$500 Mln Enters Blockchain Gaming!
The Punters Pick #14 — Reviewing fundraising in blockchain-based gaming and comparing it to the overall gaming industry
The blockchain-based gaming industry has shown significant growth in 2021. In just the first half of the year, almost $500 million in investments have found their way into the industry. For a niche that is still in its early phases of innovation, the hundreds of millions invested is a huge testament to the potential of the industry.
In the latest version of The Punters Pick, we consider the fundraising in the blockchain-based gaming industry and consider why investment has been finding its way into this niche. But before jumping into the fundraising breakdown, let’s review the development updates from the past week.
CryptoPunt Development Roundup
Over the past week, we have made notable progress on both the Blackjack game and the upcoming $PUN airdrop. The Blackjack game design and overall framework has been significantly improved while further development tasks for the game have been identified for the following week. In terms of the airdrop, everything is in place for the pre-alpha drop. The pre-alpha drop will help us perfect the airdrop contract for the mainnet drop.
Blackjack Development and Frontend Refinement:
- The Blackjack lobby has improved along with broader refinements to the overall frontend 🃏
- The chat module continues to be developed and is close to release 💬
- We completed flow for multi-player Blackjack games to account for functions such as turns, dealing, and multiplayer interaction ⛹️
Over the next week, we will continue improving the Blackjack game and we have identified some adjustments to be made on the frontend 🌐
- There will also be some integrations made between the backend processes and frontend design of the Blackjack game over the next week ⛓
ICYMI — CryptoPunt Teaser
PUN token airdrop incoming
- After completing the contract for the PUN token airdrop, we have also finalized testing
- The testing helped us fully optimize the airdrop contract so that the airdrop can be coordinated securely and smoothly
- The airdrop token distribution for the pre-alpha version has now been determined.
Outside of the Blackjack game and airdrops, we have identified some other improvements to make on the gaming platform. We will be updating contracts related to the Coinflip and Jackpot game while also getting everything ready for upcoming events such as PUN token exchange listings.
Fundraising in blockchain-based gaming
Investing in blockchain-based gaming accelerated in 2020. The monthly investments steadily grew throughout the year and finished with a record monthly influx of $8.26 billion in December. However, investment accelerated even faster in 2021 with a monthly inflow of $17.65 billion in March.
(Source: InestGame.net)
Respected venture capital companies have allocated their funds to this rapidly growing market. Some of the investors include Galaxy Digital, Amonica Brands, Hashed, Andreessen Horowitz, and others. Gaming companies like Dapper Labs, Forte, OpenSea and Enjin, among several others have all benefited from such investments.
Why has blockchain-based gaming attracted such investment?
Blockchain-base gaming has given rise to new and interesting possibilities in the world of gaming. The settlement infrastructure allows gamers to gain a greater degree of control over their in-game assets.
Moreover, the integration of NFTs has attracted a new wave of users. This explains why we are seeing the kind of exponential growth mentioned above in the industry. Users at all levels are becoming more involved in the development of various value-packed gaming ecosystems that are powered by blockchain technology.
At the center of the growth in the blockchain gaming industry is the rapid increase in the adoption of “Play-to-Earn” games. This category of blockchain games has been praised to be responsible not just for the growth in online gaming but also to be playing a significant role in the bullish sentiment that the cryptocurrency industry is experiencing.
The introduction of NFTs has allowed gamers to compete intensely for the acquisition of valuable and unique tokenized assets. For instance, games like Axie Infinity have achieved viral traction as the Pokemon-like game allows gamers worldwide to compete for rare digital pets that are represented by NFTs. Axie Infinity lies at the echelon of play-to-earn games with roughly 1 million daily active users and approximately 2.5% of these interacting onchain.
Blockchain-based gaming shows no signs of slowing down
The growth of blockchain gaming is significant and visible, and it is encouraged by platforms like CryptoPunt that lower the entry barriers by making multiple blockchain games available for gamers on a single platform. CryptoPunt is only one of the many options in this rapidly growing industry.
With the NFT market continuing to heat up and market conditions back to being bullish, it looks like blockchain-based gaming will continue to grow from strength to strength. As the industry continues to evolve, we anticipate more investments flowing in and more innovative projects like Axie Infinity and CryptoPunt emerging.
About CryptoPunt
CryptoPunt is a next-generation gaming and gambling Dapp. Underpinned by the Ethereum blockchain, CryptoPunt is positioning itself to be the leading blockchain-based gaming application. Users can start gaming in less than one minute with no KYC or registration process. CryptoPunt will offer a broad suite of games, including an option that has a virtual world and an in-game economy.
