Professionals: What can we study from withered web3 video games and people which are thriving?

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

Three years on from the growth in blockchain recreation funding, what do you assume we are able to now study from these firms which have shut down and people that are thriving?

Parker Heath – Gaming Lead, Ava Labs

The most important lesson is easy however underappreciated: constructing and launching a profitable recreation, particularly in web3, prices considerably extra time, capital, and expertise than most groups initially anticipated. The period of simple raises through the 2021 bull market led to many groups optimizing for funding decks, not recreation design. We noticed a wave of ideas funded on the prototype or thought stage, with no grounded plan to ship a full recreation or attain actual gamers.

In distinction, the groups which are thriving in the present day are those who approached improvement with long-term imaginative and prescient, conventional recreation improvement expertise, and a practical go-to-market technique. They didn't deal with web3 as a gimmick or shortcut. They built-in it thoughtfully into compelling gameplay loops and centered on constructing group early. These groups usually raised greater than others thought vital as a result of they understood they had been constructing each a recreation and a brand new distribution channel on the similar time.

Mitja Goroshevsky – GOSH co-founder, Acki Nacki co-author

Gaming on the whole has slowed down during the last three years – not simply blockchain. Large names like Ubisoft have scrapped tasks, and even EA shut down standard cell video games like Apex Legends Cellular and Battlefield Cellular.

Gaming itself remains to be alive, blockchain included, however the days when you might copy-paste a web2 recreation, slap some NFTs on it, promise a ten,000% return, and thrill folks – for a month or two – are gone. Too many nugatory tokens, too many painful classes realized. Now in order for you a blockchain recreation, brace your self: it’s double the work. You want each genuinely enjoyable gameplay and tokenomics that don’t implode in a single day.

Rebecca Liao – Co-founder and CEO, Saga

You must construct an amazing recreation first. The tasks that vanished had been usually simply token hypothesis disguised as a recreation. They chased hype and fundraising however forgot to construct one thing enjoyable, so when the excitement pale, there was nothing left to maintain gamers engaged.

The video games which are thriving now give attention to being enjoyable, interval. They use blockchain subtly within the background to reinforce the expertise with actual possession and group rewards, to not outline it. The know-how must be a robust bonus for participant engagement, not all the motive for exhibiting up.

It’s additionally not shocking that an open, related strategy is proving extra resilient than a walled backyard. Siloing a recreation on one chain creates a lifeless finish for gamers and their property. The builders who embrace interoperability are constructing extra dynamic and future-proofed worlds, weathering market shifts much better by giving gamers and creators true freedom.

Christina Macedo – Founder and CEO, PLAY Community

What was once a wild “spray-and-pray” period of token drops, 1000s of NFTs campaigns, and pump-and-dump Discord hype has developed into polished, data-driven launches that mirror your favorite free-to-play recreation rollouts. With VC funding drying up, buyers aren’t simply shopping for into large visions anymore – they’re urgent groups on actual numbers: day by day lively customers, retention curves, and the way lengthy the runway holds if token costs slide.

Studios have swapped flashy hype decks for strong enterprise plans, dwelling and respiratory their CAC:LTV ratios, operating pinpoint TikTok and YouTube campaigns, UA campaigns and A/B-testing each step of the onboarding course of earlier than even mentioning the token. They’ve moved previous random hype techniques and embraced community-driven co-creation the place gamers genuinely assist form the product.

And right here’s the actual game-changer: go-to-market isn’t a one-off launch or a mint-day stunt – it’s a steady progress engine. The times of asserting an NFT mint, then going darkish till the following funding spherical, are over. Right now’s groups monitor retention metrics in actual time, fine-tune the steadiness between token incentives and real-money purchases, and optimize their acquisition funnels in order that sustained progress doesn’t rely upon the following VC test.

In 2025, the outdated “elevate, hype, money out” mannequin has been changed by “construct, measure, develop,” combining web2’s performance-marketing experience with web3’s on-chain possession and interoperability. If you happen to’re nonetheless treating blockchain as a shortcut as a substitute of a real strategic benefit – particularly now that the funding faucets have largely shut – you’ll end up falling behind.

Kyle Tut – Co-founder and CEO, Pinata

Three years after the blockchain gaming growth, the panorama has clearly matured, with a rising divide between tasks that centered on long-term infrastructure and those who chased short-term hype.

