Challenges and Opportunities of User Retention in Web3 Games: Starting from Economic Models and Game Design

Author: lesley, footprint

When developing and operating Web3 games, many challenges arise, making it crucial to effectively address these challenges for the success of the game. Some strategies include conducting comprehensive testing before the official release and continuously providing new gameplay and content to ensure the stability of the game’s economic system.

In addition to the obstacles encountered in development and operation, this article also discusses several other interesting topics, such as airdrops in Web3 games, bot issues, token economic design, and game mechanics design. Understanding player needs, attracting new players, balancing interests, creating a complete game ecosystem, and supporting a thriving game community are extremely important.

Token Design for Web3 Games in 2023: Prospects and Trends

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Web3 games provide many opportunities for innovative developers, as evidenced by the success of projects like Shrapnel, Axie Infinity, and Illuvium. However, in this rapidly evolving ecosystem, developers need to pay attention to many key issues to ensure project success.

Most projects release tokens and NFTs ahead of the game launch, which many developers and players believe is key to the game's success. However, developers should be cautious about pre-allocating too many tokens before the game has been thoroughly tested and is ready for release. The correct approach is to continuously provide new gameplay and content after the game is launched to maintain player interest and establish a stable economic system. Allocating too many tokens too early may lead to instability in the game ecosystem, undermining the game's sustainability.

To avoid this, we should understand the concept of "the toy on the shelf." This concept indicates that pre-allocating tokens and NFTs may attract interest and investment, but once the game is officially released, these pre-releases become outdated. To attract and retain players, developers need to offer new and exciting gameplay and content to build a loyal and engaged player base, helping the Web3 game ecosystem to thrive.

Airdrops are a common way to retain players in Web3 games, but players may only participate to make money rather than contribute to the game ecosystem. Additionally, the use of bots to automatically participate in multiple airdrops for more rewards is also an issue. These negative behaviors weaken the game ecosystem, leading to instability and depreciation of game asset values.

In fact, airdrops themselves do not necessarily have negative effects; their effectiveness depends on whether they can attract the right player demographic. In contrast, developers should create a game that focuses on gameplay and a robust economic system to attract players interested in game design and mechanics, rather than just those driven by potential investment returns.

Taking World of Warcraft as an example, the game features a system where players gradually upgrade from low-level materials to more valuable ones, each with different values that can be sold for gold in-game. This creates a small market where new players need low-level materials, while high-level players can sell materials they no longer need. Thus, developers should create a virtuous cycle of gameplay and economic systems that make players feel engaged and worth participating, attracting those genuinely interested in game design rather than merely driven by potential investment returns. While airdrops can attract players, they should not be the primary means of retaining them.

Retaining Players Through the Design of Web3 Games and Their Ecosystems

To enhance the value of airdropped tokens or other game assets, game developers need to take certain measures. For example, they can introduce limited quantities of game items or tasks that require players to invest time and effort to complete, ensuring the scarcity of items and the fun of the game. Such practices help increase the value of early investments and maintain the game's appeal while avoiding the abuse of governance power. The key is to create a stable economic system that encourages player participation and keeps them active, rather than just attracting those seeking investment returns.

To maintain high retention rates, the scarcity of game items is crucial. Game developers can create scarcity in various ways within the game. For instance, skins in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are very scarce items that can be sold at high prices due to limited supply. Similarly, tasks in MIR4 require players to invest time and effort to complete, making it difficult for bots to level up. These factors help increase player engagement, maintain the value of in-game items, and attract player interest and participation.

Top Weekly Retention GameFi Projects in 2023

Moreover, effective token economic design in Web3 games is also key to maximizing retention. The focus should be on creating interesting and immersive experiences for players, rather than just concentrating on asset values. The game design of Magic: The Gathering is very engaging, regularly releasing new content and offering different game modes to keep players interested.

The secret lies in creating unique and appealing games that allow players to invest in them over the long term.

Retaining Players Through the Design of NFT-Related Mechanisms and Other Digital Assets

In Web3 games, NFTs should provide players with certain power boosts, but game balance must also be considered in the design. The example of Gala Games' Town Star shows that over-reliance on NFTs to determine player strength in the game can give certain players a significant advantage while making it nearly impossible for others to win.

To maintain balance, we need to set reasonable power boosts for NFTs. In PvP (Player vs Player) and PvE (Player vs Environment) games, NFTs should grant players certain power boosts but should not allow the game to be completely dominated by paying players. Instead, we should find a balance among players that encourages participation in the game and community without turning the game into a purely pay-to-win model.

To retain players in Web3 games, developers need to carefully design game mechanics that meet the needs of high-asset players while also providing opportunities for other players to catch up. This can be achieved by offering high-quality content to high-asset players while gradually balancing the strength of other players. Attracting new players to challenge high-asset players is also very important, which requires significant investment in game promotion.

