2022 State of the Industry Report
Download PDFTABLE OF CONTENTS
Report Summary
Letter from the BGA President
BGA Board Members
Survey Overview
Why Blockchain for Gaming?
DappRadar Key Takeaways for 2022
2022 Consumer Update
Player Interview
Challenges in the Industry
A Greener Present
Driving the Industry Forward
The Transition from Play-to-Earn Gaming
Making the Shift from Web2 to Web3
Careers in Blockchain Gaming
Funding
The Evolution of Gaming Models
Esports in a Web3 World
2023 Trends
How to Get Involved
Glossary
BGA Members Overview 4
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4 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
Founded in 2018, the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) is a member organization of over
500 members including leading and up-and-coming gaming studios, venture capital
firms, service organizations, cryptocurrency exchanges, guilds, major blockchain protocols,
as well as individuals within the blockchain gaming community.
Now in its second year, the BGA Member Survey & Report presents data from an online
survey designed to assess the views of BGA members and blockchain gaming professionals
on the state of the industry and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The
survey was conducted to compare respondents’ perspectives to where the industry was at
the end of 2021 and to ensure alignment between the BGA’s future activities and industry
priorities as determined by its membership base.
Key Takeaways
SURVEY RESPONDENTS
65%
of respondents are
below 35 years old.
89%
say they will still work in
blockchain gaming one year
from now.
56%
accept at least a
portion of their salary in
cryptocurrency.
INDUSTRY DRIVERS
36%
predict gameplay
improvements will be
the biggest driver of
adoption in 2023.
67%
decrease in respondents who
consider play-to-earn as the
main driver of the industry
compared to 2021.
21%
cite funding as having the
biggest positive impact
on the industry in 2022,
followed by NFT adoption
by mainstream brands and
celebrities.
CHALLENGES
30%
cite crypto winter
as having the most
negative impact on the
industry in 2022.
40%
believe that one of the
greatest misconceptions
about blockchain
gaming is that it is
environmentally harmful.
37%
of respondents
believe there is still a
misconception that
blockchain games are
not fun.
REPORT SUMMARY
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 5
LETTER FROM THE BGA PRESIDENT
The blockchain gaming ecosystem has largely focused on building while the overall crypto
landscape has been rocked by controversy and crashes. Games still hold the potential to attract
millions of users to new experiences where they enjoy true digital ownership, and we haven’t
seen any decline in the number of players across existing games throughout these hard times.
It is these builders who will unlock the full potential of blockchain gaming in the years to come.
Our member survey highlighted that while the crypto winter has already had the biggest negative
impact on blockchain gaming as cited by 30% of respondents, the benefits of blockchain to
the industry have not changed significantly since last year. Asset ownership for players, new
player rewards and new revenue models remain the top three. This tells me that we are putting
players first in our quest to revolutionize how our industry functions through the application of
blockchain and NFTs.
Looking back, 2022 was a year of growth — not just in terms of funding, titles and headlines,
but also in terms of active participation. Unique Active Wallets (UAW) connected daily to game
dapps crossed 1 million, up 85% from 2021. From 300 members in 2021, the\
BGA has grown to
over 500 members. We currently have 85 gold members, up from 14 last year, who represent
major games and studios, guilds, venture capital, protocols, service organizations and crypto
exchanges. Regardless of your level of membership, you are contributing to the growth of our
industry, and you all have my sincere thanks.
While most BGA members are game studios, gaming platforms and marketplaces that leverage
blockchain or NFTs, we have continued to expand with new types of organizations joining the
fold. We are seeing more web2 and free-to-play games move into adopting web3 technology,
adding to the success of the BGA mission. These new members and the fact that there are more
games being made than ever also means perspectives around adoption will continue to change
as these titles ship in 2023.
In 2022, the BGA team has grown as well. We welcome Serena Tabacchi as the newest BGA
board member. Serena is the director and co-founder of the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art
(MoCDA) and has been an active BGA supporter and community member for the past three years.
Community Manager Flavien Defraire led member engagement across many core educational
topics such as in-game assets, sustainability, player empowerment, growing communities, native
tokens and NFTs in games, and esports in web3, among others. Through Flavien’s work, BGA
members were able to learn from each other and share insights throughout the year.
With the world opening back up post-COVID, we were also able to resume our IRL events and
participate in notable annual industry events such as GDC San Francisco, NFT.NYC, TOKEN2049
Singapore and Gamescom. Then, at the tail end of 2022, Maude Perrin joined the BGA full-time
to focus on developing and expanding BGA activities worldwide for members. Expect to see us
being even more prominent in the space in 2023.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who took the time to respond to our survey. The positive response
we received is a good start, and we will continue building momentum over the coming year.
Thank you all for your ongoing support in driving our young industry forward.
Sebastien Borget
President, Blockchain Game Alliance
6 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
BGA BOARD MEMBERS
Sebastien Borget
Sebastien Borget is the co-founder and COO of The Sandbox decentralized
metaverse, a virtual world where players can create, play, own, govern and monetize
their experiences. Sebastien also became the President of the Blockchain Game
Alliance in 2020. He was recently named #4 of the Top 100 most influential people in
crypto in 2022 by Cointelegraph. The Sandbox was also featured on Time Magazine’s
TIME100 list as one of the Top 100 most influential companies of 2022.
Marc Coupal
Marc Coupal is the Business Development Manager for Enjin. With six years of
experience in the gaming industry, he has built and sold successful applications and
SaaS businesses in the gaming space. He has also helped top talent from YouTube,
Twitch, esports, startups and Fortune 500 companies with their branding, marketing
and merchandising.
