GameFi's market cap dips to $15.31 billion as the sector grapples with a summer slowdown, yet major funding and PlayStation integration hint at potential breakthroughs ahead.
TL;DR
- GameFi market cap is down 2.8% to $15.31 billion the last week
- Daily volume dropped 20% to $1.26 billion
- Top games: Pixels, KGeN, BoomLand
- Notable news: "Off The Grid" PS5 playtest, record blockchain game funding
- Ronin Bridge upgrade, Immutable-Fireblocks partnership
GameFi Market Overview
Welcome to our first weekly overview of everyone’s favorite underperforming crypto sector: GameFi.
Crypto gaming tokens have had another tough week, feeling the effects of the summer slowdown. The sector saw widespread declines as crypto markets remained cautious after the 5 August "Black Monday" dip. Even lower inflation numbers last week which could result in interest rate cuts next month couldn't quite turn the tide.
But it's not all doom and gloom. While prices and investor attention might be taking a breather, the first half of 2024 saw a significant influx of VC money into upcoming gaming projects. It seems there's still faith that this young sector will eventually find its footing and live up to its potential in the blockchain space.
Crypto gaming perma bull Alex Becker said this week on X that there are at least 10 games coming out this year that could provide a breakout catalyst for the sector.. He believes that gaming going mainstream in the next year or so is a virtual given.
The stats for 10 to 17 August 2024 tell an interesting story:
- The total gaming market cap (tracking 721 coins) decreased by 2.8%, from $15.75 billion to $15.31 billion over the past week. This is a little worrying if we consider that we had a near $20 billion MC at the beginning of July 2024, according to this Web3 report.
- Trading volume also took a hit, dropping 20% – from a daily $1.57 billion to $1.26 billion
- According to DappRadar, Unique Active Wallets (UAW) remain steady at about 4 million accounts.
- The DeFiLlama Mcap-weighted category narrative tracker saw a 28% decrease in GameFi as a trend this last week.
Top Gaming Coins
- Crypto gaming tokens have had a rough week, with declines across the board. Immutable (IMX) dropped 7.43%, while The Sandbox (SAND) fell 8.28%. Axie Infinity (AXS), once a poster child for Play-to-Earn, wasn't spared either, dipping 5.45%. NotCoin, the most popular P2E coin, dropped a whopping 10.5% as users began to feel tapped out.
- This downward trend isn't just a short-term blip. Most of these tokens are in the red for their year-to-date performance too.
- There are a couple of bright spots, though. BinaryX has managed to stay positive YTD, standing out in an otherwise bearish market.
Top Coins by Total GameFi Market Cap
Top 10 GameFi Coins’ 7 Day Changes
Game-on Tweets
Most Played Games
According to DappRadar, the following games have had the most active user account wallets over the last 7 days. Several of these games don’t have a token yet.
Read: CoinMarketCap H1 2024 Report
BTW if you want to get a full overview of the GameFi sector’s performance so far in 2024, check out our CMC H1 2024 report. It shows the following top games by Daily Active Users.
Latest Blockchain Gaming News
- "Off The Grid" Completes First PS5 Playtest: Gunzilla Games' highly anticipated cyberpunk battle royale, "Off The Grid," successfully wrapped up its first playtest on the PS5, showcasing the game's innovative mechanics.
- Blockchain Game Funding Reaches New Heights: The latest update on blockchain game investments reveals record-breaking funding, such as a16z’s $600m fund for Web3 gaming. Binance Labs last week also invested $6m in Pentagon Games studio.
- Ronin Bridge Implements Upgrade After Hack: Ronin Bridge, part of Axie Infinity ecosystem, has integrated an upgraded security script by Verichains to bolster protection following its notorious hack.
- Immutable Partners with Fireblocks for Web3 Gaming: Immutable and Fireblocks have teamed up to scale and better secure Web3 gaming, providing developers with more robust tools for building decentralized games.
- Hamster Kombat Rejects Venture Capital: The creators of the wildly popular Telegram TapFi blockchain game "Hamster Kombat" have turned down venture capital offers, opting for organic growth over external investment.
- Solana's SVM Gaming Reaches 1 Million Active Users: Solana's gaming sector, powered by the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), has hit a milestone with over 1 million monthly active users, highlighting the platform's growing appeal.
What You Can Do
Crypto gaming remains a very high risk investment play, but as we’ve seen in 2021 with the crazy success of Axie Infinity which kicked off the whole GameFi mania, If they eventually take off during a bull season, they will easily yield some of the biggest returns in the entire Web3 space.
As the sector continues to take shape and AB-test what gamers want and don’t want, we’ll see new trends come in rapidly and take off, such as with tapping games. New arrivals like "Off The Grid" will start to tap into the PlayStation market, which could rehabilitate the reputation of Web3 gaming among hardcore gamers.
With "Off The Grid" completing its first PS5 playtest, keep an eye out for similar opportunities in upcoming GameFi projects. Participating in early testing phases not only gives you a first look at new games but also allows you to provide valuable feedback that can shape the future of these projects.
The recent $600m fund from a16z and Binance Labs' $6m investment in Pentagon Games studio signal strong confidence in the GameFi sector. Research these backed projects and consider diversifying your portfolio with promising GameFi tokens or NFTs.
You can also use CoinMarketCap to track the portfolios of gaming studio giants like Animoca Brands and Nakamoto Games.
However, always conduct thorough due diligence and invest only what you can afford to lose.
Therefore, you should keep a finger on the pulse of GameFi by pressing START and logging some playing hours. This gives you the best fighting chance at figuring out which games will be next year’s billion dollar final bosses instead of game-over NPC investments.
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