DappRadar: Blockchain gamers surge as users try to 'accumulate crypto'

User activity for blockchain gaming decentralized applications (DApps) rose sharply in September, with many games seeing a notable increase in the number of active users.

According to DappRadar , of the top 10 games in the number of "unique wallet addresses interacting with dapp smart contracts" in the past 30 days, 7 games have seen an increase in the number of active users, and the top 5 games have all been at state of growth.

As of this writing, projects gaining DApp growth during this period include Web3 gaming platform Gameta, blockchain-based games Alien Worlds, Solitaire Blitz, Benji Bananas, Splinterlands, Farmers World, and GAMEE’s Arc8.

In a blog post on Sept. 27, DappRadar noted that eight of the top 10 blockchain games currently are mobile-first and could eventually “bring millions of users to the blockchain”:

“Dapp games like Gameta, Benji Bananas, Upland, and Trickshot Blitz allow anyone with a mobile device to earn cryptocurrency with little prior knowledge, investment, or risk.”

The company added: “Using everyday activities like hyper-casual mobile games as bait can ensure that users have fun once they interact, while solid token economics can encourage daily usage and user retention.”

According to DappRadar, one of the reasons for the rising popularity of blockchain games despite the bear market may be the idea of "bleeding in a bear market and running in a bull market".

“The idea of accumulating cryptocurrencies and investing in a bear market to pay off in a bull market is pretty much proven right now.”

The fastest growing user category is Animoca Brands' Benji Bananas (Polygon), up 2016.54% over the past 30 days. It's worth noting that the game was a Web2 mobile app until March of this year. Animoca then introduced a play-to-earn (P2E) element with the Bored Ape Yacht Club's Ape Coin (Ape).

While it's unclear what caused Benji Bananas to grow its user numbers so much, it did host a P2E gaming event this month, offering the winner a series of valuable in-game NFTs.

Blockchain Gaming DApp Activity: DappRadar

Among the top 10 games, only Axie Infinity, Trickshot Blitz, and Upland saw a drop in DApp activity over the past 30 days.

Amid the increase in blockchain game players this month, a Bloomberg article on Sept. 28 stated that the highly correlated NFT market trading "mania has almost died." It points to a 97% drop in total NFT transaction volume since January as evidence.

Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, pointed out via Twitter on September 30 that simply looking at the indicator of NFT sales cannot paint a complete picture of NFT or games.

Siu emphasized that NFT prices typically fall with the price of their counterpart assets, such as ethereum, and that many games that don’t typically grab headlines require relatively cheap NFTs. Instead, he emphasized that user activity and the number of people entering Web3 is what matters.

Gods Unchained broke through the top 10 NFT sales rankings

Meanwhile, NFT sales for the NFT-based card battle game Gods Unchained climbed into the top 10 NFT sales in the past 30 days, according to Cryptoslam.

Gods Unchained has grown by 373.25% over the past 30 days, reaching $10.8 million at the time of writing. This marks the first time the game has surpassed $10 million in NFT sales since January, after a very slow February-August period.

The reason behind this may be the discussion about the "Season 2" upgrade, which will improve the legends in the game and works, and GameStop's free NFT card packs for professional members this month. Additionally, earlier this week Gods Unchained announced an esports competition with a $70,000 prize pool.

According to data from DappRadar, active users of Gods Unchained have also increased significantly in the past 30 days, increasing by 28.50% to approximately 14,180. However, the game still has a long way to go to catch up to the top 10, and it currently ranks 28th in terms of users.