Ludovic Courcelas
Ludovic Courcelas is a Technical Project Manager for ConsenSys, a software
engineering leader in the blockchain space. He is also a project lead for the EU
Blockchain Observatory & Forum. With his blockchain experience, he has previously
worked with Microsoft and the financial institution BNP Paribas.
Gabby Dizon
Gabby Dizon is a co-founder of Yield Guild Games (YGG), a decentralized
autonomous organization (DAO) that acquires NFTs used in virtual worlds and
blockchain-based games. With over two decades of experience in the gaming
industry, he founded the mobile game studio Altitude Games and was former
President of the Game Developers Association of the Philippines.
Nicolas Gilot
Nicolas Gilot is the founder and CEO of Ultra. A serial entrepreneur and strategist,
he has led multiple game companies, including the US$100+ million game console
project Subor Z+ as Xiaobawang’s CSO and the PC game studio PixelBeam. Nicolas
has also helped multiple game and app projects, including Plants vs. Zombies,
High Noon and The Economist, generate 1.5x–3x revenue through his
monetization strategy firm.
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 7
Serena Tabacchi
Serena Tabacchi is the co-founder and Director of the Museum of Contemporary
Digital Art (MoCDA). She is also Head of Partnerships for The Sandbox and has been
an active supporter and community member of the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA)
over the past three years, volunteering as the BGA’s communications and events
coordinator to organize its Demo Days, New Members Presentations, and other
events on art, gaming and blockchain.
Piers Kicks
Piers Kicks is a founding partner at Delphi Ventures where he specializes in the
gaming space. He also helps lead the crypto efforts for BITKRAFT — the most active
gaming investor globally. This positioning allows both firms to collaborate closely
and combine two fields of deep expertise.
Aleksander Larsen
Aleksander Larsen is the co-founder and COO of Sky Mavis, a technology-focused
game studio known for creating the NFT game Axie Infinity. Aleksander has worked
in the NFT industry since late 2017, focusing on blockchain games and
player-owned economies.
Nicolas Pouard
Nicolas Pouard is the VP of Strategic Innovation Lab and Head of Blockchain
Initiatives at Ubisoft, where he previously managed various projects around game
world-building, system design and augmented reality. He co-founded the Ubisoft
Startup Program at Station F, a program that supports innovative startups that have
the potential to transform the entertainment industry.
Shaban Shaame
Shaban Shaame is the co-founder of blockchain pioneer game studio
EverdreamSoft. He has been in the gaming industry as a producer of mobile
games since 2010 and has been developing blockchain games since 2014. With the
mobile game Spells of Genesis, launched in 2017, EverdreamSoft set a trend of “true
ownership” of digital assets.
8 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
SURVEY OVERVIEW
Objective
The purpose of the survey was to assess the views of BGA members and blockchain
gaming professionals on the state of the industry and the challenges and opportunities
that lie ahead, comparing respondents’ perspectives to where the industry was at the end
of 2021. This was to ensure alignment between the BGA’s future activities and industry
priorities as determined by its membership base.
Methodology
The Blockchain Game Alliance engaged Emfarsis to design and conduct an industry
survey and analyze the findings. The 22-question survey covered topics such as careers,
growth, adoption and key issues facing the blockchain gaming industry.
One of the key distribution channels for the survey was to reach out to the BGA member
database. However, the survey was not restricted to BGA members and was shared
publicly on BGA-owned channels (LinkedIn and Twitter) and voluntarily shared by many
members with their networks. Additionally, some responses were collected in person
during the Philippine Web3 Festival in Manila, Philippines.
While the annual report is a year-on-year comparison of survey results, some questions
were updated in terms of options and/or format to reflect an evolving industry. Some
data from the prior year was grouped to compare with results from the 2022 survey.
To preserve the survey’s integrity, some responses were removed prior to analysis where
the responses indicated that the respondent was a consumer rather than an individual
engaged in blockchain gaming professionally. The final analysis included 347 qualified
individuals from the sector.
The survey opened on October 11, 2022. Results were collected using a surveying tool
(SurveyMonkey) with responses closing on November 20, 2022. The survey was a hybrid
(qualitative-quantitative) study to gauge the perceptions of individuals who identified
themselves as blockchain gaming professionals. Cohort-cluster data analysis was used to
group similar samples while considering the context of the previous year’s results.
Respondents
A total of 347 professionals representing 252 different projects or companies in the
blockchain sector responded to the survey.
The respondents who answered the survey were mostly young adult males working for
blockchain gaming companies in middle- and top-management positions. Males made
up 79.5% of all respondents, while females made up 19%, nonbinary individuals 0.6%, and
those who preferred not to state their gender made up 0.9%.
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 9
0.9%NO ANSWER 0.6%NONBINARY
79.5%MALE
19.0%FEMALE
GENDER
42.9%25-34 Y.O.
25.4%35-44 Y.O. 22.8%18-24 Y.O.
6.9%45-54 Y.O.
2.0%55 Y.O. &
OVER
AGE
15.0%NORTH AMERIC A
55.9%ASIA
26.2%EUROPE
2.0%LATIN AMERIC A 0.9%OCEANIA
REGION
49.9%0-1 YEAR
38.3%1-3 YEARS
6.9%4-5 YEARS
4.9%5+ YEARS
CURRENT TENURE
Nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of respondents were below 35 years old, with the majority
of respondents (42.9%) belonging to the 25-34 age bracket. The 18-24 age group now
represents 22.8% of total survey respondents, up from 8% in 2021.
