According to a recent study by CoinGecko, more than three-quarters of the total blockchain games launched in the past 5 years have become inactive.
Out of the 2,817 games launched from 2018 to 2023 included in the study, only 690 games among them still maintain a relatively active player base.
CoinGecko defines a “failed” Web3 game as one that experiences a 99% or more decline in average daily active users over a 14-day period from its peak.
While 2021 witnessed the highest number of blockchain games launched in a year with 738 games, the following year, marred by the collapse of major cryptocurrency projects, saw the highest number of game failures, with 742 games failing within a year.
This makes the average failure rate of Web3 games around 80% in any given year since 2018, according to CoinGecko.
CoinGecko notes that years with lower failures tend to coincide with market upticks, while years with higher failures mark the beginning of bearish market cycles.
CryptoKitties, one of the first heavily promoted Web3 games in late 2017, has seen a decline in adoption since then. Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Axie Infinity are among other Web3 games launched in previous years that continue to enjoy widespread usage to this day.
According to recent data, Alien Worlds, Splinterlands, and Planet IX have the three highest average daily active user counts from January 1 to April 22, 2023, according to CoinGecko.
While 2022 had the highest number of game failures, 2023 shows a trend of slowing down, with only 507 projects failing as of November 27.
CoinGecko states, “A lower failure rate may indicate the stability of the Web3 game status.”
Source: CoinGecko