In summary, effective token economic design in Web3 games requires creating a complete game ecosystem, deeply understanding player needs, balancing advantages among different players, and attracting new players to build a thriving community together. Game developers should focus on designing mechanisms that encourage player participation, including utilizing tools like NFTs, and carefully consider interactions and relationships among players to foster a balanced and sustainable game environment.

How to Prevent Users from Profiting with Bots

The bot issue is prevalent in Web3 games, with some games having bot users outnumbering actual daily transactions by four times. However, many games do not intend to exclude these bot accounts, as they can use the number of bots to significantly inflate their active user data.

To optimize the game, developers need to take measures against the bot issue. One approach is to link wallets with accounts to establish a network that identifies bots. If the game design requires frequent transactions, developers can discover direct associations by consolidating multiple accounts into one, thereby marking these accounts as belonging to the same entity to help accurately identify the number of real players.

Bots are often mistakenly seen as ideal players because they log into the game daily and complete tasks. However, by observing transaction behaviors, it is possible to distinguish between bots and real players, which helps create an attractive game ecosystem for genuine human players.

Changing Gameplay in Web3 Games to Retain Players

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Changing gameplay in Web3 games has its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, it can attract different types of players and improve retention rates; on the other hand, frequently changing game mechanics may lead to the loss of veteran players. Therefore, throughout the game design process, it is essential to attract different types of players and consider the needs of more users when changing gameplay.

Different players enjoy different styles of play; some prefer to use powerful game characters to launch aggressive attacks, while others like to use numerous low-cost characters for sustained resistance, and some prefer ranged attack strategies against enemies. If the vast majority of players only engage in one style of gameplay, game designers can adjust game mechanics to enhance the appeal of other styles. They can also try introducing more innovative gameplay, such as changing game mechanics to force players to try new strategies. However, it is important to avoid overly coercive changes to prevent player attrition.

To retain players with varying interests, developers must thoroughly understand players of different ages, professions, analytical abilities, and skill levels when changing gameplay. Game developers need to carefully analyze the current game design architecture and identify features or content that need to be added to optimize the gaming experience for different players. In the optimization process, developers also need to consider various factors, such as style choices and whether to use single or dual-handed controls. When changing gameplay, game developers should strive to balance different needs, draw on successful cases, and experiment with new gameplay, while also avoiding excessive changes that could alienate loyal users.

Changing gameplay can indeed retain players, but it also carries risks. On one hand, game developers need to attract and retain different types of players throughout the game design. On the other hand, they need to consider the needs of different players when changing gameplay. Clash Royale is an example of a game that increased gameplay variety to attract different types of players.

If you want to attract different types of players by changing gameplay, you need to know the following tips:

First, the entire game design should focus on attracting different types of players. This can be achieved by providing diverse game content, features, and interaction mechanisms.

Second, when changing gameplay, it is essential to balance the needs of different players and avoid any one style of gameplay being too powerful. Instead, different styles of gameplay should be optimized and balanced to ensure diversity and balance in the game.

Third, encourage players to try new gameplay through daily challenges and other means, but avoid being overly forceful or pushy to prevent alienating veteran players. Maintain moderate guidance and balance, allowing players to choose new gameplay on their own.

Finally, understand the feedback from different players to strike a balance between encouraging exploration of new gameplay and retaining existing players. This helps to understand player needs and expectations and make appropriate adjustments based on feedback to ensure the sustainability of the game and player satisfaction.

Web3 - A Story of Power Returning to the Majority

The early-stage Web3 ecosystem was initially developed by ordinary people who hoped to use decentralized and open on-chain systems to protect their property. However, as Web3 gained popularity, this technology was gradually adopted by the wealthy, with big whales taking control of the on-chain world from ordinary people. Ultimately, as the heat of Web3 technology wanes, the wealthy and celebrities will grow weary of it, and Web3 will begin to return to the hands of the majority of ordinary people.

At this current stage, it is important to develop value-creating projects aimed at ordinary people to promote the development of Web3 games and benefit more individuals. Ordinary developers must continuously experiment, learn, and enhance their operational and development capabilities, truly understand user needs, and create value. Although they may face failures, as long as they persist in creating value for ordinary people, they will ultimately achieve unexpected results.

At the project's inception, monitoring the types of assets entering the market is crucial, as this could lead to the majority losing control over the project. Projects that represent community interests are vital for preventing this risk. Ordinary developers must possess foresight and adaptability to contribute to the healthy development of Web3 games at this critical stage. By focusing on industry developments, understanding the motivations and behaviors of various users, and planning the next phase of development and operation, stable development of Web3 games can be achieved, ultimately returning control to the majority.

In summary, the future of Web3 games depends on the dedication and innovation of ordinary developers committed to creating value for the majority. Through collective efforts, we can establish a more equitable, transparent, and convenient on-chain environment that benefits everyone.