How Games Can Drive Web3 Adoption Worldwide?

One day, no one will call it a Web3 game, it will just be a game.

**Written by:**The Write Dude

Compilation: GWEI Research

If you think the title of this post should be "How games will drive global Web3 adoption" as if this is some way of the future, I'm here to tell you: games are driving web3 technology adoption, right now. But what exactly does that mean? Are gamers speculating in tokens on centralized exchanges? Yes, some are.

More likely, though, gamers are using in-game digital collectibles and trading them on secondary markets, earning in-game currency that is effectively an ERC-20 token, and storing all assets in a self-custodial in the wallet.

One can debate what will get the next billion users into cryptocurrencies, onto blockchains and away from traditional centralized institutions. Based on current data, I'd wager that the main pillar of global adoption will be gaming.

Secret Weapon

We can talk about AAA game studios raising hundreds of millions of dollars, partnering with big-name streamers, and developing high-quality games -- and we'll be doing that soon.

But the real leaders in web3 games will be mobile game studios that create seamless onboarding experiences, giving players wallets and assets without them even realizing it.

When we look at the top 40 mobile gaming studios, each studio brings in over $1 billion in revenue. In the first quarter of 2022, mobile games brought in over $21 billion in revenue (this is down). In total, about 2 billion users are playing these mobile games. A studio like this:

• Tencent Games: 200 million monthly active users (MAU)
• Niantic: 140 million MAUS
• Mixi: 14 million monthly active users
• Supercell: 100 million MAU
• King Studios: $345 million
• GungHo Entertainment: 20 million monthly active users

What's more, mobile-based games attract a highly diverse player base.

• 49% of players are female
• 65% of women aged 10-65 play mobile games
• According to Statista, there are approximately 3.4 billion gamers worldwide.
• According to New Zoo, more than 55% of gamers worldwide are mobile gamers.

Those big studios I mentioned above have moved to web3. Niantic is exploring NFTs with a web3 expert, and Activision/Blizzard execs are no strangers to web3 communities like Wolves DAO or Real Third Web.

These games, after transitioning to web3, are poised to incorporate different user groups into blockchain technology: young and old, cypherpunks and traditional.

At the end of the day, very few players care about the technology behind the game

In fact, gamers rarely care about the technology behind the games they play.

okay? Is it fun? Can I play with my friends? Let's go then. NF - what? What exactly does 'self-defense' mean? I don't even know what the Polygon blockchain is.

Recently, a popular AAA game with player-owned assets opened to the public, and Deaddrop and web3 streamer - Jonah Blake - personally interviewed the players he met. He wonders if only web3 gamers are playing, or if traditional gamers are interested.

Gamers don't care if there are NFTs. They care about whether the game is fun. They don't care about interoperability. They care if the game provides hours of playtime. If you build it, gamers will come.

Web3 games so far

Traditional gamers have jumped into web3 gaming and they are experiencing the autonomy, independence and control that comes with it.

• Illuvium has attracted thousands of players, raised millions of dollars, and looks as crisp and cutting-edge as any AAA legacy game.
• Shatterpoint is a seamless onboarding experience, available for free on the App Store and Google Play Store.
• Deaddrop, thanks to their titular head, Dr. Disrespect, hosted a real-world event with 500 people in attendance and tens of thousands watching from their homes.
• Gala Games is going to bridge the web2 and web3 worlds with icons like The Walking Dead and Battlestar Galactica.

If this trend continues, gaming may be the first community to abandon web3 and only call new, innovative, blockchain games as...well...games. Gamers are used to separating mobile games from regular games; they separate online games from regular games; they separate multiplayer games from regular games.

All of these types are now considered regular games.

Sooner or later no one will call it a web3 game. It's just a game.

There are a lot of gamers out there. There are billions of gamers around the world, from casual gamers to hardcore pros.

Many web2 studios are eyeing web3 technologies, and web3 games are already attracting audiences that compete with popular traditional games.