Weekly Crypto Gaming Roundup
Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we analyze the latest developments in the blockchain gaming sector. Exciting news has surfaced this week, highlighting significant events and advancements within the industry.
Highlights of the Week
This week’s spotlight is on Parallel, which successfully wrapped up its esports tournament, the Parallel Prime Championships, awarding a grand prize of $100,000 to the victor. Furthermore, the game is gearing up for its mobile launch on March 18th, expanding its accessibility through app stores. As part of this announcement, Parallel Studios revealed further details along with a trailer for its new B3-based shooter titled Sanctuary.
In a notable innovation, Mystic Moose has launched its WorldWide Agent AI gaming platform. This initiative uniquely merges web3 components, such as its MOJO and WWA tokens, with game-playing AI agents including Emma, Brooka, and Winston Wylde Alexander. The platform aims to allow users to integrate their own AI agents for gameplay and earning, starting with Agents of Poker.
Sky Mavis is taking a proactive approach to enhance its Ronin ecosystem rather than waiting for other developers to contribute. The company is pursuing its most ambitious project yet, introducing Atia’s Legacy, a massive multiplayer online game (MMO) set in the Lunacia world. Utilizing familiar assets like Axie land NFTs and AXS tokens, Atia’s Legacy promises combat-intensive gameplay with real-time squad battles and opportunities for resource gathering and crafting.
Financials and Milestones
In financial news, Animoca Brands has disclosed its unaudited financials for Q4 2024, revealing total assets of $4.3 billion. The company’s bookings for 2024 saw a 12% increase, rising from $280 million in 2023 to $314 million this year. A remarkable gain of 116% year-over-year was noted in its Digital Asset Advisory business, which reached $165 million.
Additionally, Wemade is celebrating the first anniversary of its MMORPG, Night Crows, with a special event on March 12th, where players can earn exclusive rewards through pre-registration. Meanwhile, the top-down sandbox MMORPG RavenQuest is set to release on mobile on March 14th, following its PC launch, and is expected to shift the narrative in web3 gaming as predicted by Immutable.
New Developments and Partnerships
CCP Games has appointed Stefán Þórarinsson, a former central bank economist, as the new head of economy for its fully on-chain game, EVE Frontier. The game is designed to prioritize sustainability, utilizing mechanisms similar to Apptokens to create a player-driven ecosystem.
Switching gears to broader industry trends, Yuga Labs continues to push forward despite challenges faced since its inception. The company is preparing for the highly anticipated launch of its “persistent” Otherside metaverse slated for June 2025. In preparation, Yuga has been rigorously stress-testing the underlying Msquared technology, which facilitates the connection and scaling of virtual worlds within the metaverse.
The developer has also launched Project Dragon, a first-person shooter experience aimed at breaking Guinness World Records for the most concurrent players in an online FPS, which successfully attracted 2,197 players.
Shifts in Strategy
Wemade’s web3 arm, Wemix, is pivoting its strategy by reducing the number of titles it develops in 2024, opting to concentrate on a select few high-quality games. Following the success of Night Crows, which is projected to reach $200 million in lifetime revenue, the company has introduced its second web3 MMORPG, Legend of Ymir, themed around Norse mythology, which quickly rose to the top of Google Play after its launch.
In contrast, Immutable is doubling down on its high-quantity strategy, boasting over 500 games in its ecosystem. This week, Netmarble, one of Immutable’s unicorn partners, revealed plans for seven additional game launches on the platform in 2025.
Another notable game, Tokyo Beast, is set to launch in 2025. A blend of web2 gaming, esports, and NFT-based crypto metagames, Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson regards it as a potential driver for mainstream blockchain gaming adoption.
Challenges and Future Perspectives
The studio Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, led by Chris Heatherly, announced the suspension of its web3 social deduction game, The Mystery Society. Heatherly cited the lack of investment for web3 games as a significant barrier. However, following the announcement, multiple developers have reached out with alternative proposals, including transitioning the game to a pure web2 model for a Steam release.
As we look forward, the crypto landscape remains unpredictable. Questions arise regarding ETH and RON’s future prices, as well as which Ronin game will achieve 300,000 daily active users next. Following Ronin’s recent transition to a permissionless framework, the community gaming prediction market, Forkast, has launched on the network, allowing users to make forecasts on various growth metrics and trends.
In summary, this week has underscored the resilience and innovation present in the blockchain gaming industry, as developers and companies adapt their strategies in response to market conditions and technological advancements. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to track the evolving landscape of web3 gaming.