One of the biggest changes from 2021 to 2022 was an increase in respondents from Asia
who made up 55.9% of responses in 2022 compared to 33% in 2021. This is due to the
survey being heavily promoted during the Philippine Web3 Festival, which saw responses
from Filipino industry professionals increase threefold from 2021 to 2022.
The average tenure of respondents remained similar from 2021 to 2022 with a skew
toward new entrants and recent changes. The vast majority of respondents had been
in their current role for less than one year, 49.9% in 2022 compared to 42.5% in 2021.
Those working at their organization for 1-3 years and 3-5 years remained at 38.3% and 7%
respectively, while those working at their company for longer than 5 years decreased from
12% to 4.9% in 2022.
10 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
When asked about the benefits that blockchain brought to gaming in 2022, 68.9% of
respondents cited asset ownership as the most important. Asset ownership also took the
top spot in the same category in 2021. Likewise, player reward models (35.2%) and new
revenue models (34.3%) were once again cited as the second and third most important
benefits of blockchain, switching places from the previous year.
At least one quarter (25.8%) of respondents over the age of 25 cited asset ownership
by players as a major benefit of blockchain gaming, compared to 14.8% of respondents
under 25. Respondents under 25 were 5 times more likely to cite transparency as a major
benefit (11.4%) compared to an average
of 2.2% for other age groups; this ranked
second among all answers in this category
from respondents under 25. Respondents
below 25 years old (11.4%) also placed more
emphasis on play-to-earn mechanics as
drivers of the blockchain gaming industry
compared to those over 25 (6%).
Across the board, there were 11 times more
people who consider permissionlessness
as one of the benefits that blockchain can
bring to gaming. Last year, only 0.5% of
respondents recognized it as a key benefit,
growing to 5.8% this year. While only a
small percentage, it may be a trend for
future years.
Optional creator royalties were a new entrant to the potential benefits of blockchain for
games. As a topic that caught waves when NFT marketplaces made creator royalties
optional, it was not yet on the mind of all respondents (only 2%). However, feedback
highlighted by respondents suggests it could be a metric to watch in 2023.
It is worth noting that 60% of the respondents work directly for gaming studios or
gaming guilds. Of the gaming studios represented, 70% identify themselves exclusively
for blockchain gaming, 26% as both for blockchain and traditional gaming, and 4% as
traditional gaming studios.
WHY BLOCKCHAIN FOR
GAMING?
BENEFITS OF BLOCKCHAIN
IN GAMING
68.9% ASSET OWNERSHIPFOR PLA YERS
35.2% PLAYER REW ARD
MODELS
34.3%NEW REVENUE MODELS
2 3
1
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 11
While the industry has remained resolute about the top three benefits that blockchain
brings to gaming, there may be a cooling effect relating to the speed of adoption. In
2022, 40.9% of respondents predicted that a small portion (less than 20%) of the gaming
industry will leverage blockchain technology in 2023 — that figure was 36.8% a year prior.
Despite hesitancy by some, 29% of respondents still expect that over 40% of the gaming
industry will leverage blockchain technology by 2023.
More than one-third (37.1%) of respondents from Asia believe that 40% of the gaming
industry will adopt blockchain technology within a year, while only 18.3% of respondents
from other regions agree.
Female respondents are more bullish on blockchain adoption in gaming, with nearly half
(47%) believing that over 40% of the gaming industry will leverage blockchain within 12
months, as opposed to only 23.5% of males. COMPANY CATEGORY
GAMING
STUDIO
GAMING GUILD
OTHER
(E.G. MEDIA, LEGAL, ET C.) NFT PROTOCOL OR
MARKETPL ACE
MARKETING, PR, SO CIAL MEDIA
INVESTMENT FIRM
39.2%
20.7% 18.2%
9.5%6.3%6.1%
12 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
In 2022, projects building blockchain-based games and metaverse worlds proved
their resiliency. The consolidation of protocols focused on gaming-related DAOs,
customized infrastructure development, and the all-time high capital raised are
just a few promising signs of a developing industry.
Play-to-earn also appears to be fading out. Falling crypto prices and upcoming
free-to-play games might pave the way for the next generation of web3 games.
At the same time, security remains a priority. It is an exciting time for the rising
industry, and 2023 is shaping up to be a make-or-break year.
PEDRO HERRERAHEAD OF RESEARCH AND ANALYTICS
DAPPRADAR
KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR 2022
Games remain a driving force amid the harsh crypto winter.
As a curator of blockchain game and metaverse information and related statistics, DappRadar
produces regular research reports on the subject. These are some of the highlights and key
takeaways from the DappRadar x BGA Games Report 2022.
Gaming remains
a driving force for
the dapp industry,
accounting for almost
50% of all on-chain
activity tracked by
DappRadar, on average.
On-chain game transactions reached 7.4 billion, growing 37% from
2021 and a staggering 3,260% since 2020.
Web3 gaming and metaverse
projects raised US$7.6 billion in
2022, 59% more than in 2021;
furthermore, US$2.54 billion was
invested in infrastructure projects. The trading volume from
virtual worlds (land sales)
in 2022 is estimated at
US$1.45 billion, 136%
higher than last year.
1.13 million Unique Active
Wallets (UAW) connected
daily to game dapps
across 48 blockchains
tracked in 2022, 85%
more than in 2021.
