Opinion: 2023 is a ‘buidl’ year for crypto gaming

2022 was a huge year for the play-to-earn (P2E)

While this timeframe may seem many lifetimes over in the crypto world, this horizon is normal for studios in the traditional gaming sphere. The shift to longer-term thinking also shows that studios are beginning to understand that individual games have shelf lives — and that investing in the studios that build the games is a more effective approach.

How will crypto gaming change?

Looking at these raises combined with long-term trends in Web3 gaming, we start to see that some patterns are beginning to shape the industry’s future.

So what will the impact of all the raises be in a few years?

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We can certainly expect a strong emphasis on mobile gaming. In September, DappRadar reported that hyper-casual mobile blockchain games brought more than 1.7 million users from Web2 into Web3 gaming in a single week.

With these changes underway, it seems likely that Web3 gaming will enter the “mainstream” and that within the next five years, the global index of the top 100 gaming studios will contain studios that have strong blockchain elements.

Here’s to the long game

We probably haven’t seen the last of the large-scale raises that have been happening in the Web3 gaming space these past months. The Web3 gaming hype cycle has officially passed, and the space is in “buidl” mode. And this time around, investors are interested in studios that are playing the long game (pun intended).

This change in focus, combined with the significant fluctuations in the larger blockchain technology industry, will create new dynamics and opportunities for builders in the P2E market in 2023. Raised expectations from both players and funders will separate the wheat from the chaff. Priorities in 2023 and beyond will focus on quality over quantity. In the end, those who can create the most outstanding games will win. So game on.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.