pped from 10 million to 2 million after the initial surge, while Tapos' MAU dropped from 5 million to 500,000output: title: Web3 Gaming Industry in Transition: 2024 Market Report

In 2024, the Web3 gaming industry is in a complex situation, and while making significant progress, it is also facing many challenges.

MAU dropped from 600,000 at the beginning of the year to 100,000 by the end of the year despite a successful Token Generation Event. Pixels' MAU also dropped from 400,000 to 120,000 over the same period. This trend suggests that while Telegram games can quickly acquire users, it is challenging to retain them without deeper gameplay and community engagement.

As we look ahead, several key trends are expected to shape the future of Web3 gaming.output: Web3 gaming had a mixed year in 2024, with some interesting developments and challenges. While the number of daily active users surged by more than 300%, and traditional game companies began to make specific arrangements in this field, the market value of Web3 gaming only increased by 60.5%, lagging far behind the Meme coin and AI sectors from the perspective of market performance. As Bitcoin hit a record high and various crypto sectors flourished, a key question emerged: "Have Web3 games missed the best opportunity for development in this bull market?"

However, behind these surface data, 2024 marks an important transition period for the industry. The industry has moved from a purely speculative phase to maturity. This report will analyze how Web3 games evolve in the market cycle in 2024, exploring the key indicators, technological advances, and strategic shifts in the sector. From infrastructure development to user engagement models, we will explore how the industry can build sustainable growth while addressing the challenges of mainstream adoption.

Note: Unless otherwise stated, all data in this report is as of December 15, 2024. Data sources are Footprint Analytics and CoinMarketCap.

Overview of key indicators for the year

Market value: $31.8 billion, up 60.5%

Transaction volume: $5.2 billion, up 18.5%

Number of transactions: 5.3 billion, down 30.3%

Daily active users: 6.6 million at the end of the year, an increase of 308.6% compared to the beginning of the year;

Active games: 1,361 of 3,602 games remain active (37.8%);

Annual funding: 220 funding events, totaling $910 million;

Leading public chains:

Trading volume share: BNB Chain (23.1%), Ethereum (17.6%), Blast (9.2%);

Transaction volume share: WAX (33.6%), Aptos (11.6%), Ronin (6.1%);

Daily active users: opBNB (2.2 million), Ronin (1.1 million), Nebula (458,000) (daily average in December).

Market performance analysis

Market value performance

The Web3 gaming sector achieved strong growth in 2024, but underperformed other crypto sectors. According to Footprint Analytics, the market value of gaming tokens reached $31.8 billion at the end of the year, up 60.5% from the previous year. Although the sector hit a year-to-date high of $47.4 billion in March, it is still significantly lower than the historical high of $114.1 billion set in November 2021.

Although the overall crypto market performed strongly in the second half of 2024, especially in the last two months of the year driven by Bitcoin, game tokens lagged behind other sectors. CoinMarketCap data shows that Web3 games ranked eighth among the top ten sectors in market capitalization growth, significantly behind the leading sectors: Meme Coin (421.1%), AI and Big Data (168.0%) and Solana Ecosystem (124.1%).

This poor performance also extends to community attention. Among the most popular sectors on CoinMarketCap, Web3 games only accounted for 6.7% of the views in the top ten sectors, ranking ninth, as the focus throughout the year was mainly on Meme coin-related projects.

Volume Analysis

The Web3 Gaming sector's key indicators in 2024 showed mixed performance, with transaction volume increasing but the number of transactions continuing to decline.

Trading volume trends

In 2024, the total transaction volume of Web3 games reached 5.2 billion US dollars, an increase of 18.5% from 2023. Although the downward trend since 2021 has been reversed, the transaction volume is still significantly lower than the peak of the previous cycle. The data in 2024 is only 6.2% of the peak in 2021 (84.1 billion US dollars