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 13
2022 CONSUMER UPDATE
This summary of consumer activity was prepared in collaboration
with DappRadar.
WAX remained the most popular blockchain for web3 games, attracting almost
350,000 daily UAW on average in 2022. Hive and BNB Chain came next with
235,000 UAW and 167,000 UAW respectively.
Polygon consolidated as a chain for games after attracting 97,000 daily UAW
on average in 2022, 340% higher than the previous year. Arc8 by GAMEE, Benji
Bananas, Crazy Defense Heroes, and Pegaxy were among those game dapps that
drove the growth.
ImmutableX generated US$87 million in NFT trading volume, 250% higher than
last year. Gods Unchained finished among the top 25 most traded collections
across all blockchains.
Axie Infinity generated US$325 million in NFT trading volume behind the launch of
Axie Infinity: Origins and the first appearance of Lunacia in Axie Infinity Homeland.
Yuga Labs’ Otherside became the most traded virtual world project after launching
on April 30, surpassing Decentraland and The Sandbox. Otherside generated over
US$1 billion in trades.
Gala Games finished 2022 with 18 games in its portfolio, including two on Steam
and one in the Epic Games Store.
Alien Worlds was the most played dapp of 2022 with almost 200,000 daily UAW on
average and 4.8 billion on-chain transactions encompassing gameplay, trading and
DAO activity.
Splinterlands was the second most popular game based on wallet activity,
consolidating its player base at 160,000 daily UAW during the second half of
the year. The Hive-based trading card game also achieved relevant roadmap
milestones as the team launched node validator licenses and dropped the Runi
NFT and Land Deeds.
STEPN kickstarted the move-to-earn paradigm behind a gamified reward model for
physical activities. While STEPN’s growth stalled in Q4, dapps like Genopets, Step
App, Dotmoovs, and Dustland are also following the trend.
The leading gaming and metaverse projects continued to build despite the crypto
winter. Projects behind the leading metaverse gaming dapps launched their Alpha
or Beta phases, including Illuvium, The Sandbox, Big Time, Axie Infinity Homeland,
The Fabled, Phantom Galaxies, Star Atlas, My Neighbor Alice, Treeverse, Mirandus,
and many more.
14 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
PLAYER INTERVIEW
BOKUNOGATARI is a European gamer who
is part of Game Hunters, a weekly show
featuring leaders of the blockchain gaming
community from all over the world. The
first game he ever played, 26 years ago,
was Pokémon Yellow on Game Boy Color.
Since then, BOKUNOGATARI has been an
avid gamer playing web2 and web3 games.
“After 2021, the web2 games that I played
decreased by a lot, and games f rom web3
increased exponentially,” he said.
In this section, he shares why he has shifted
from playing web2 games to web3 and the
potential that he sees in the industry.
What are your favorite web2 games?
Persona 5, God of War, Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy VII, Days Gone, A Plague Tale,
Control, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, It Takes Two, Hades.
What are your favorite web3 games?
Superior, Phantom Galaxies, Illuvium, Legends of Venari, KLAYDICE: DICAST GOLD,
Thetan Arena.
What made you transition to web3 games?
The most important thing that influenced me to hop into decentralized web3 games is
the fact that no company or organization can erase what I have earned. Yes, these digital
assets may have zero value down the line or may later become unusable, but the sense
that I own what I earn from playing made me stay with web3 games.
What do you like the most about web3 games?
The game industry was earning an unreal amount of money overall, while very few
gamers would even be given the opportunity to share in that value unless they were
competing in esports. In web3 games, even a casual player can become a part-owner
in the game by contributing their in-game time. So I like the opportunity that this
technology brought to the table.
What are you looking forward to in the blockchain gaming space?
We are still in the beginning, so I’m really excited to see what’s coming. In early 2021, we
could count the playable games with our fingers. Now we can see the transition to a new
model with many AAA games that can compete with web2 games, and I cannot wait to
see the next three years of this evolutionary industry.
BOKUNOGATARI’s player avatar
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 15
Despite the many successes and improvements that the industry has seen in 2022, there
is still a long way to go for blockchain technology to reach mainstream adoption within
the wider gaming ecosystem.
User adoption continues to be a challenge
that the blockchain gaming industry faces.
At least half of respondents (51%) believe
that player onboarding and accessibility is
the biggest challenge being experienced by
the industry, while at 37.2%, poor gameplay
was the second most commonly cited
challenge, up from being the fifth most
common in 2021. The third most commonly
cited challenge within the industry is that
blockchain gaming concepts are not fully
understood by market participants.
The gaming industry has spent the last decade trying to simplify the onboarding
experience. Blockchain gaming, for all its innovation, has made onboarding
unintuitive and obtrusive. Blockchain game developers should understand that
games need to work for the player. We need to go through the hoops necessary
to attract players, rather than demand the player jump through hoops to play the
game. The fact is, if your blockchain game can’t provide a comparable or superior
experience, you’re out.
