Over 75% of Blockchain Games Launched in Last Five Years Have Failed, Study Reveals

According to Cointelegraph, a recent study by CoinGecko has found that more than three-quarters of all blockchain games launched in the last five years have failed. Out of 2,817 games launched between 2018 and 2023, only 690 still have a somewhat active player base. CoinGecko defines a 'failed' Web3 game as one where the 14-day moving average number of active users drops 99% or more from its peak. The average failure rate of Web3 games is around 80% for any given year since 2018. While 2021 saw the highest number of blockchain games launched in a single year with 738 games, the following year, marked by major crypto collapses, saw the highest number of games to fizzle out, with 742 failing in a single year. CoinGecko noted that years of lower failure tended to coincide with the back of bull markets, while higher failure years came toward the start of bear market cycles. CryptoKitties was one of the first Web3 games that gathered hype in late 2017, but its adoption has since fizzled out. Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Axie Infinity are among other Web3 games that have launched in the earlier years and are still widely used today. According to recent data, Alien Worlds, Splinterlands, and Planet IX had the three highest average unique active wallets used between Jan. 1 and Apr. 22, 2023. While 2022 had the highest number of failed games, 2023 has slowed the trend, with only 507 failed projects as of Nov. 27. CoinGecko stated that the lower failure rate could perhaps indicate a stabilization in the state of web3 gaming.