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2022 was a year of ups and downs for the NFT gaming world, and of course, fallout from FTX and other major platform collapses sent shockwaves across every corner of the industry, including Web3 games. However, despite the troubles of last year, P2E is in for a big year of “buidling.”
Why? It’s all in the numbers. Throughout Q3 and Q4 of 2022, a series of Web3 gaming studios handily completed fundraising rounds stretching into tens of millions. After several large raises in August and September, October saw Odyssey Interactive, Stardust, and SkyWeaver respectively pull $19 million, $30 million, and $40 million. Thirdverse received $15 million for Web3 and VR games in November.
Image Credit Via: Odyssey InteractiveThis high level of VC enthusiasm seems contradictory to drops in asset prices and waning player interest. Notably, however, most of the studios that have recently received funding have not conducted seed or pre-seed rounds. Rather, they’ve held Series As – a clear sign that VCs are focusing on studios with a level of proven success building Web3 games.
This also indicates that they are thinking further into the future than they did previously, and that VCs are keen to support Web3 gaming studios that operate more like their Web2 counterparts. This is particularly true regarding game lifecycles: early P2E games had development periods that lasted just a few months. For a while, VCs were happy to support the teams building these games, but today, VCs are supporting teams creating games that will take years to build, which – while less commonplace in the cryptosphere – is a timeline common in the traditional gaming world.
An Uptick in Mobile Centered NFT Gaming Titles
This shift in thinking will also likely result in an increased emphasis on mobile gaming. After all, smartphone games accounted for 45 percent of global gaming revenue in 2022, and mobile access to blockchain games is already known as an essential method of attracting new players – in September, dAppRadar reported that hyper-casual mobile blockchain games brought more than 1.7 million users from Web2 into Web3 gaming in just one week.
Increased emphasis on mobile gaming will also likely lead to increased focus on regions where mobile gaming is most popular, including Southeast Asia, which is currently home to over 102 million active smartphone gamers. This move will likely be supplemented by the accessibility of affordable dev talent in the region, as the cost difference between dev salaries in the US/EU and Asia is substantial.
With these changes underway, it seems likely that Web3 gaming could garner enough steam to become part of the “mainstream,” and if current trends continue, it’s likely that the global index of the top 100 gaming studios will soon come to include studios with strong Web3 elements. Until then, let the games begin.
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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.
Corey Wilton is the co-founder and CEO of Mirai Labs, the international gaming studio behind Pegaxy. A renowned speaker and P2E thought leader, he began his first company within crypto in 2018, a customer support company designed to assist ICO companies with their customer service.
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