The State of Popular Blockchain Games

Driven by technology advancements primarily from hardware improvement, improved accessibility because of cost improvement and mobile, and its rising recognition as a popular form of entertainment, the gaming sector grew substantially during recent years. Although COVID-19 movement restrictions worldwide drove an overly-optimistic surge that has slowed down recently, the sector’s general growth trend is still solid. Over the same period from 2020 to 2021, blockchain (note: we use this interchangeably with crypto and web3) went into a bull market, and web3 games were very hyped up. The primary differentiating factor that blockchain technology claimed was that it is player-centric, especially in terms of digital asset ownership and ‘play-to-earn’ (P2E). At the time, the most talked-about web3 game was Axie Infinity, which popularity has waned (c. 700k unique active wallets in November 2021, to 55k in July 2024, after a small resurgence in 2024).

The critical reasons why web3 games have not gained traction, which are relevant to all the games we discuss, include:

Poor gameplay and user experience: This includes the level of innovation and engagement, production quality (i.e., graphics, user experience). An important reason for this could be the over-emphasis on tokenomics and monetization over engaging gameplay mechanics. Most blockchain games aren’t fun to play compared to traditional games, focusing too much on earning potential rather than entertainment value.
High barriers to entry: The complexity of blockchain technology, including setting up wallets and purchasing cryptocurrencies, creates a steep learning curve for mainstream gamers. This technical barrier deters many potential players from trying blockchain games.
Scalability issues: While blockchain networks used to struggle with processing large numbers of transactions quickly and cheaply, this has improved tremendously with scalability solutions. Nonetheless, the experience is still not completely smooth and can still lead to slow gameplay and high transaction fees during peak times, negatively impacting the user experience.
Crypto skepticism: Being associated with crypto introduces inertia for someone to get started with it. Although it is fairly straightforward to get started, the idea of having to be exposed to crypto concerns some people. On the flipside, many have argued that games, which we can see in the case of Gods Unchained, has helped people get acquainted with crypto.

We delve into the state of a few of the more popular blockchain games from the crypto peak period, and evaluate the challenges they faced since.

Gods Unchained

Gods Unchained (GU) is arguably one of the first blockchain games that gained mainstream traction. It is a trading card game (TCG) that is very frequently mentioned to be like Hearthstone (HS) or Magic the Gathering Arena (MtGA).

It was developed by Immutable Games, the game development business segment of the Immutable Group, which other business segment is the Immutable Platform, a platform for developing games on Ethereum. Immutable Games also developed Guild of Guardians, a roguelite mobile RPG. The Game Director of GU is Chris Clay, who was Game Director of MtGA before he left to join Immutable. Daniel Paez was Executive Producer of GU from May 2024, and left in July 2024, replaced by Iman Taeb.

Its beta launch was in 2020 when cryptocurrency was at a lull and, with much anticipation, it ported to mobile, on both iOS and Android, at the end of February 2024.

What are some key aspects of the game?

Gameplay: Players build decks of 30 cards and battle against opponents in strategic card-based combat, with the goal to reduce the opponent’s god’s health to zero.
Blockchain: Built on Immutable X, a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum. Cards are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that players own and can trade freely. Players only interact with Immutable X when they want to trade cards with other players.
Economy: Players can earn cards and the GODS token by playing the game. Players can buy, sell, and trade cards on the Gods Unchained marketplace. The GODS token serves not only as an in-game currency but also allows holders to participate in governance decisions, giving players a stake in the game’s future development.

Why has it not been as successful as HS or MtGA? Taking aside the very critical reason that it is years behind HS and MtGA in development and hence less polished in both game mechanics and user interface, there are some important reasons behind its lack of popularity.

No franchise power: HS and MtGA are built on strong existing franchises – Warcraft and Magic, respectively. They have strong followings and branding, making user acquisition much easier.
Lack of mobile: While PC gaming is still popular, mobile is a large market with potentially low overlap, especially in less-developed countries, which have relatively high blockchain adoption and familiarity with blockchain gaming (e.g., Axie). Hearthstone launched on PC early 2014, and on mobile in the same year. By 2015, it had 8m players on PC and 9m on mobile.
Cost: Like HS and MtGA, GU can be free to play, but paying for cards will help you get your ideal deck much easier. The difference with GU is that many play it for the monetizability of it, from selling your cards. However, you have to deal with gas fees which feels like tax.
Lack of viable play styles: The issue of having a ‘meta’ play style is not unique to GU, but it is exacerbated because of players’ strong motivation to P2E.

Where is it at today?

The recent departure of Executive Producer Daniel was met with mixed feelings among the community. While he oversaw the launch of mobile and new content, there were also gripes about his over focus on gamers who joined earlier.
Continues to have game patches and expansions. The latest expansion was in April 2024, which was a “Dread Awakening” crossover card pack in collaboration with Guild of Guardians (also a web3 game).
Mobile release on iOS and Android in Feb 2024.
They have also improved on technology, migrating chests to Layer 2 to make transactions more streamlined and accessible.
Launched on Epic Games store in June 2023.

