Web3 Gaming Growth Faces Challenges
The quality of Web3 games is on the rise, with several titles attracting millions of users each year. However, the sector is also facing challenges, leading to significant user attrition. Axie Infinity, for instance, saw its daily active users soar to over 2.7 million in November 2021, only to plummet by 45% by April 2022. A lack of focus on sustainability and the absence of in-game asset ownership have contributed to these setbacks in the play-to-earn gaming model. Mythical Games, a trailblazer in the Web3 gaming arena, aims to empower players with genuine asset ownership via blockchain technology. Their platform simplifies blockchain integration for both developers and gamers, allowing users to register using just an email address. Despite notable achievements, blockchain games have encountered their share of pitfalls. Below are seven prevalent mistakes and insights on how forward-thinking platforms have adapted to avoid them.
1. Overemphasis on Technology Over Gameplay
Many games require players to set up external crypto wallets, manage private keys, or purchase cryptocurrency before they can even start playing. This technical complexity can deter potential players, especially those unfamiliar with cryptocurrency. As a result, many users disengage before they even have a chance to experience the game. Designing games that focus solely on minting, breeding, or trading NFTs while offering uninspired or repetitive gameplay is a mistake. Critics have even referred to the speculative nature of NFTs as the “unspoken promise of NFTs,” arguing that traditional Web2 games provide a more enjoyable experience. While this may be an exaggeration, it’s clear that NFT marketplaces can lead to decision fatigue and overwhelm, resembling financial products more than traditional games. Additionally, complicated Layer-2 or custom blockchain solutions that require knowledge of gas fees, asset bridging, or staking can frustrate players, making the gaming experience feel more like navigating a financial platform than enjoying a game.
2. Misjudging the Value of True Asset Ownership
In conventional blockchain games, players lacked ownership of the assets they earned, rendering their time investment meaningless. Mythical Games has initiated a shift from this paradigm by facilitating verifiable ownership of in-game assets such as land, items, and characters. For example, FIFA Rivals, an arcade-style mobile game launched on June 12, allows players to own and trade digital collectibles and designs through a partnership with Adidas. This innovative approach links boot releases to player performance, enabling players to upgrade their squads as their favorite athletes score. Players can trade NFTs and construct dream teams on the Mythical Marketplace, which supports asset exchanges across various games within the Mythical ecosystem, including NFL Rivals and Blankos Block Party. This centralized marketplace simplifies asset management and transactions, and Mythical Games boasts over 5.6 million active wallets monthly, achieving over 3 million transactions within just 48 hours of transitioning to Polkadot.
3. Flawed Tokenomics
Axie Infinity’s SLP token serves as a cautionary tale regarding the inflation issues plaguing play-to-earn models. Initially, the token’s value surged, but its generation rate far exceeded its utility in breeding Axies, leading to severe inflation. Consequently, the token’s value plummeted, significantly impacting player earnings. The primary reason for this failure was an over-reliance on a constant influx of new players. This situation underscores the importance of balancing token sustainability and player incentives without depending on external value drivers or solid economic sinks. To prevent inflation, tokens must have clear use cases that foster organic growth and demand. Long-term viability requires economically sound mechanisms for rewards and staking. Game developers are increasingly structuring tokenomics to reward holders for actions that benefit the project, making tokens a crucial element of project marketing and stakeholder community management.
4. Disjointed Gaming Infrastructure
Some developers in the Web3 gaming space have become overly dependent on a multitude of infrastructure solutions, including smart contracts, wallets, marketplaces, payments, and player analytics. This fragmented approach can lead to wasted time as developers struggle to integrate various tools and technologies, resulting in security vulnerabilities and increased maintenance costs. Effective game development typically relies on comprehensive full-stack game engine solutions, and the same principle applies to Web3 development. To enhance efficiency and create more enjoyable player experiences, many developers are now opting for interoperable standards and all-in-one solutions. Mythical Games simplifies the development process by offering a holistic solution that seamlessly integrates a secondary game economy. Their REST APIs serve as the primary integration path, with SDKs available upon request. This technology manages essential blockchain functions, including marketplace operations, NFT creation, and player wallet management, facilitating the construction of in-game marketplaces without excessive complexity or cost.
5. Transparency Does Not Equate to Trust
While the transparency of blockchain technology can enhance perceptions of trustworthiness, it does not guarantee it. Many platforms assumed that making data accessible on the blockchain would foster greater trust, leading to increased user engagement. As a result, some introduced public APIs that gained widespread adoption due to their ease of use for developers. However, trust ultimately remained tied to the developers, even after platforms began providing these APIs in a fair and unrestricted manner.
6. Excessive Data Storage on the Blockchain
Storing extensive amounts of data on the blockchain to support a game can be cost-prohibitive, as block space is limited and players incur gas fees each time they save progress. This situation can lead to substantial costs for players who have invested significant time. Developers have come to realize that this model is not sustainable and have started to streamline their blockchain interactions by caching more data on servers and minimizing on-chain data storage. Gaming communities have welcomed the reduction in gas fees, prioritizing a smooth gameplay experience over on-chain data, which has lost its novelty after prolonged play.
7. Short-Term Gains vs. Long-Term Satisfaction
While monetization is critical for a game’s growth and development, an excessive focus on play-to-earn mechanics at the expense of enjoyable gameplay can alienate players, leading some insiders to declare play-to-earn games as “dead.” The market pressures in 2022 heavily impacted earnings-focused communities, while gameplay-centered games remained resilient. Speculative projects, particularly those with non-utility tokens, face a heightened risk of failure. Players value authentic and meaningful interactions within the gaming environment. Before launching the Mythical Platform, the development team prioritized a player-first approach in their engineering decisions. This included building a scalable and reliable backend to support games and designing experiences reminiscent of beloved Web2 titles, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable user experience. The history of Web3 gaming has been marred by overly financialized designs that cater to NFT traders rather than genuine gamers. NFL Rivals exemplifies a game that emphasizes core gameplay mechanics while integrating Web3 elements. As the attention economy evolves, it becomes increasingly vital for projects to focus on player-centric designs that incorporate immersive narratives, skill-based rewards, and engaging gameplay mechanics that go beyond mere earning potential. When these elements are lacking, players quickly lose interest and shift their focus elsewhere.