In response to DappRadar, web3 gaming funding fell by 71% in Q1 2025, but the variety of profitable offers truly rose by 35%, reflecting a shift in investor priorities. Quite than pouring capital into speculative play-to-earn fashions, backers are actually supporting tasks that emphasize scalable tech, sustainable ecosystems, and actual possession. This aligns with the rise of decentralized instruments like IPFS, which guarantee asset persistence and safety by eradicating reliance on centralized servers.

Video games that embrace these ideas, prioritizing interoperability, group, and participant possession, are higher positioned to thrive on this leaner however extra strategically centered period of web3 gaming.

Sam Barberie – Head of technique and partnerships, Sequence

Put up-morteming the web3 video games funding growth requires us to recollect a couple of realities: 

most startups fail, 

most video games fail, 

a number of the web3 gaming investments didn’t go into content material. 

So, it’s not shocking that blockchain-enhanced gaming remains to be ready for its free-to-play second; it was going to be an uphill battle to start with. 

Web3 gaming is a brand new paradigm, concurrently a brand new distribution, UA, and monetization methodology, and requires know-how that was, till comparatively lately, unable to let builders make something they needed to. This resulted in a dying spiral of “video games,” largely constructed by inexperienced builders, largely with cash from inexperienced gaming buyers, created with know-how that resulted in poor UX, all chasing the identical 10,000 degens for the liquidity of their Metamasks. 

Three themes emerged amongst video games that shut down: 

Corporations that chase shiny objects fail rapidly. Hopping round to completely different gimmicks means you don’t focus and execute on an actual expertise. 

A token is a product, and most merchandise fail. Most groups can’t handle a token and a recreation concurrently. Corporations that didn’t have the assets to construct a recreation and handle a token usually did neither and closed. 

Selecting the fallacious tech was the top for a lot of. Custodial wallets, non-EVM blockchains, fragmented tech. 

Studios main the cost are utilizing the blockchain as know-how, not a characteristic, and experimenting with incremental advantages to their economics and gamers’ experiences. Listed here are some examples: 

Choose-in web3 experiences on web2 video games increase KPIs. TapNation lately leveraged tokenized leaderboards for 40M+ gamers in Monster Squad Rush, seeing enormous advantages in consumer retention. 

Gameplay first, web3 later. Moonray is an excellent instance of a studio that constructed a compelling recreation loop first, introduced it to market, and is now able to combine the blockchain as one thing that enhances the participant expertise.  

Creating net-new experiences with the blockchain. Ubisoft’s Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E provided gamers a layered metagame expertise even earlier than the sport launched with its Niji Warrior mint. Utilizing GenAI avatar customization and a Ubisoft ecosystem pockets and customized mint platform and market, Ubisoft gave gamers a dynamic, enjoyable, and seamless expertise unavailable to web2 titles. 

Blockchain gaming has a protracted method to go, however the studios which are sticking round are dedicated, constructing with the best instruments, and fascinated with the participant expertise first, understanding that the advantages will come.

David Bolger – Gaming and client lead, Offchain Labs

The most important lesson is that simple funding masked structural weaknesses.

Within the 2021–2022 cycle, capital flooded into blockchain gaming, usually backing groups with none actual recreation improvement monitor document, one thing that possible wouldn’t go VC scrutiny in the present day. Many studios raised simply sufficient to achieve beta, however lacked the assets to ship a full recreation with sturdy liveops.

On the similar time, overfunding is a pure a part of any rising sector, the place capital chases promise earlier than fundamentals catch up. What we’re seeing now's a wholesome correction: stronger groups are nonetheless constructing, whereas the remainder served as costly however vital classes.

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

The survivors centered on infrastructure and consumer expertise over tokenomics. Too many tasks through the growth handled NFTs and tokens because the core product as a substitute of constructing genuinely enjoyable video games first. The businesses thriving in the present day understood that blockchain must be invisible – gamers don’t need to take into consideration fuel charges or pockets administration, they simply need nice gameplay.

What killed most tasks was placing hypothesis earlier than playability. The lesson is evident: in case your recreation isn’t enjoyable with out blockchain components, including tokens gained’t reserve it. The know-how ought to improve the expertise, not create obstacles to entry. That’s why we constructed SKALE to be gas-free – as a result of infrastructure ought to empower builders to give attention to what truly issues: delivery video games folks need to play.