MIRKO BASIL DOELGERCO-FOUNDER AND CEO
UNIX GAMING
One of the biggest shifts from 2021 to 2022 in terms of challenges facing the blockchain
gaming industry was related to regulatory uncertainty in the space. In 2021, regulatory
uncertainty was the most commonly cited challenge, with more than half of all respondents
saying it was their top concern. This year, regulatory uncertainty dropped to ninth place on
the list of challenges. CHALLENGES FACING
BLOCKCHAIN GAMING INDUSTRY
51.0% ONBO ARDING CHALLENGES/
ACCESSIBILITY FOR PLAYERS
37.2% PO OR GAMEPL AY
28.5%BLOCKCHAIN
GAMING C ONCEPTS
ARE NOT FULLY UNDERST OOD
2
3
1
CHALLENGES IN THE
INDUSTRY
16 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
Despite all the positive attention that the industry received throughout 2022, it was not
enough to overshadow some of the misconceptions that still plague the space. This year,
69.5% of respondents said the biggest misconception about blockchain games is that
they are a scam, up from 59% in 2021. More than one-third (37.4%) also cited blockchain
games not being fun as a common misconception.
At the beginning of 2022, crypto experienced a steep decline from the total crypto market
capitalization of US$3 trillion as of November 10, 2021. On November 21, 2022, the total
market capitalization was US$838 billion. However, not only crypto faced difficulties in
2022. Mainstream technology sectors also had a challenging year with the NASDAQ down
over 30% from January 1, 2022.
Looking specifically at blockchain gaming, 30% of respondents cited the crypto winter as
the single biggest negative event to stymie industry growth in 2022. Additionally, 27.7%
of all survey respondents said that fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) is now their leading
challenge at an organizational level. The latter may be attributable to the broad industry
fallout following the collapse of Three Arrows Capital (3AC), the Terra network and FTX.
Another 21% blamed this year’s global macroeconomic events as having the worst impact
on blockchain gaming. Only 9% pointed to the banning of NFTs by traditional games and
gaming platforms as a setback for the industry as a whole.
While securities and financial authorities continued to launch investigations
and file lawsuits against crypto businesses in 2022, there was little in terms of
legislation or new regulations that would affect web3 or blockchain games.
However, highly publicized crypto exchange failures and scams set the stage for
new legislation, regulation and enforcement that could, unfortunately, affect
companies building in web3 or developing blockchain games.
The European Union’s “Thrive in the Metaverse” initiative is the only significant
governmental effort to try to understand the issues and develop legal principles
with respect to web3 or blockchain games. There does not appear to be any
interest in the US Congress at this point in undertaking a similar program.
DAVID HOPPEMANAGING PARTNER
GAMMA LAW
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 17
Beyond the type of FUD that exists
within crypto broadly, seven of the top
10 challenges facing organizations in the
space today are the same that face many
traditional gaming organizations, including
marketing and brand awareness, funding,
talent acquisition, and user acquisition
and retention.
Respondents from organizations of less
than 50 employees were far more likely to
be concerned about lack of funding, with
14.6% of those respondents highlighting
those concerns compared to just 3.1% of
respondents from organizations of greater
than 50 employees.
Males were more concerned (11.4%) about
the lack of funding for blockchain gaming
companies, whereas females were more
focused on player retention (13.3%) as the
primary industry challenge.
Of the top ten challenges facing survey
respondents, legal and regulatory concerns
were at the bottom of the list.
However, individuals working at large organizations of 250 employees or more were twice
as likely to cite legal and regulatory challenges in their top three concerns along with
FUD (12.3%) and user acquisition (12.3%). In comparison, companies with less than 250
employees were more focused on resolving challenges associated with marketing and
brand awareness (11.1%), talent acquisition (10.7%), and lack of funding (9%). TOP CHALLENGES FACING
BLOCKCHAIN GAMING COMPANIES
FEAR, UNCERT AINTY
AND D OUBT
T ALENT
ACQUISITION
CRYPT O
VO LATILITY
USER
RETENTION
T OKENOMIC
DESIGN
LEGAL OR
REGUL ATOR Y
C ONCERNS
C
OMMUNITY
BUILDING
MARKETING
AND BRAND
AWARENESS
LACK OF
FUNDING
USER
ACQUISITION 27 .7%
26.8%
26.5%
26.5%
26.5%
24.2%
22.8%
22.5%
17 .0%
15.6%
In the startup world today, hiring is not the challenge but, rather, hiring talented
individuals who are passionate, driven and ready to put in the work in a nascent
industry such as ours — people who are ready to go all in, going to war together.
NICK VALECO-FOUNDER
RENFT
18 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
A GREENER PRESENT
The Blockchain Game Alliance has, like
much of the crypto industry, spent a great
deal of time trying to educate the public
about the actual impact of blockchain
technology on the environment. In the
case of blockchain gaming specifically,
there were overarching concerns perceived
by the traditional gaming industry and
mainstream media.
In 2021, much of the blockchain industry was
built on Ethereum, which at the time was
still utilizing a Proof-of-Work mechanism
to finalize transactions. While 26.9% of
respondents in 2021 were confident that the
ecological impacts of blockchain gaming
were a misconception, improvements were
in progress, both in terms of education and
the underlying technology.
2022 saw a major shift surrounding the
environmental impact of blockchain
gaming, thanks to a major Ethereum
upgrade known as “The Merge,” which
saw the Ethereum blockchain shift from
using a Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism
to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism. PoS
utilizes a smaller number of computers
to secure the network, thus using less
power than PoW, which uses the sheer
volume of computers in the network to
ensure security. The Merge is a huge step
toward the environmental sustainability
of blockchain gaming. Post-Merge, it is
expected that the energy consumption of
Ethereum annually will be exponentially
less than PayPal. In addition to the Ethereum Merge,
additional improvements have been
observed from Layer 2 protocols such
as Polygon, Ronin and ImmutableX
developing methods to group multiple
transactions together, committing to
Ethereum to increase scalability but
without increasing environmental impact.
