypto Statistics to Know
- What Is P2E Crypto Gaming and How Does It Work?
- The Latest Play to Earn Crypto Market Trends
- Play to Earn Statistics by Segment and Type
- The Biggest P2E Games
- The Top P2E Tokens by Market Cap
- Regional P2E Trends
- Key Challenges and Opportunities for the P2E Market
- Are P2E Games Here to Stay?
- References
- Key Play-to-Earn Crypto Statistics to Know
- What Is P2E Crypto Gaming and How Does It Work?
- The Latest Play to Earn Crypto Market Trends
- Play to Earn Statistics by Segment and Type
- The Biggest P2E Games
- The Top P2E Tokens by Market Cap
- Regional P2E Trends
- Key Challenges and Opportunities for the P2E Market
- Are P2E Games Here to Stay?
- References Key Play-to-Earn Crypto Statistics to Know
- The blockchain gaming market value surpassed $3 billion in 2023 and could reach $90 billion by 2030.
- P2E games still have a player retention problem. In 2023, the number of active participating wallet addresses was down nearly 58% since 2021, tanking from 1.9 million to just over 800,000.
- Blockchain gaming accounted for 35% of the average daily unique active wallets in Q3 2023.
- On-chain game transactions surged by 3,000% from 2020 to 2022.
- In 2023, GameFi transactions reached $8.7 million, with 58% processed on the Wax blockchain.
- Skale, Wax, and Ronin led blockchain gaming activity in 2023, with over 100,000 daily active addresses each.
- Farming and mining games are the most popular, surpassing 250,000 daily active addresses in Q4 2023.
- Alien Worlds has been the most popular P2E game two years in a row, reaching a record high of 260,000 daily active addresses in 2023.
- $FLOKI has the highest market cap of all P2E tokens in 2024 - roughly $1.5 billion.
P2E, also known as GameFi, is a gaming model that employs blockchain technology and DeFi protocols to reward players with digital assets like native utility tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Native utility tokens, like PlayDoge, provide in-game benefits and are tradeable outside the game, while NFTs often represent in-game assets like characters, equipment, and quest items.
Like traditional games, P2E games reward players for completing tasks. The main distinction is that P2E rewards can be traded for real money.
Most P2E games like Sunflower Land employ old-school 2D graphics. Source: PlayToEarnAdditionally, the blockchain ledger uses unique digital identifiers to record, validate, and decentralize the ownership and value of in-game assets, making them independent of the game publisher.
Thanks to this ledger technology, you fully own your in-game assets and can trade them on in-game or external marketplaces using a digital wallet.
The Latest Play to Earn Crypto Market TrendsP2E games have only been around for a few years. For example, CryptoKitties (widely regarded as the first blockchain game) debuted in 2017. Unsurprisingly, the P2E market is still small but growing steadily.
Crypto.com's 2023 market analysis shows the blockchain gaming market was worth over $3 billion in 2023, and is projected to reach $90 billion by 2030.
Overall, blockchain gaming accounted for 35% of average daily unique active wallets analyzed by Crypto.com in Q3 2023. This includes all blockchain games, not just P2E titles, though P2E is the leading segment in blockchain gaming.
According to Crypto.com, P2E games surpassed $107 million in trading volume in 2023. While impressive, this is a tiny fraction of the global video game market's $400 billion valuation in 2023. However, interest in crypto gaming is picking up.
P2E Is Driving More Investments and Blockchain ActivityA 2022 GDC survey found that 27% of developers were interested in implementing NFTs and crypto payments in games, while 1% have already integrated them.
Moreover, gaming is already a major sector in the crypto industry. A 2022 report by DappRadar reveals gaming accounted for nearly 50% of the on-chain activity.
Caption1: Based on UAW data, gaming and DeFi dominate blockchain activity
Caption2: Like this infographic? Feel free to use it on your website or blog, but please remember to give us credit
Info source: DappRadarOn-chain game transactions surged 3,000% from 2020 to 2022, reaching $7.4 billion. In addition to growing user activity, blockchain gaming is attracting increasingly more investment.
Blockchain gaming capital skyrocketed from $190 million in 2020 to $3.7 billion in 2021. In 2022, the capital reached a record $7.6 billion.
