In the ever-evolving landscape of gaming, transformative shifts often stem from groundbreaking titles. From Steam to League of Legends, pivotal moments have shaped the industry's monetization and accessibility. Now, the spotlight turns to web3 gaming, a realm where ownership and value take center stage.

In this article, Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson shares insights on the present landscape and upcoming potential of web3 gaming, highlighting its growth, challenges, and the promise it holds.

Immutable Logo and Slogan

Next Evolution of Gaming

In gaming history, significant shifts in monetization and accessibility have often been spearheaded by breakout titles. Examples include Steam for digital distribution, Farmville for social gaming, Angry Birds for mobile gaming, and League of Legends for free-to-play models.

• Digital Distribution: Steam 
• Social Gaming: Farmville 
• Mobile Gaming: Angry Birds 
• Free To Play: League of Legends

Today, the gaming landscape is poised for another transformation, driven by the emergence of new monetization and distribution paradigms in web3 gaming. Immutable aims to capitalize on this movement, with over 330+ games already leveraging Immutable zkEVM to create top gaming experiences built directly on the blockchain. 

Immutable Ecosystem

Guild of Guardians: Case Study

Guild of Guardians (GOG) has been in development for 14 months, with its current version being co-developed by Mineloader. It is also one of the pioneering titles to launch on Immutable's zkEVM mainnet. The web3 mobile game stands out as a prime illustration of the next evolution in gaming, boasting a 4.9/5 rating on mainstream app stores and hitting over 30,000 downloads within the first two days of the global launch.

Its success may signify the beginning of web3 gaming's journey to mainstream acceptance. Robbie Ferguson, co-founder and President of Immutable: "The question no longer revolves around if web3 gaming will go mainstream, but rather when." 

Guild of Guardians Global Launch Success 

Empowering Gamers: True Ownership of Assets

The true potential of web3 gaming is approaching, offering gamers the chance to truly own their digital assets, beyond the usual constraints of traditional web2 gaming. Robbie Ferguson sees a significant "magic moment" on the horizon where gamers can directly experience the benefits of owning their in-game items, regardless of their understanding of blockchain technology.

Robbie explains, "That's the magic moment where you can experience the value of, hey, now your time isn't wasted. You can sell something for real value without having to know what infrastructure it is. You're just experiencing the value."

Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson

Reflecting on the recent launch of Guild of Guardians, Robbie points out an interesting observation: a newcomer to web3 gaming, initially hesitant, found themselves engaged in the experience. The observation (outlined below) highlights the potential impact of web3 gaming in simplifying the process of owning and trading in-game assets, offering tangible rewards to players while abstracting away the complexities of blockchain technology.

"I've been reading Twitter around the Guild of Guardians launch. There are so many comments from people saying they hate web3 gaming. There was one tweet that read - 'My brother has never tried web3 gaming before. He never wanted to write down his seed words. But he's been playing Guild of Guardians, he's created a passport account, and he's completely addicted' - evidence of early mainstream adoption."

Aligning Incentives: A New Era of Cooperation

In the gaming industry, players often find themselves at a disadvantage as game publishers frequently test new business and monetization strategies to maintain player retention while minimizing their own expenses. Robbie notes, "Everyone hated free-to-play when it first came out. They revolted against any new form of modernization, and quite frankly, why shouldn't they because it's often been at their [the gamer's] expense."

Benefits of Web3 Gaming

However, web3 gaming is characterized by passionate CEOs and founders who are committed to preventing players from feeling exploited and fostering alignment of incentives between players and publishers. "This is the first time the system is trying to align the incentives of players and publishers. The most important concept of web3 is cooperative ownership."

Overcoming Challenges: Mainstream Adoption

Robbie predicts that over 10 million gamers will be engaged in web3 games this year. However, despite this growth trajectory, there are notable barriers to achieving mainstream adoption. Robbie highlights two primary challenges that have impeded the progress of web3 gaming:

"The main blockers to web3 gaming adoption have been infrastructure readiness (wallet creation) and content readiness (game development time). However, with the launch of products like Immutable Passport, onboarding players is becoming much easier. Additionally, the funding that went into web3 gaming over the past few years is starting to pay off, with high-quality games getting published."

Immutable Passport

Immutable is actively addressing these obstacles with solutions such as Immutable Passport, which has garnered over 1 million signups, facilitating seamless player onboarding. "To be clear, web3 isn't a genre. It's not a vertical, it's a horizontal. Every multiplayer game should become web3 over time. Hyper casual games have flocked to web3 because the monetization structure is better."

Bright Future Ahead: Growth in Q1 of 2024

As barriers to entry diminish and successful games proliferate, Robbie expresses strong optimism about the future of web3 gaming. He anticipates significant growth in the gaming goods market, which already stands at $150 billion, expanding to trillions of dollars as players secure true ownership of their digital assets and developers embrace sustainable monetization models.

"When players have the option to sell, you have brand new monetization mechanisms, secondary marketplaces, royalties. But you also will take the size of gaming from $150 billion to trillions of dollars."

9x Increase in Games Signed

Immutable recently disclosed a 900% increase in signed games year-over-year in Q1 ‘24 vs Q1 ‘23. The recent growth has seen the company sign over 75 games in the past three months alone, bringing the total games available on Immutable to over 270 – in line with the 70% market share reported by Messari in late 2023.

Notable, the platform recorded a record-breaking 32-game signings in March alone, reflecting a remarkable 9x increase compared to the previous year. This surge in new titles underscores the growing interest and demand for web3 gaming experiences.

"In the next weeks and months, we have some of the biggest games in the world launching," Robbie notes, mentioning titles like Pixelmon, Treeverse, Illuvium, Guild of Guardians, Space Nation, and Blast Royale, which boasts 5 million installs. “As gaming enthusiasts ourselves, we're eagerly looking forward to what lies ahead. I'm extremely excited. It's just that one hit that will be the inflection point."

Immutable Building the Future of Gaming

Final Thoughts

Platforms like Immutable are leading this next evolution in gaming, supported by a growing number of high-quality games. By addressing challenges and fostering cooperative relationships between players and publishers, web3 gaming represents a promising evolution toward a more inclusive and sustainable gaming landscape.