Quinn Kwon – Head of web3 technique, Delabs Video games

We’ve reached a degree the place the distinction between tasks which have shut down and those who proceed to construct is extra obvious than ever. There’s lots to study from each.

One of the apparent classes is that speculative mechanics alone aren’t sufficient. Various tasks relied closely on tokens and monetary incentives however didn’t make investments the identical effort in growing sturdy gameplay or fostering long-term consumer engagement.

People who lasted tended to prioritize the basics, making video games folks truly need to maintain taking part in. That is why we give attention to mid-core video games, that are simple to onboard customers with but in addition incorporate components of enjoyable and development that drive retention.

One other vital level is the worth of infrastructure and adaptableness. The groups which are nonetheless lively in the present day had been usually those that deliberate past a single recreation or second. They constructed programs that would evolve, each technically and operationally. Having the ability to regulate with out ranging from scratch is a major benefit.

Neighborhood can be one thing that stands out. The businesses that centered on significant group relationships, whether or not that’s by means of direct engagement, in-game social programs, or participatory design, appear to have constructed one thing extra resilient.

Lastly, there was a shift in how groups talk about and combine blockchain. Lots of the early tasks had been keen to focus on the tech, however the ones which are nonetheless round in the present day are inclined to deal with blockchain extra like infrastructure than a headline.

Many tasks have fallen off for numerous causes, however those who stay are sometimes the quiet, constant builders centered on fundamentals.

Alexander Goldybin – Founder and chairman, iLogos

The primary lesson from the previous three years? Most groups weren’t constructing video games, they had been constructing token economies dressed up as video games. Those that collapsed had been by no means severe concerning the product. They raised on hype, burned by means of budgets, and disappeared when the market turned. No shock there.

The few nonetheless standing both had one thing actual, gameplay, IP, or a powerful crew, or they pivoted onerous.This business doesn’t want extra funding rounds. It wants fewer chains, fewer pitch decks, and extra precise video games folks need to play. 

Till that occurs, we’ll simply maintain watching cycles of rinse and repeat.

Anthony Palma – Head of gaming partnerships at Mysten Labs

After three years of investing in gaming at Mysten Labs, we’re continually asking ourselves this query – and we function on what we’ve realized, together with: 

In the end a studio has to ship an amazing recreation that competes with one of the best video games – web2 or web3 – in its style to have the ability to succeed long-term. This sounds apparent, however many early studios in web3 emphasised their tokens and different web3 options moderately than specializing in delivery the absolute best recreation for all avid gamers.

Sport improvement experience is nice, however a crew that has earlier expertise delivery and scaling video games collectively is a greater recipe for fulfillment.

Video games that concentrate on a web3-native viewers completely can work, however stay area of interest till the overall inhabitants turns into extra accustomed to web3.

Play-to-airdrop solely labored by means of the airdrop, just like the early days of play-to-earn. If gamers are financially motivated moderately than motivated by leisure issue, they are going to depart as quickly because the monetary motivation does (post-airdrop).

The jury remains to be out on whether or not gaming tokens can maintain long-term. Up to now, one of the best performing tokens have been both first movers – first “web3 video games”, first Telegram video games, and many others. – however even these are virtually all down 90%+ from their ATHs. We're nonetheless ready to see proof that gaming tokens are viable IF they've correct utility inside a recreation/ecosystem/platform.

Capital to each ship and scale the sport is paramount. Too many groups in gaming (each web2 and web3) elevate simply sufficient to launch their video games after which can not attain vital mass.

Chains have to have the ability to ship on scalability, predictably low value, and consumer expertise. Many studios prioritized massive monetary provides from chains over the performance of the chain itself and ended up needing to work round technical constraints or change chains altogether, which is a major alternative value.

There are multitudes of nuanced additional learnings about recreation integration factors, on/offramping for web3 newbies, platform restrictions and workarounds, and extra. As a lot as we’ve grown as an business over the previous three years, I firmly consider we’re nonetheless within the early phases of what is going to finally develop into a serious paradigm shift for gaming. Web3 nonetheless has the power to introduce basically new methods to interact, retain, and monetize gamers whereas benefitting the gamers themselves with new recreation mechanics, depth, and true possession. The primary large breakout hits powered by web3 could already be stay or could quickly be coming, and once we see these enhancements for each recreation studios and avid gamers, the remainder of the video games business will take discover.

Source link