Potential Stocks in the Crypto World: A Review of Web3 Game Projects

Author: veDAO

Games are often the biggest killer app on new platforms. Today, there are over 3 billion video game players worldwide, with 250 million young people expected to become lifelong gamers. Since the birth of video games, a vibrant consumer ecosystem has developed around gaming, which also serves as a massive social network with considerable stickiness. As one of the primary forms of entertainment in the digital age, gaming is generating immense value. In the world of Web3, gaming has also been seen as a potentially important application area.

According to research by Bain & Company, the value of the gaming market is expected to grow by more than 50% by 2025, exceeding $300 billion. As consumer demand for games continues to rise, players' expectations for gaming experiences are also increasing. The integration of gaming with blockchain technology provides players with a new gaming experience, and more games are currently utilizing blockchain technology to achieve player ownership of game characters and accessories, as well as enhanced virtual experiences.

In May 2022, crypto venture giant a16z announced the launch of its first gaming fund, Games Fund One, with a scale of $600 million. A year later, the fund has made 25 investments. The statistics presented in Cointelegraph's March 2023 blockchain gaming report also demonstrate the growth and potential of Web3 gaming: in addition to substantial funding and gaming projects, Web3 games accounted for 49% of all on-chain transactions in 2022, and the daily active users grew by 60% from 2021 to 2022, indicating the growth of the Web3 gaming user base and its significant potential compared to other sectors.

There are many ways to categorize games, which can be divided based on interactivity, playability, scalability, etc. Additionally, due to the attributes of Web3, they can also be categorized based on the degree of decentralization. For example, based on decentralization from low to high, Web3 games can be divided into three types: optional on-chain games, semi-chain games, and fully on-chain games. Optional on-chain games are essentially traditional Web2 games + game IP derivative NFTs and do not count as true Web3 games; semi-chain games are a common form of Web3 games, where player assets are stored on-chain, but actual game operations still occur off-chain. Semi-chain games address the issues of verifying asset ownership and asset programmability, focusing on items and property within the game; fully on-chain games are truly decentralized games that replace traditional centralized game servers with blockchain, storing all player data on-chain, indexing, and writing it. This method endows games with persistence, censorship resistance, and community-driven development.

In this article, the veDAO Research Institute will select three distinctive categories from different game classifications to categorize Web3 games and review nine high-quality Web3 game projects.

1. Traditional Web3 Games

Traditional Web3 games refer to most common P2E (Play-to-Earn) games, typically characterized by average interactivity, simple graphics, a core P2E effect, and strong community-driven aspects. They are one of the common forms of Web3 games and are classified as semi-chain games from a decentralization perspective. Compared to Web2 games, these Web3 games have lower playability, thus attracting primarily the Web3 community. Just as 8-bit pixel games still have a large player base after the emergence of the Unreal Engine 5, the playability of games includes not only interactivity and graphics but also narrative and community participation; this is even more true in the Web3 space: players can even participate in the construction of the game.

1. AI Rein

AI Rein is a global NFT project from Japan themed around a future world of A.I. It features unique AI Motion technology that allows NFT holders to control their avatars in the metaverse using their computer's front camera. The first NFT series of AI Rein is the PFP of future A.I. world citizens. AI Rein also plans to launch a blockchain-based 2D pixel-style game that allows players to experience A.I. technology in a virtual world full of adventure and challenges. Players can earn rewards by staking their AI Rein NFTs, which can be used in the game.

2. Chainers

Chainers is a metaverse game focused on NFT and community-driven development, where players can access the game for free while also encouraging players to contribute by creating more content. Chainers positions itself as "Play, trade, and create," allowing players to experience, socialize, and interact within the game; they can create and earn rewards simultaneously, achieving both fun and economic viability.

3. Degen Zoo

This game is built by Chris Zaknun, the founder of DAOMaker, and former MakerDAO engineers, developed on an ultra-low budget of only $20,000, with plans to complete development in just 30 days. The game is inspired by the CryptoZoo NFT scam, and the Degen Zoo project aims to complete game development with minimal funds and time to prove the incompetence of CryptoZoo's founder Logan Paul and to satirize similar scams that deceive investors in the metaverse gaming space. Additionally, as a charity game NFT project, all profits from this project will be donated to endangered animal charities, with one of its founding purposes being to raise awareness about caring for animals and nature, teaching players what happens when animals are killed or species become extinct through the game.

2. AAA Games

AAA games are simply defined as games with high development costs, long development cycles, and significant resource consumption. This sector is very similar to public chains, requiring a relatively long time to see real results. For general investors, as long as they get on board with AAA games early, they can generally expect relatively good returns in the future. At the same time, AAA-level Web3 games will be blockchain projects with significant potential to break into mainstream markets. As long as the teams behind these games focus on cost control and product development, ultimately delivering a truly playable, high-quality AAA game that meets Web3 characteristics, Web3 may welcome a large influx of Web2 users.