Blockchain gaming investments have been increasing year on year since 2019. Like this infographic? Feel free to use it on your website or blog, but please remember to give us credit. Data Source: DappRadarOut of the $7.6 billion, 27% is estimated to go towards metaverse game development, while nearly 34% is allocated for infrastructure improvements.
Despite growing investments and adoption, blockchain gaming is still in its early stages and faces significant challenges. According to 2023 estimates, 3 out of 4 crypto games fail, and the average yearly GameFi failure rate exceeds 80%.
In 2023, 70% of GameFi projects failed, highlighting the industry's volatility, even though the market value and yearly investments are at an all-time high.
Source: CoinGeckoThe player base is also shrinking. CoinGecko's 2023 report shows a 58% decline in active participating addresses since 2021, dropping from 1.9 million to 800k in 2023.
Play to Earn Statistics by Segment and TypeWe can segment play-to-earn crypto statistics in a few ways, namely, by blockchain and genre. So, let's see which chains and categories are thriving.
The Most Popular Blockchains For Crypto GamingAs of November 2023, the BSC blockchain boasts the most crypto games (340), followed by Polygon (240), Ethereum (196), and Wax (118). Solana was also in the top 10, although it had only 21 games at the time.
With the exception of Wax, most of the top 5 blockchains had very small shares of active GameFi addresses and transactions. Over 90% of active addresses and transactions observed on the BSC chain, for example, were not involved with GameFi projects.
In contrast, roughly 90% of active addresses and transactions on Wax were GameFi-related. In 2023, Wax accounted for 58% of the $8.7 million worth of GameFi transactions recorded across all leading gaming blockchains.
Source: CoinGeckoWax recorded over 14 million average daily transactions in the same year. Skale, Ronin, and Hive were also among the most active GameFi chains, although less than 50% of recorded on-chain transactions were GameFi-related.
Skale was the most active chain in 2023, with over 230,000 daily active addresses across its top 5 games. Wax ranked second, with 168,614 active addresses.
Despite its active gaming community, Skale's transaction volume still lags behind Wax. This is likely because Wax's Alien Worlds remains one of the most popular P2E games with a massive monthly player count and one of the highest-ranking P2E tokens by market cap (over $5 million).Ronin is the third-largest chain with over 100,000 active addresses. Its popularity dropped considerably from its 2021-2022 peak when Axie Infinity was the most popular P2E game.
Throughout 2021, Ronin accounted for over 35% of all daily active addresses across the top 13 GameFi chains. Nevertheless, Ronin transactions doubled in 2023 compared to the previous year's average, likely thanks to Pixels picking up steam since its release in 2022.
Most Popular Types of P2E GamesBroadly speaking, we can classify P2E games into NFT-based and cryptocurrency-based. The former reward players with unique digital assets, while the latter use crypto tokens as in-game currency.
However, many games, like Axie Infinity and DeFi Kingdoms, have both. Almost all of the top 20 P2E games offer both NFT and token rewards.
According to CoinGecko, these 20 games accounted for 65% of daily active GameFi addresses in Q4 2023. This suggests that multi-reward P2E games are the most attractive to players.
Leading P2E GenresFarming and mining games are the most popular of all genres, surpassing 250,000 daily active addresses in November 2023.
Other top genres with over 150,000 daily active addresses include card games, move-to-earn (M2E), and sports. The card game genre in particular features many popular NFT-focused titles like Alien Worlds, Spinterlands, and Axie Infinity.
Like this infographic? Feel free to use it on your website or blog, but please remember to give us credit. Info Source: CoinGeckoM2E games ranked third with 166,862 daily active addresses. This is a relatively new genre, as the first M2E game came out in 2021. Unlike other genres, M2Es reward participants for physical activity in the real world, like walking.
On the other hand, RPG and shooter P2E games aren't very popular. RPG games had just over 80,000 daily active addresses. Shooters were at the bottom of the list, with just 6,194 addresses. That's despite shooters and action adventure games being among the most popular genres worldwide.
The number of games within each genre is uncertain, which could contribute to differences in total player bases.