Furthermore, there are other examples
of base protocols such as KardiaChain,
Zilliqa and WAX competing directly
with Ethereum in the quest to deliver
transaction speed and security while
trying to further reduce impact.
In spite of these advances in core blockchain
technology, the industry still feels that
there is a lack of wider understanding. At
least 40% of respondents believe that the
biggest misconception facing the industry
today continues to be that blockchain has
a negative environmental impact.
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 19
As an industry-focused organization, the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) invests a great
deal of time and effort each year to work with its members on furthering the understanding
and sustainable adoption of blockchain technologies throughout the gaming industry. A
key goal of the annual BGA survey is to learn from industry professionals what they believe
is needed to advance blockchain gaming.
When asked what will bolster the future of blockchain gaming over the coming year,
35.7% of respondents said gameplay improvements would be the industry’s top priority.
Adoption by major franchises and adoption by major gaming studios are also believed
to be key factors in driving the industry forward, making up over half of the respondents’
answers combined. Ease of use or improved user experience is also a top factor that can
push the industry forward.
This is a massive shift in priority based on the results from the 2021 BGA survey, where over
two-thirds (67.9%) of respondents agreed that play-to-earn (P2E) would be the industry’s
biggest growth driver throughout 2022. Now, only 22.5% still believe that P2E will continue
to drive the industry forward.
TOP FACTORS ADVANCING BLOCKCHAIN GAMING IN 2023
GAME
IMPROVEMENTS
EASE OF USE OR IMPROVED UX
VARIETY OF
GAME RELEASES
EDUCA TION FOR
PLA YERS
IMPROVED ONBO ARDING AND
ACCESSIBILITY FOR SCHOLARS REDUCED NFT C
OSTS
TO ST ART PLA YING
PLA
YER OWNERSHIP
OF ASSETS
MAJOR TRADITIONAL
GAMING STUDIO AD OPTION
MAJOR GAMING
FRANCHISE AD OPTION
PLA Y-TO-EARN
35.7%
30.3% 26.2% 25.1%
22.5% 21.9%
20.7%
17.3%
16.7% 16.1%
DRIVING THE
INDUSTRY FORWARD
20 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
More than a fifth (21.3%) of respondents also believe that industry funding is a positive
driver of the industry. A total of US$7.6 billion in VC funding was injected into blockchain
gaming this year despite a general slowdown in investment across all sectors. Funding
and incubations can accelerate the growth of the various projects within the industry and,
in turn, can exponentially drive innovation further.
WHAT HAD THE BIGGEST POSITIVE IMPACT ON BLOCKCHAIN GAMING IN 2022?
FUNDING
21.3%
NFT AD OPTION BY
MAINSTREAM BRANDS AND CELEBRITIES
16.4%
TRADITIONAL GAMES AND STUDIOS
LA UNCHING NFT GAMES
15.0%
After funding, the next biggest positive impact felt by survey respondents was the adoption
of NFTs by major brands and celebrities, with 16.4% of survey respondents citing this as
a positive indicator. The third driver, agreed upon by 15% of respondents, was traditional
game studios moving into web3 to launch blockchain games of their own, such as
Ubisoft and The Tiny Digital Factory. This suggests that a number of blockchain gaming
professionals acknowledge the value that traditional companies can bring to blockchain
gaming given their established branding, reputation and audience.
I am convinced that more brands and celebrities will continue to join the
metaverse. It provides an opportunity for them to empower their community,
promote their projects and engage with audiences in a new, innovative and more
meaningful way.
BERTRAND LEVYSENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
THE SANDBOX
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 21
I think the lovers of the
original P2E model will
always exist, creating
demand signals for studios.
However, it will be hard
for studios to ignore the
profitability of a game
that captures the casual
everyday gamer in the
traditional gaming space.
COREY WILTONCO-FOUNDER
MIRAI LABS
After the previous hype achieved during the
first generation of blockchain gaming, we’re
currently in the middle of the drawback
to normalcy. The previously explored play-
to-earn models have proven themselves
unsustainable but drew the attention needed
for the next, more mature wave of blockchain
gaming dynamics to be formed. This wave
of development will be less speculative and
form a more substantial value-add to the
gaming experience.
ROWAN ZWIERSCO-FOUNDER
BLOCKMINDS
As blockchain-enabled games become more fun to play and incorporate
interesting game mechanics, we’ll see a larger number of traditional gamers,
along with Gen Z gamers, come into the scene. Soon, we could see up to 50%
of all newly released games incorporating some elements of blockchain like
NFTs, Soulbound tokens and ecosystem tokens. Gamer identity will be the glue
that enables the new social layer of gaming, interesting game mechanics and
interoperability within games.
CASEY GROOMSCO-FOUNDER
SOULBOUND
In 2022, amid a deepening crypto bear market, capital has gotten smarter and
more demanding. As a result, cheap point-and-click browser play-to-earn games
are no longer getting the funding they used to get, and instead, more cutting-
edge game studios integrating web3 and AI into Unreal Engine-based, high-
fidelity games are seeing more traction.
FELIX HARTMANNCHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER
HARTMANN METAVERSE VENTURES
THE TRANSITION FROM
PLAY-TO-EARN GAMING
The following is a selection of quotes from blockchain gaming industry professionals,
sharing their views on the evolution of the play-to-earn model.