Splinterlands

Like GU, Splinterlands is a card game that allows players to collect, trade, and battle using cards represented by NFTs. In May 2024 when it celebrated its 6th anniversary, it claimed that more than 3.9b battles have been played.

It was founded by Jesse “Aggroed” Reich, who remained CEO until February 2024, and Matthew “Yabapmatt” Rosen, who is the CTO and now also the CEO. Splinterlands was launched in 2018 and has since evolved into a leading blockchain-based collectible card game. The game operates on the Hive blockchain and is accessible through web browsers, making it available on various devices that support web browsing and Web3 wallet connections.

In Sep 2023, Splinterlands underwent a restructuring which encompassed layoffs and a split of non-core products into Invennium Corp, to be a 100% owned subsidiary of Steem Monsters Corp. (The parent holding company of Splinterlands). Jesse become the CEO of The Invennium Corp, while Matt the CEO of Steem Monsters Corp. As part of this restructuring, the team committed to raise investment capital for the business for longer-term growth. Soulkeep, a tower defense game, which was originally developed as an expansion game within the Splinterlands ecosystem and held under Steem Monsters Corp, was eventually sold, in Feb 2024, to its original developers, Double Coconut (also developers of hit party game Heads Up).

The Invennium Corp, which operates Genesis League Sports (GLS), a platform for sports games. It forked part of the GLS to build a platform for arcade and video games, which is called Arcade Colony, in January 2024. It claims to support Web2 game publishers by enabling game poring into Web3, and get access to the existing gaming audience of the Arcade Colony community, Genesis League Sports and Splinterlands communities, all of which operate on the Hive Blockchain using the same accounts to login and play.

What are some key aspects of the game?

Gameplay: There are two card types – summoners, which determine the type of monsters you can use in a battle, and monsters, which do the actual fighting, and are further classified into melee, ranged, and magic. Players construct combat lineups based on match rules, engaging in auto-battle until one team emerges victorious. Rewards include Glint currency (introduced in Apr 2024, a non-transferable, only used within the game), distributed at the end of every two-week season, which can be used to acquire cards and other in-game items.
Blockchain: Splinterlands is on the HIVE blockchain. Certain Splinterlands assets can exist on the other blockchains such as ETH, BSC and WAX, using asset bridges.
Economy: Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) and Glint are the primary in-game currencies, while Splintershards is used (SPS) as a governance token, for its DAO, which holds funds from the SPS private token sale, token emissions, and proceeds from product sales (e.g., LICENSE tokens and Riftwatchers packs). There are land ownership mechanics, allowing players to farm resources like Grain, Research Points, and $SPS tokens.

Some of the challenges and most prominent criticisms are:

Lack of matches: Other than the top rating levels, the match liquidity is low, making it challenging for players to get matched.
Bots and other cheating programs: There are complaints about the presence of bots in matches and in the rental market.
Broken economy: Things are prohibitively expensive, and the reward system, especially with the new introduction of Glint, is not sufficiently rewarding, as it is a move away from P2E.
User experiences issues: The mobile app has been criticized for its poor performance, as compared to the browser version. There has been frequent changes to game mechanics, such as ranking systems, card levels etc. that have been disruptive to a players’ strategies and investments.

Where is it at today?

Telegram (10k members) and Discord are quite inactive. The game still pushes regular updates, however the play activity feels low.
Soulkeep, the Double Coconut developer tower defense game, was released in June 2024.
In May 2024, it celebrated its 6th anniversary with a tournament featuring a prize pool of 2m DEC (at the time, worth c. $1-2k).
The Rebellion, a game update which included new card packs and Conflicts, a new airdrop and gameplay system that was highly anticipated, was launched in late Jan 2024, albeit with some delays.

Thetan Arena

Thetan Arena is a blockchain-based Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game that combines traditional gaming elements with blockchain technology to offer a unique P2E experience.

It was developed by Wolffun Game (Wolffun), a Vietnamese game development studio, which was founded in 2014 by Nguyen Dinh Khanh, who also serves as the CEO of Thetan Arena, and is a Vice President in the Vietnam Game Developers Association (VGDA). Wolffun Game also developed web3 game Thetan Rivals (casual party royale e.g., obstacle races and survival battles, on iOS and Android), and web2 games such as Heroes Strike (PvP MOBA), Tom Cat in Space (no longer available), and Tank Raid Online (no longer available). Heroes Strike, in particular, was a precursor to Thetan Arena.

Thetan Arena and Thetan Rivals are part of Thetan World, an ecosystem organized by Wolffun Game. It aims to revolutionize the GameFi industry by addressing challenges such as inflation, limited engaging gameplay, and complex user experiences. Users can purchase NFTs on a marketplace to “play to earn” across integrated games within the Thetan World ecosystem, and plans to offer an SDK that allows web2 developers to easily integrate their games into the Web3 ecosystem, simplifying the process and reducing costs. A third Thetan World game, Thetan Immortal, is currently in development.

Thetan Arena was launched in November 2021 on Android, iOS and PC, and, according to the company, reached 12m+ players in December 2021, just a month after its launch, and 20m+ players after 3 months of launch.