1. Delysium

Delysium is the world's first playable AAA blockchain game. It is a truly open world, vibrant AI-driven, and fully player-owned MMO game that supports players in creating various personalized physical assets, narrative assets, and native AI MetaBeings. By distributing a large number of AI-driven MetaBeings within player-created and owned experiences, Delysium is building an immersive, supreme, and dynamically generated open-world experience for all Web3 pioneers worldwide.

2. Wildcard Alliance

Wildcard Alliance is a AAA game built on the Polygon chain that combines real-time strategy, multiplayer online battle arena, and card game types in a PVP format. It aims to create a decentralized, autonomous Web3 competitive social platform, bringing players the thrill of competition, breaking through the excitement of video games, and blurring the lines between playing and watching. It aims to create a "game that is easy to learn but takes a lifetime to master." At the same time, it provides players with the joy of collecting, making Wildcard an IP that people genuinely care about and a community they want to join.

3. Citizen Conflict

Citizen Conflict is a free Web3 MMO shooting game built on Unreal Engine 5, developed by QORPO Game Studio (formerly known as Crypto Citizen), deployed on the BSC chain. The game is set in a dystopian world on Ether Islands, where each match is a battle for survival and valuable loot, incorporating open-world and battle royale gameplay. The game itself will be completely free, and to enhance the gaming experience, players will be able to purchase or win in-game assets in the form of digital collectible NFTs, which is optional and not mandatory.

3. Fully On-chain Games

Compared to optional on-chain games and semi-chain games, fully on-chain games have lower playability, and the initial cold start and ecological positive cycle are much more challenging. However, in mid-term development, aspects such as community governance and asset inflation will be much smoother, potentially leading to stronger ecological moats and network effects.

In a truly decentralized environment, fully on-chain games have an economic system driven by player actions and decisions rather than controlled by game developers or central authorities. Players acquire and manage in-game assets and resources through trading, cooperation, or competition. At the same time, players can autonomously participate in the governance of the game and establish rules, achieving autonomy in the game world. This player-driven economic system and autonomous game world provide players with a richer and freer gaming experience.

1. PandaFarm

Panda Farm aims to build a fully on-chain, panda-themed gaming metaverse. Users can profit from the prize pool while participating in each match and competition. Panda Farm is a panda-themed gaming platform where all panda-themed games are built on the blockchain. Panda Farm aims to bring blockchain into mainstream gaming by providing a real-world simulation of pandas, combining the advantages of digital construction and cryptocurrency to attract both crypto and non-crypto gaming enthusiasts as well as panda lovers. In the future, players can create their own paradise in PandaFarm, summon more alien creatures to play with pandas, integrate different IPs into the same worldview, build their own farmland, and choose decentralized management for farmers, who can lock BAMBOO tokens through customizable animal NFTs.

2. MetaLine

MetaLine is an open, transparent, and inclusive world. All information, assets, and game content in the game have been decentralized. MetaLine is a large-scale maritime management, adventure, and strategy online game based on Web3, featuring six major system modules, including production and trading systems, upgrade systems, port systems, combat systems, NFT systems, and an ecological system. By collaborating and connecting different task systems, players can enjoy rich gameplay and establish their own maritime empire. As tasks are gradually released, the built-in port system opens the door for more users to enter the metaverse.

3. Arcadeum

Arcadeum is a decentralized casino that operates entirely on-chain and is self-regulated, featuring provable, albeit low, but competitive casino advantages. The liquidity pool facilitates betting, and depositors receive losses and pay out winnings through the liquidity pool. With the integration of a customized API3 QRNG, random number generation is verifiably fair.

4. In Conclusion

Web3 games hold immense potential, bringing new possibilities to the gaming world. Game creators should never forget the core priority of games: entertainment. Similarly, acquiring assets in Web3 game projects should be part of the gaming process, not the sole purpose for users to participate in the game. Therefore, for Web3 games, focusing solely on P2E is far from enough. Additionally, to achieve true Web3 gaming, games need to be built on bottom-up protocols and use token models as auxiliary means to ensure the sustainability of the gaming economy. In such games, players can truly own assets and break free from the control and restrictions of centralized institutions or platforms through free trading.

Web3 games are likely to be one of the main pathways for future Web2 users to enter Web3. As mentioned in this article, by focusing on creating games with excellent graphics, characters, and engaging stories, attracting users through the playability of the games themselves rather than incentives, and building a vibrant and creative Web3 gaming ecosystem that can attract players in the long term, more value can be unlocked from Web3 games, ushering in a new wave of user migration to Web3.