22 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
MAKING THE SHIFT FROM
WEB2 TO WEB3
According to respondents, two of the top three drivers expected to propel the industry
forward in 2023 are traditional gaming studios and existing gaming franchises moving
into web3. Together, these two would bring decades of experience to blockchain gaming
to develop new titles while having the potential to entice and onboard large existing
audiences for much-loved web2 games.
“Blockchain will have a huge impact on the gaming space. Web2 gaming is an
enormous market — and allowing users to enter the secondary market through NFTs
and digital property rights will change the landscape forever, and for the better,” said
Roman Wyhowski, co-founder and CEO of Netherlords.
Some examples of more traditional web2 studios actively exploring this space include:
Com2uS has integrated blockchain technology in its traditional game, the US$1.4
billion smash hit Summoners War: Chronicles. In addition, the studio launched its
own blockchain gaming and NFT marketplace platform, C2X, which will promote
interoperability between its web2 and web3 game franchises. The company is taking a
hybrid web2 and web3 approach through the steady acclimation of traditional gamers
to blockchain games.
Wildlife Studios has integrated blockchain technology in Castle Crush, its web2 mobile
game with over 50 million downloads, allowing players to explore NFTs and in-game
rewards within its gaming ecosystem. Blockchain technology has helped Wildlife
Studios in consolidating a progression system in the game through NFT loot boxes.
Netmarble, the studio behind Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds and Monster Arena, is launching
a blockchain gaming ecosystem, MBX, and a blockchain wallet, Marblex Wallet, to
facilitate a seamless game economy and experience in its popular web2 games.
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 23
Bandai Namco solidified its NFT plans and is aiming to expand its blockchain endeavors
by launching a vast network of games and interactive media starting with the Gundam
franchise, a popular anime and video game series. Side-G is a Gundam-theme\
d
metaverse with colonies showcasing Gunpla models, esports and games, among others.
Square Enix, the developers of the Final Fantasy series, has partnered with the Oasys
gaming blockchain to become one of its validators. This partnership makes Square Enix
a pioneer in driving the innovation of blockchain technology into a more environmentally
friendly and scalable solution for web3 games.
Epic Games has begun hosting Blankos, a web3 multiplayer multiverse game produced
by Mythical Games, in its Epic Games Store. Despite the controversy surrounding the
removal of NFT games from the Steam platform, the game has continued to see positive
reception from the gaming community. Star Atlas, an upcoming AAA interstellar web3
game powered by Unreal Engine 5, also launched the alpha version of its game in the
Epic Games Store where NFT holders automatically receive an access key to the game.
2022 has seen a dramatic increase in traditional gaming studios shifting and expanding
into web3, although this transition is far from complete, with only 10.1% of respondents
identifying as working for a gaming studio focused on both traditional and blockchain
games. Nevertheless, the gaming heritage coming from web2 to web3 may help address
some of the challenges related to poor gameplay as cited by 37.2% of respondents.
While it is still early, I’m happy to see so many traditional gaming studios
explore the possibilities of blockchain for the future of gaming. I believe that,
as blockchain technology is streamlined, becoming more scalable, easier to
implement and more sustainable, adoption by traditional gaming companies
will be key in developing the player-centric applications that will lead to
adoption by mainstream users.
NICOLAS POUARDVP OF STRATEGIC INNOVATION LAB AND HEAD OF BLOCKCHAIN INITIATIVES
UBISOFT
24 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
CAREERS IN
BLOCKCHAIN GAMING
The increased funding and explosion of new blockchain gaming projects that launched
in 2022 have led to an influx of talent into the market with still more demand, especially
from the web2 gaming industry.
Nearly a fifth of respondents (19.6%) were from organizations that had 51-100 employees,
up 30% from 2021, while the percentage of respondents from smaller organizations (62.5%)
saw a 3.5% increase from the 2021 figure. It was also found that companies of this size (51-
100 employees) had the highest percentage of staff with tenure greater than one year,
suggesting that much of this growth may be attributed to new mid-sized organizations
entering the market.
According to this year’s survey, 49.9% of respondents have been with their current
company for less than one year. Of those new hires or new entrants to the market, 31.2%
came directly from the gaming industry previously, almost twice as high as the number of
respondents who have been in their current role for more than a year.
Industry respondents came from a range of prior experience before making the move to
their current company, with respondents coming from the tech and marketing sectors
making up 11.2% and 10.4% respectively. Respondents coming from the blockchain
industry prior to focusing on blockchain gaming accounted for 9.5%.
Some examples of leading web2 leaders who have transitioned into blockchain gaming
in 2022 include:
Ryan Wyatt is the former global head of gaming partnerships at YouTube, where he
facilitated a partnership with Activision Blizzard. This turned YouTube into one of the
largest gaming platforms for competitive streaming. As the current CEO of Polygon
Studios, Wyatt continues to create innovative web3 partnerships with notable brands
such as Starbucks, Disney+, Reddit, Adobe, the NFL and Meta.
Colin Brady is a former animator and film director for Pixar and Industrial Light &
Magic, having worked on blockbuster films such as the Toy Story franchise and “A Bug’s
Life” and collaborated with filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and
Martin Scorsese. Brady is now the Chief Creative and Technology Officer of the web3
entertainment company, AMGI Studios, where he helps build the studio’s flagship
blockchain game, My Pet Hooligan.
Gabriel Leydon, former founder and CEO of Machine Zone, the gaming studio behind
the top-grossing mobile game Game of War, has put his 20 years of experience in web2
games into building a blockchain gaming studio called Limit Break. The company has
raised US$200 million in two funding rounds and plans to introduce free-to-mint and
free-to-own models into the blockchain gaming market.
