After experiencing ups and downs throughout 2022, the gaming segment of the blockchain industry started 2023 with encouraging numbers, making this something worth paying attention to.
Blockchain gaming activity, as measured by on-chain data, increased by 1.31% in January, with 858,621 daily Unique Active Wallets (dUAW) accounting for 48% of Decentralized Application (Dapp) activity.
The blockchain network with the most active gaming activity remains Wax Blockchain, with 331,000 dUAW. With 75% dominance in January 2023, Alien Worlds has been leading on the Wax blockchain, although gaming activity numbers remained unchanged. Hive blockchain takes the second spot with 183,108 dUAW, which is an increase of 17% month on month.
Splinterlands is the most dominant dapp on Hive with 75% dominance. Polygon comes in third place with 138,701 dUAW, an increase of 11.29% from the previous month. This trend further cements Polygon as a gaming chain, where Planet IX became the most dominant game dapp on Polygon with 59% of January’s on-chain activity.
Wax’s activity has remained consistent, although Hive and Polygon’s gaming activity increased in January 2023. These blockchain gaming on-chain data present a positive picture of how gaming accelerated the adoption of blockchain technology. It is also important to note that the results are encouraging on the top gaming blockchains’ token side. The following section will analyze this.
What is all the hype about?
The growth in the metaverse and gaming sector of the cryptocurrency space is a result of individual project milestones and the growth they have experienced. For starters, ApeCoin has seen a surge in popularity due to the hype surrounding the Yuga Labs ecosystem. The firm recently launched an NFT set called the “Sewer Pass,” which has been particularly successful.
The Sewer Pass collection generated a lot of interest and excitement among NFT enthusiasts and collectors alike. The Sewer Pass is an innovative project that aims to put creators first by allowing players to use their NFTs to play games and earn rewards. The project taps into the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem and has already yielded impressive returns, with a trading volume of $44.6 million and 10,561 traded NFTs in its first 13 days.
Also, the firm has recently collaborated with Timex, featuring Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which has generated even more interest and investors to the platform and hence, the rally in the price of the token.
GALA has been making headlines for its recent acquisition of a mobile gaming studio with over 20 million active users and over 15 games. This move has expanded the reach of the Gala blockchain network significantly. Additionally, an artist on the Gala Music platform was nominated for a Grammy, which generated even more buzz for the ecosystem.
MAGIC’s surge in popularity can be attributed to the hype around TreasureDAO. This new platform aims to bring together creators, collectors, and fans in a unique ecosystem where everyone can benefit. The concept has been warmly received by the gaming community, which has helped drive up the price of MAGIC.
Finally, AXS has been making waves with the start of Axie Origins Season 2 and the launch of Homeland. These moves have expanded the reach of the AXS blockchain network and generated a lot of excitement among gamers and investors alike.
In conclusion, the surge of the top gaming tokens in January 2023 is a very positive sign for the industry. The on-chain metrics are bullish, and the hype surrounding these coins is only growing.
What you should know
The gaming sector has long been a strong and massively profitable industry, drawing 2.69 billion users from around the world and generating $103.5 billion in revenue annually. Years ago, the movie industry was outpaced by gaming. Gaming tokens have gained popularity recently as a result of the development of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The rise of the most popular gaming tokens in January 2023 was nothing short of spectacular.
According to market data as of January 31, ApeCoin leads the pack with a market capitalization of $2,112,042,188 and a percentage increase of 51.99% from the beginning of the month.
Following closely behind is SAND, with a market capitalization of $1,254,095,738 and a percentage increase of 86.64%. While these tokens lead, the biggest winner of them all is GALA, with a market capitalization of $384,667,325 and a whopping percentage increase of 218.75% from the beginning of the month. Other notable gainers include IMX, MAGIC, and AXS.
Looking at the top blockchain games by Unique Active Wallets, (UAW), According to on-chain data, Alien Worlds is still in first place, with an average of 225,203 dUAW, a slight increase of 0.19% from December 2022. In late January, they opened up round 2 of their community grants program, allowing anyone with an idea to improve or expand the Alien Worlds ecosystem to submit proposals for TLM tokens to help fund their development.
In second place is Splinterlands, with an average of 183,003 dUAW, a significant 16% increase month-over-month. At the beginning of January, they announced their roadmap for 2023, while they introduced DEC-Batteries and Soulbound cards in February. Setting up their validator node network, updating their game economy and introducing land gameplay are key components of their plans.
Third place goes to Planet IX, a sci-fi metaverse game that has seen a 58.40% month-over-month increase with close to 79,000 dUAW. The NFT-based strategy game has an ecosystem with over 400 million NFTs sold and over $2 million in trading volume in January, ranking it third in blockchain gaming.
Axie Infinity ranks tenth on the list, but it has still shown growth, with an increase of 30.45% to an average of 12,068 dUAW. In the next section, we will talk about Axie Infinity’s January updates and how they are on the path to recovery. Axie Infinity used to be the leading blockchain gaming platform up until the platform got hacked last year for $622 million.
