The gaming industry has undergone a remarkable evolution with the integration of Web3 technologies and blockchain solutions. Web3 game development has revolutionized the gaming experience, introducing exciting opportunities for players to truly own their in-game assets and participate in play-to-earn economies.
Furthermore, to address scalability and high transaction costs, many game developers have turned to Layer 2 solutions to enhance the gaming experience while ensuring the security and decentralization promised by blockchain technology.
In this first part, we will delve into the latest developments in Blockchain Games and broaden your understanding of why Web3 Games development needed Layer 2 solutions to tackle major pain points. From that, Game users and developers will appreciate the benefits an innovative blockchain infrastructure provider like NodeReal can bring to their gaming journey.
Blockchain Games Movements in 2023
A noteworthy trend in the blockchain gaming sector is the increasing popularity of blockchain games on mobile platforms. According to a report from Newzoo, a prominent market intelligence company, the global mobile gaming market is projected to generate a staggering $103.1 billion in revenue in the year 2025. This thriving market is expected to attract billions of mobile gamers worldwide.
The rise of Web3-based gaming on mobile devices signifies a significant shift in gaming habits, as players increasingly embrace the benefits of blockchain integration, including true asset ownership and the potential to earn rewards while playing.
According to the DappRadar x BGA Games Report for Q1 2023 and Footprint Gaming Dashboard, blockchain gaming has demonstrated significant activity with an average of 800K~1M daily Unique Active Wallets (UAWs). The blockchain gaming sector has maintained its dominance in the Web3 industry, accounting for 44.37% of the unique active wallets.
Among the gaming blockchains, WAX emerged as the most active, with an impressive average of 300K+ daily Unique Active Wallets (UAW) in H1 (Last 180 Days). Moreover, Polygon, Klaytn, and BNB Chain have also showcased strong activity, ranking in the top 5 with similar daily Unique Active Wallets.
Top games in different chains:
- WAX is majorly contributed by Alien Worlds, Farmer World, and Wombat Dungeon Masterx.
- Polygon Game UAWs are contributed by Planet IX, Sumflower Land, and Pixels.
- BNBChain still has the most games with top player e.g. Hippo Dash, Meta Merge and Second Live.
- Klaytn reached a short-term ATH UAWs during April 2023.
Why Build Games on Layer 2 (L2)?
The rising popularity of Web3 games has led to a surge in demand for blockchain solutions that can scale efficiently. However, existing blockchain games encountered challenges such as congestion and high gas fees, causing slower transaction speeds and an unsatisfactory user experience.
For example Dark Forrest, the world's first decentralized real-time strategy game. Built on Ethereum with zkSNARKs. While it is short-lived, it has managed to create a huge spike in transaction volume due to the hype and incentives around them. At its peak, back in 2020, it created a rate of gas consumption more than the consumption of the entire Ethereum mainnet.
In July 2021, a Web3 game on BNB Smart Chain (BSC) generated an astounding 8 million transactions per day, leading to significant challenges in the network's capacity. The resulting daily gas fees exceeded 6,800 BNB, equivalent to $3 million USD. As a consequence, the network experienced slowed transaction speeds, delayed transaction finality, and an overall unsatisfactory user experience for both game players and users of other dApps.
In response to these challenges, developers and investors in this gaming industry are turning to Layer 2 solutions. Layer 2 scaling solutions have emerged as a crucial approach to address the limitations and unlock the full potential of Web3 gaming:
Scaling off-chain: Layer 2 scaling solutions address the scalability concerns of Layer 1 blockchains by moving some of the transactional activities off-chain. By handling transactions off-chain, Layer 2 solutions significantly increase the capacity of the gaming platform, accommodating a larger number of transactions and users.
Reduced Transaction Costs: By leveraging layer-2 protocols, blockchain games can process a higher number of transactions per hour at a significantly lower cost. Off-chain processing alleviates the need for expensive on-chain transactions, leading to significantly lower gas fees. This cost-effectiveness not only benefits players but also makes it more economically viable for game developers to create play-to-earn mechanics, rewarding players for their participation.
Enhanced User Experience: The primary objective of these layer-2 protocols is to enhance the performance of the current blockchain infrastructure and alleviate congestion issues. As a result, users can enjoy a smoother and more seamless gaming experience, driving further adoption and growth in the Web3 gaming industry.
How NodeReal supports Layer 2 solutions (L2)?
At NodeReal, we take pride in our active efforts to develop cutting-edge L2 solutions that are poised to accelerate the next wave of Blockchain games.
Our RPC services encompass a wide range of L2 solutions, including Polygon zkEVM, Arbitrum, Optimism, and opBNB. Additionally, we support both zkEVM and OP solutions and are actively exploring the possibility of supporting more L2 networks in the future. Our goal is to provide developers with seamless access to various L2 options, empowering them to build efficient and scalable Web3 applications.
Furthermore, our comprehensive range of services includes APIs, DA Layer, Optimistic Rollups, and Application Chain, all tailored to cater to the specific needs of game projects in the blockchain space.
Moreover, as the leading BNBChain Infrastructure provider, we boast in-house expertise that enables projects to leverage the opBNB platform – a cost-effective and high-performance Layer 2 solution – to meet their gaming requirements. We further cemented this development by partnering up with COMBO to create the first-ever Game Optimistic Rollup on BNBChain.
Upcoming Chapter
In the upcoming second part of this article, we will delve deeper into many Layer 2 solutions that are emerging as rising stars in the realm of Games development. Our exploration will provide valuable insights into the growing popularity and adoption of various Layer 2 solutions, including Immutable, Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync, Combo, and opBNB.
By closely examining these platforms, we aim to shed light on the innovative features and benefits they offer, which are contributing to their prominence in the gaming industry.
Stay tuned for Layer 2's Rising Stars of Games Development!
About NodeReal
NodeReal is a one-stop blockchain infrastructure and service provider that embraces the high-speed blockchain era and empowers developers by “Make your Web3 Real”. We provide scalable, reliable, and efficient blockchain solutions for everyone, aiming to support the adoption, growth, and long-term success of the Web3 ecosystem.
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