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 25
Respondents who have been with their current company for less than a year are mostly
male (50.4%), while female respondents in this category account for 45.5%. Those who
have been working with their company for 1-3 years are mostly female (42.4%), with
male respondents accounting for 38%. Women demonstrated a longer industry tenure,
according to the survey data.
In this year’s survey, the BGA gathered information on how blockchain gaming companies
compensate their employees to gain an understanding of the use of crypto payments in
the industry. More than half (55.9%) of respondents accept at least a portion of their salary
in cryptocurrency, with female respondents more likely to accept crypto payments than
their male counterparts.
When asked about whether they will stay in blockchain gaming for the next 12 months,
almost 9 out of 10 of the respondents (89.3%) answered positively. Commitment to the
industry is highest for companies with less than 10 people (92.4%) and correspondingly
declines in line with the size of the organization.
At least three-quarters (76%) of respondents belonging to organizations with over 250
employees intend to stay in the industry for the next 12 months. This data shows that
blockchain gaming professionals remain committed to building the industry despite
the market downturn and prevalent FUD, which was cited as the biggest challenge at a
company level. ONE YEAR FROM NOW, DO YOU EXPECT YOU WILL STILL BE
WORKING IN BLOCKCHAIN GAMING?
8.6%UNSURE 89.3% YES 1.7%NO
26 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
FUNDING
Despite the crypto winter, a total of US$7.6 billion was raised by blockchain gaming
and metaverse projects in 2022, which is 90% more than in 2021. Furthermore,
US$2.54 billion was invested in infrastructure projects.
This year’s survey results also show that 21.3% of respondents believe VC funding
has had the biggest positive impact on the blockchain gaming industry, while
lack of funding takes the third spot among the most challenging issues facing
blockchain gaming companies, as cited by 26.5% of respondents.
One of the largest names in the blockchain and metaverse space, Animoca Brands,
has signaled its confidence in the industry with a plan to launch a US$1 billion
fund to support projects that will facilitate the further growth of blockchain
gaming. One of the biggest ecosystem funding this year was from Dapper Labs,
the company behind Flow blockchain who raised a US$725 million fund to support
its own ecosystem in developing gaming, and NFT infrastructure.
FUNDING RAISED BY BLOCKCHAIN GAMES IN 2022
Besides the investments coming from private firms, there is also an increase in
government funding and support. The South Korean government announced a
US$177.1 million investment in metaverse projects. Meanwhile, Japan and Dubai
also signaled their plans to support the integration of metaverse projects in
their regions.
BGA 2022 MEMBER SURVEY & REPORT | 27
I believe we will see a new generation of games that we have yet to discover. Asset
ownership doesn’t make a lot of sense to me unless we have games designed to utilize this
mechanic. There is enough interest now from real developers that we can start to explore
what’s possible. Having rid ourselves of the crypto bro scourge, we have found those with a
genuine set of principles that put players first.
BENJAMIN RAY DEVELOPER RELATIONS
KONGREGATE GAMES
As the blockchain gaming industry continually evolves, various monetization models
catering to different consumers and game companies are being developed and tested.
This section discusses how gaming models have dynamically evolved from their roots in
traditional gaming to blockchain gaming.
Traditional games make use of various models to generate revenue. In free-to-play, a
sizable portion of the game is offered to players for free, and in-game items or currencies
can be purchased to enhance the player’s experience or progress in the game. Meanwhile,
pay-to-play refers to a model where players pay an upfront amount to access the game.
In a subscription-based model, players pay a regular fee (monthly or annually) to access
the game and retain access as long as they continue paying. Beyond this, game publishers
can also monetize games by displaying ads in-game. These games are usually offered
for free, and players can also unlock in-game rewards by watching ads. Another popular
monetization model involves microtransactions, where players can make small purchases
within the game to unlock additional content or cosmetic items.
Driven by the underlying concepts of digital property rights and decentralization,
blockchain games offer players the opportunity to have asset ownership, governance
rights within the game, interoperability and NFTs or tokens as in-game rewards that
are tradable. Blockchain game developers monetize through secondary sales of NFTs,
marketplace fees and creator royalties.
Developers are also adopting a hybrid model of traditional and blockchain games. While
using soft currencies (in-game tokens that are non-tradable) to curb issues related to token
inflation, they also make use of NFTs in the form of purchasable in-game cosmetics for
players. These games act as a bridge for traditional gamers, as they introduce fundamental
web3 concepts that can revolutionize the gaming industry. The BGA expects to see more
innovation in the blockchain gaming industry in 2023 as more companies in this sector
are established and new business models are tested.
THE EVOLUTION OF
GAMING MODELS
28 | BLOCKCHAIN GAME ALLIANCE
The esports scene in blockchain gaming is gaining momentum as the industry is putting
more emphasis on skill and competition in blockchain gaming. Popular web2 esports
teams are venturing into the blockchain gaming industry to expand their competitive
career. Metasports CEO and co-founder Joe Josue sees more reasons for web2 esports
teams to shift to web3, stating, “Esports teams have suffered f rom heavy valuation
corrections recently because esports has been misaligned with tech valuations, rather
than what they more naturally are, which is sports media properties. With web3, they
could find newer revenue streams that may justify new capital.”
Former Blizzard Esports Head for Hearthstone and current Head of Esports at Yield Guild
Games (YGG), Mike Ovecka, recognizes how blockchain can create