For example, farming and card games could be more common because of lower production costs, which makes them a suitable option for indie developers. This leads to a larger number of competitive games within these genres, which could attract more players overall.
According to CoinGecko, the lack of development and outdated game mechanics may contribute to lower interest in P2E shooters. Farming and card genres are more forgiving to subpar gameplay, often using 2D or 2.5D graphics.
The Biggest P2E GamesAlien Worlds was the #1 game in 2022. According to CoinGecko, Alien Worlds still topped the chart at the end of 2023, reaching an estimated record high of 260k active daily addresses.
Here's how the top P2E games compare.
Game Estimated Record Active Users in 2023 Token Farmers World 400k $FWW Alien Worlds 260k $TLM Splinterlands 260k $SPS Sweat Economy 160k $SWEAT Pixels 130k $PIXEL BLCR 100k $BLCR Planet IX 100k $IXT Benji Bananas 70k $BENJI SecondLive 70k $LIVE Walken 65k $WLKN Trickshot Blitz 60k $RLY SuperWalk 50k $GRND Nine Chronicles 40k $WNCG Axie Infinity 26k $AXS Upland 25k $SPARKLET DeFi Kingdoms 24k $JEWEL PlayMining 24k $DEP CryptoBlades 20k $SKILL Sunflower Land 18k $SFL The above estimates reflect the highest recorded number of active addresses from January to November of 2023.
Farmers World had a boost of active players in the latter half of 2023, reaching a record of roughly 400,000 daily active addresses.
However, Alien Worlds holds the highest year-round average of active addresses, which suggests the game maintains a loyal player base.
Source: CoinGeckoTitles like Alien Worlds, Axie Infinity, and Farmers World have established themselves firmly among the most popular P2E games in the last few years. However, the top 10 games change regularly.
Axie Infinity, in particular, saw a big dip since its heyday in 2021, as evident from its NFT sales volumes and shrinking player base. Data from 2022 shows the monthly user count in November was around 122k, while the 2023 yearly high didn't even surpass 50k.
Benji Bananas, Trickshot Blitz, and Upland have also lost a substantial number of active players since late 2022 when the estimated player count in November had surpassed 100k.
Other games, like BLCR and Pixels, were only released in mid to late 2022 but have since amassed considerable player bases. We're yet to see if these new games will keep growing throughout 2024.
The Top P2E Tokens by Market CapAnother way to gauge the popularity of P2E games is by looking at their token market cap. The market cap gives us a sense of the token's value, project development, and community sentiment.
As of August 2024, FLOKI ranks #1 on CoinMarketCap, with a market cap nearing $1.5 billion. FLOKI is the native currency of the Floki Inu ecosystem and the reward token in the Valhalla P2E game, which is set to go live on the mainnet in 2024.
With such strong demand for FLOKI, it's likely that Valhalla will rapidly gain adoption.
The leading P2E tokens in 2024Other major P2E tokens include Notcoin (NOT), Beam (BEAM), and Sandbox (SAND), although the flagship games for these tokens aren't as popular today.
While Notcoin and Sandbox are currently less popular than at their peak, both were among the top P2E titles with over 100,000 daily active players in 2023.
Among the most popular P2E games we covered, Axie Infinity's AXS ranks #4 with the highest market cap of over $800 million, followed by PIXEL at #11 ($137 million).
Alien Worlds' TLM token ranks #25, with a market cap of $48 million. In contrast, Spintershards's SPS doesn't even break into the top 50. Despite its massive popularity, the game's utility token currently has a market cap of $7.7 million.
No other popular games' tokens made it onto the top 100.
Regional P2E TrendsAsia is the leader in P2E adoption, and the regional market is still growing. India and Hong Kong, in particular, have a sizable share of P2E players. Roughly a third of gamers surveyed in these countries claimed to have played a P2E game at some point.The number of blockchain gaming startup funding deals in Southeast Asia has more than tripled from 2019 to 2022, so there's a growing offer to meet the local demand.
The Vietnamese developer Sky Mavis is still the biggest blockchain gaming company in the region. In 2021, the popularity of Sky Mavis' Axie Infinity led to a surge in NFT adoption, particularly in Asia and North America.