What are some key aspects of the game?

Gameplay: There are several game modes, including battle royale, team deathmatch, tower siege, super star, and customer battles. There are >20 heroes categorized into 3 other groups according to their signature skills and statistics, including Tank, Assassin, and Marksman.
Blockchain: Thetan Arena is on the BNB Chain but has plans to launch its own Thetan Chain in conjunction with Thetan World.
Economy: Players can earn Thetan Coin (THC) and Thetan Gem (THG) by participating in matches, tournaments, and ranked rewards. THC is used for in-game transactions, while THG serves as a governance token and can be used for staking and voting on game-related decisions.

Some of the challenges and most prominent criticisms are:

Technical issues: Some players have reported glitches and bugs that affect gameplay.
Bots and other cheating programs: There are complaints about the presence of bots in matches, as well as external programs that help people gain advantage in the game (e.g., map view)
Weak developer support: Some users feel that the developers are very slow to provide support, and guess that the developers prioritize monetization over game improvements and updates.

Where is it at today?

Thetan World went live in May 2024.
Wolffun Game plans to launch Thetan Chain in conjunction with Thetan World, to provide multiple benefits, including enhanced security and reduced costs.
Telegram (67k members) and Discord (65k members) remain somewhat active – the developers still keep it updated and there is some player interaction. Its number of X followers (857) is comparatively low. Despite these numbers, the game looks pretty dead. Games that players have moved (back) to are popular ones such as Brawl Stars and Mobile Legends Bang Bang.

League of Kingdoms

League of Kingdoms is a blockchain-based free-to-play massively multiplayer online (MMO) game that allows players to build kingdoms, form alliances, and engage in battles.

It was developed by NOD Games, a game development company with a focus on creating blockchain-based games. The CEO and founder is Chanki Lee, who was co-CEO and co-founder of NextMatch, a dating application service in Korea, and CEO of DAYLI Marketplace, a financial services provider. Before these roles, he was Executive Vice President in the strategic marketing team and game department at Acrodea Korea, which develops and provides middleware for mobile phones and smartphones to major Korean electronics manufacturers, and was a subsidiary of Acrodea Group. The CTO is Hyun Soon Hwang, who used to be CTO at weneepl Inc., a start-up that was creating a mobile application builder, but seems to now be defunct. Other than League of Kingdoms, NOD Games also developed blockchain RPG Crypto Sword & Magic.

League of Kingdoms was launched in July 2020.

What are some key aspects of the game?

Gameplay: Players build and develop their own kingdoms, gather resources, train troops, and engage in battles. There are two game modes: PvE (fighting monsters) and PvP (battling other players). The game is free-to-play, and is available on mobile (iOS and Android) and web browsers. LAND ownership is not required to play.
Blockchain: League of Kingdom is on the Ethereum blockchain with support for other chains like Polygon.
Economy: In-game assets, land parcels (LANDs), are NFTs and give staking rewards, governance voting rights, and additional platform membership perks (map of LAND). The game uses LOKA (League of Kingdoms Arena) as its governance token. The game launched Dragos, dragon-like creatures in-game content, as NFTs, in 2022, and the Drago Play-and-Earn gameplay was unveiled in March 2023. DST is an in-game utility token that is used to breed and raise Dragos.

Some of the challenges and most prominent criticisms are:

Bots: There are complaints about the presence of bots in the game. Back in 2022, the developers patched the servers, developed an anti-bot system, and claimed to be building a dedicated team to address this issue. However, based on current conversations on Discord, the problem persists.
Scams: Users have complained about scammers on X and Discord that have not been moderated well.
User inconveniences: Metamask does not work on mobile. Multiple wallets can only be used on mobile mobile, or on PC.

Where is it at today?

Discord (66k members) remain somewhat active – the developers still keep it updated and there is some player interaction. Its number of X followers (128k) is surprisingly high, and the interactions on its X posts suggest that not many followers are active. It celebrated its fourth anniversary in July 2024 with an event that had quests for a limited edition (Blueberry Cake) skin.

Conclusion

While there has been significant advances in blockchain technology over the past few years, blockchain gaming has not kept pace, and still faces significant challenges in increasing adoption. For example, Ethereum rollups, such as proto-danksharing that was implemented as part of the Dencun network upgrade in March 2024, have continued to mature, enabling increased scaling of the blockchain’s throughput and reduction in transaction costs. However, the overall impact of technology advancement in blockchain has not materially impacted blockchain games, speaking to the fundamental gap that blockchain games have in its fun factor.

Blockchain continues to face critical adoption challenges. The primary issues include a lack of engaging gameplay, complex user experiences, ongoing scalability problems, and regulatory hurdles plague the industry. Addressing these challenges is essential for blockchain games to reach their full potential and compete with traditional gaming platforms, but there is little evidence today giving confidence that this will materially improve in the near future.

The State of Popular Blockchain Games

Gods Unchained

Splinterlands

Thetan Arena

League of Kingdoms

Conclusion

Sources

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