Professionals: Is the degen market now sufficiently big to maintain worthwhile blockchain video games?

Welcome to the September version of BlockchainGamer.biz’s common Professionals group. 

Does the success of video games corresponding to Gigaverse, Fishing Frenzy and Cambria show the crypto degen neighborhood now sufficiently big for sport devs to make area of interest however worthwhile video games?

Gabby Dizon – co-founder, Yield Guild Video games

The reply is sure. These video games present there may be already a powerful crypto-native viewers that wishes to play. Now it’s extra about leaning into what is exclusive about web3, utilizing crypto primitives and integrating components that this viewers likes, and quite a bit much less about attempting to focus on web2 players. What we found with LOL Land is that constructing for the individuals who already worth these items means that you can faucet an underserved market that really spends extra and stays longer.

Additional to that, individuals in crypto are likely to have the capability to spend a lot bigger quantities than you’d anticipate from web2 customers. So while you make a sport that’s extremely focused at crypto degens, it really creates a viable enterprise with a much smaller consumer base than you'll usually want. You simply must tune in to what they need.

Alexander Goldybin – Founder and chairman, iLogos

These titles don't show that the crypto degen neighborhood is a viable market. They present {that a} small, loud phase nonetheless reacts to hype and novelty. That's not the identical as product-market match.

This isn't a mainstream viewers. It's a area of interest. And even inside this area of interest, consideration is normally brief. The market remains to be not there. Years have handed and mass adoption is nowhere close to. Studios ought to deal with this viewers for my part as optionally available, not core.

Jack O’Holleran – Co-founder and CEO, SKALE Labs

Completely. These video games show the crypto neighborhood has matured into an actual gaming market. What’s key's that Gigaverse, Fishing Frenzy, and Cambria didn’t lead with token hype. They constructed precise video games individuals need to play, then added blockchain advantages.

The degen viewers has critical spending energy and so they’re not afraid to apply it to high quality experiences. These aren’t informal gamers scrolling by way of advertisements. They’re engaged, financially motivated players who perceive digital possession and worth.

The larger shift right here is that this neighborhood bridges crypto natives and conventional players. Whenever you concentrate on gameplay first and make blockchain invisible, you faucet into each markets. The studios getting this proper aren’t constructing area of interest video games anymore. They’re pioneering the way forward for gaming commerce.

Vibes are simply the gravy. Fundamentals are the principle course.

Christina Macedo – Founder and CEO, PLAY Community

Constructing video games for area of interest, engaged communities is a strategic method to validate product-market match. The success of titles like Gigaverse, Fishing Frenzy, Cambria, and Monanimal Mayhem (on Monad testnet) illustrates that lively blockchain communities, corresponding to these on Summary, Ronin, and Monad, are looking forward to compelling apps and video games constructed for these blockchains. These communities usually uncover new initiatives instantly by way of their most popular chains, which act as highly effective distribution channels.

Quite than focusing solely on the scale of those crypto degen communities, the hot button is their engagement and willingness to spend. Chains like Ronin, Summary and Monad have constructed sturdy communities which might be able to help new video games with actual cash.

For sport builders, the important query is lifetime worth (LTV). Concentrating on a series’s neighborhood can considerably cut back consumer acquisition (UA) prices whereas boosting LTV, as these gamers are already invested within the ecosystem. This makes area of interest improvement not simply viable however engaging, particularly for alpha or beta testing. As blockchains more and more prioritize community-building, we're witnessing a shift towards a “chain-as-publisher” mannequin, the place chains themselves grow to be hubs for locating and selling video games, providing builders a streamlined path to achieve devoted audiences.

Sam Barberie – Head of technique and partnerships, Sequence

It’s nice to see latest launches discover an viewers and rating actual industrial wins, particularly given how subdued the web3-enhanced gaming panorama was over the previous yr. That mentioned, I don’t suppose these titles reveal something groundbreaking in regards to the crypto-native web3 gaming base. That cohort has existed for years and swings predictably with macro crypto and NFT markets. Many titles cashed in with modest or main revenues throughout previous hype cycles, fueled by a small set of customers who chased monetary alternatives in play-to-earn or parked their crypto earnings in new, speculative belongings. With the latest market surge, I anticipate some titles can faucet this area of interest neighborhood once more, flush with ballooning pockets balances and hungry to spend.

As with every just lately debuted sport, sustainability and progress take heart stage. I’m impressed that these titles posted sturdy engagement and monetization charts in latest months. That reveals off their sharp designs and talent to hook and retain gamers, which additionally means a wave of latest gamers might push these video games to greater wins.

On the identical time, builders have launched solely a handful of video games in 2025, giving these three a better aggressive area, and the info mirror basic ETH trendlines somewhat too intently to say that we’re taking a look at standout efficiency. Nonetheless, every of those video games has carved a path to harness the present meta—that’s a giant win.

The query is: will the curiosity maintain when that meta shifts, and can these video games nonetheless pull an viewers as soon as different studios flood the house, as stablecoins and monetary rails push extra client and gamer spending energy on-chain?

For some web2 context: builders printed over 20,000 video games on Steam final yr. Most of them gained’t land, however indie titles are stealing an even bigger slice of the pie. Have a look at Staff Cherry: a 3-person studio that simply launched Hole Knight: Silksong, crashing a number of sport shops. Hundreds of small studios and indie devs construct loyal audiences and earn sufficient to maintain the lights on. I don’t see web3 enjoying out any in a different way: we’ll get our blockbuster mega-hits, the mid-tier video games any dev could be proud to personal, and a protracted tail of video games that delight and reward small however passionate fanbases. If that’s a core crypto-native crowd, let’s go!

Robby Yung – CEO, The Sandbox

My view is that the video games business is an unlimited, numerous ecosystem, and the great thing about internet/cell distribution is that indies can (theoretically) discover and cater to smaller fan communities in a manner that’s sustainable for his or her enterprise measurement.

So from that lens, I completely suppose the degen neighborhood is massive sufficient to be a target market, and the figuring out issue of success has extra to do with the developer’s potential to maintain down improvement prices and buyer acquisition prices in proportion to how massive that neighborhood is. 

Video games like Axie Infinity, Splinterlands and Alien Worlds have been working constantly for greater than half a decade now based mostly on passionate fan bases that help their visions, regardless of the general fluctuations within the crypto markets, so I undoubtedly agree that it’s attainable.

JC Kim – co-CEO, Delabs Video games

It's true that many web3 video games generate income extra simply than conventional video games, permitting builders to get better preliminary improvement and advertising prices shortly. Nevertheless, it is very important observe that from a participant’s perspective, a lot of this income usually displays expectations for a future token launch fairly than purely natural demand.

The criticism towards early web3 video games was not primarily about their failure to recoup improvement prices. Actually, most of them turned a revenue. As a substitute, the actual challenge was that gamers cared extra in regards to the long-term efficiency of the token financial system. This implies we should always transfer away from evaluating video games purely on their pre-TGE enterprise viability and begin specializing in their post-TGE sustainability and progress potential.

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