Like this infographic? Feel free to use it on your website or blog, but please remember to give us credit. Info Source: StatistaIn 2022, search interest in the term NFT' increased considerably in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macao. This trend is likely connected to the growing number of P2E gamers in the region.
North America is the second-largest market for P2E games and has seen the quickest expansion since 2019. This is unsurprising, as the developers of the largest P2E games, like The Sandbox, Spinterlands, and DeFi Kingdoms, are based in the US.A series of surveys throughout 2021-2024 also suggest growing P2E awareness and interest in the US.
Unsurprisingly, those with gaming experience are more likely to adopt P2E games first. A 2021 survey of 1,000 respondents shows that 60% of video gamers in the US are interested in P2E games, at least as a way to earn money on the metaverse.
Moreover, nearly 1 in 4 respondents said they would consider buying virtual property to rent it out. This would likely happen through NFTs, in the form of tokenized virtual property.
For example, NFTs for land parcels in games like Decentraland can be bought, sold, or rented as a digital asset that exists on the Ethereum blockchain.
The younger demographic is also the most likely to know about and engage in GameFi. In 2024, half of US respondents under 34 knew about P2E games, compared to just 16% of those over 55.
A quarter of participants under 34 were already playing P2E games in 2022. Still, interest in P2E games was highest in the 35-54 age group.
Source: StatistaAs of December 2022, 19% of surveyed US adults aged 35-54 were very interested' in play-to-earn games, and another 17% were somewhat interested.' Considering this trend, Gen X gamers could represent a growing audience for GameFi projects in the future.
Key Challenges and Opportunities for the P2E MarketThe potential for financial rewards is arguably the biggest incentive for P2E adoption.
And thanks to DeFi and smart contracts, P2E games have a few other perks over traditional gaming. These include increased transaction security and transparency, full player ownership over in-game assets, and uniqueness of collectibles.
However, P2E also faces a few issues hindering widespread adoption. Ironically, GameFi's reliance on blockchain tech brings both opportunities and challenges. Let's see what they are.
Growing Crypto AdoptionGetting started in P2E gaming requires at least some knowledge and experience with crypto. For starters, players need a digital wallet to store and trade their in-game assets.
Some games also require an upfront investment. For example, players might need to buy the game's token or an NFT to build their character.
This technical crypto know-how poses an entry barrier for many. Fortunately, crypto adoption is growing, so the pool of potential blockchain gamers is expanding.
As more people get familiar with how crypto works, the transition to P2E games will be a lot easier.Continued P2E DevelopmentsBlockchain gaming used to have scalability limitations. This was due to high fees and slow transaction processing speeds, which spoiled the gaming experience. Alternative EVM-compatible blockchains like Solana and Wax solved this issue.
But P2E gameplay is still inferior to traditional video games. For this reason, blockchain games have garnered a negative reputation among many players and developers. Historically, P2E games have also had a player retention problem.
Some of the biggest criticisms of crypto games include the prioritization of function over fun, high up-front investments for new players, and the lack of sustainable in-game economies. Studies suggest that 3 in 4 P2E games fail because of these problems.But new projects are released each year, so the competition is strong. Developers are constantly trying to find ways to enhance player onboarding and gameplay experience with better graphics, engaging game mechanics, compelling storylines, and lower entry barriers.
We'll see more AAA-like crypto games in the near future, so it's only a matter of time until blockchain gaming goes mainstream.
Safety ConcernsBlockchain technology promises enhanced anonymity, transparency, and immutable transactions. However, financial and security risks still exist.
The $625 million Ronin network hack from 2022 is a prime example of DeFi's vulnerability to exploits. Plus, the anonymity and immutability of blockchain transactions make it harder to recover stolen funds and repay players' losses.
Crypto scams are also common and challenging to identify. Many legitimate-looking projects, including crypto games, turn out to be rug pulls. The prevalence of scams deters many prospective gamers.
Lastly, players' revenue depends on the P2E token's value. P2E games have to constantly attract players and fuel their interest to sustain the in-game economy - some compare this to a Ponzi scheme.
Regulatory ConstraintsP2E adoption differs by country, in part due to local gambling and P2E laws. For example, P2E games are banned in South Korea because of gambling concerns. This cuts off a large potential player base.
The accessibility of P2E games also depends on crypto regulations. Because P2E games rely on crypto investments and cashouts, players must be legally allowed to hold and trade digital assets.
National bans on crypto significantly limit P2E reach. For example, cryptocurrency is officially banned in China, and this bars the world's largest gamer population from joining the P2E trend.
The adoption and growth of the GameFi gaming market partially depend on how crypto, gambling, and P2E regulations evolve.
Are P2E Games Here to Stay?Recent play-to-earn crypto statistics show the GameFi market is rapidly evolving. Although 75% of P2E projects fail, the overall P2E market is continuously growing, particularly in Asia and North America.
Despite major challenges like regulatory constraints and gameplay limitations, the future of P2E gaming looks promising with major developments on the horizon. Data suggests that P2E games are more than hype and have the potential to become an integral part of the gaming industry.
However, the long-term success of P2E depends on the developers' ability to provide engaging gameplay, develop sustainable in-game economies, and lower entry costs for gamers. Such developments will enhance player retention and help P2E games overcome stigma.
ReferencesClick to expand and view sources- GameFi Definition (CoinMarketCap)
- What Is DeFi? (The New York Times)
- What Are NFTs? (The New York Times)
- Ledger Meaning (Ledger Academy)
- Play-to-Earn (P2E) (Crypto.com)
- Exploring the Future of Blockchain Gaming: Trends and Opportunities (Crypto.com)
- Global Video Game Market Value From 2022 To 2032 (Statista)
- Game Over for Crypto And NFTs in Games? (Statista)
- DappRadar x BGA Games Report - 2022 Overview (DappRadar)
- Is GameFi Dead? 3 in 4 Projects Have Failed (CoinGecko)
- GameFi Report 2023: GameFi Levels Up (CoinGecko)
- NFT Games With The Highest Player Count In The Last 30 Days As Of November 29, 2022 (Statista)
- What Is Axie Infinity, And Why Did It Become So Popular? (ScreenRant)
- Makers Of STEPN, Take Major Leap with STEPN GO, A Social-Lifestyle App with New Gaming Token, GGT (Yahoo Finance)
- Most Popular Video Game Genres Among Internet Users Worldwide As Of 3rd Quarter 2023, By Age Group (Statista)
- NFT Games With The Highest Player Count In The Last 30 Days As Of November 29, 2022 (Statista)
- Sales Volume Of Nft Gaming Collection Axie Infinity Against The Price Of Its Token Axs Up Until November 29, 2022 (Statista)
- Top Play To Earn Tokens by Market Capitalization (CoinMarketCap)
- Valhalla Mobile App To Be Released Later This Year (Twitter)
- Play-to-Earn NFT Games Market Size, Share, Growth, And Industry Analysis By Type (Business Research Insights)
- Share Of Blockchain And Non-Blockchain Gaming Startup Funding Deals In Southeast Asia From 2019 To 2022 (Statista)
- Where Most NFT Users Live (Statista)
- Search Interest Of Consumers In The Search Term Nft" In 206 Different Countries And Territories Worldwide From December 2021 To November 2022 (Statista)
- Prospective Ways Of Earning Money From The Metaverse According To Video Gamers In The United States As Of November 2021 (Statista)
- Awareness Of Play To Earn Games Among Adults In The United States As Of March 2024, By Age Group (Statista)
- Play To Earn Games Reach Among Adults In The United States As Of October 2022, By Age Group (Statista)
- Level Of Interest In Play To Earn Games Among Adults In The United States As Of December 2022, By Age Group (Statista)
- Function Over Fun? Analyst Says P2e Games Don't Need To Be fun' To Retain Users (CoinTelegraph)
- Over 75% Of Web3 Games Fail Due To Declining User Interest, Study Finds (Binance Square)
- Top 6 Upcoming AAA Crypto Games (Binance Square)
- Axie Infinity's Ronin Network Suffers $625M Exploit (CoinDesk)
- South Korea's Failure To Lift Ban On P2e Games Discourages Game Makers: Report (CoinGeek)
- Countries Where Cryptocurrency Is Legal and Illegal (Money.com)
- China's Video Game Player Population Rises To A Record At End-June (Reuters)
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