New Trends in Blockchain Games: Social Attributes May Become the Key to Breaking the Circle

With the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF, the crypto market has experienced a rebound from its bottom, with the BTC price rising from around $16,000 at the beginning of the year to about $40,000. Over the past four months, inscriptions, the Bitcoin ecosystem, and blockchain games have become the three main engines driving this bull market. So, what new narratives and opportunities will Web3 games present in this bull market?

1. The Development History of Blockchain Games in the Past Three Years

The story of blockchain games can be traced back to the beginning of 2021. At that time, DeFi was very popular, attracting a large amount of outside capital to enter the market. For ordinary users, games are easier to understand, so early blockchain games can be seen as DeFi dressed in a gaming shell, or as adding a "metaverse" narrative to the DeFi economic model.

The year 2021 coincided with the last bull market, and the wave of blockchain games stirred the entire crypto community. Even for those who had never played games or had no interest in them, simply clicking the mouse a few times each day at that time could bring huge profits. With the support of the bull market, it seemed that every economic model could work, but a purely Ponzi model would inevitably spiral into death.

The two black swan events in 2022 taught newcomers in the crypto space a lesson. Without the support of a bull market, the survival cycle of most products began to decline significantly. Major project teams started trying to attract users again with game quality and playability, but as of now, there has not yet been a blockbuster-level Web3 game that surpasses Axie or StepN.

In 2023, established traditional Web2 companies finally entered the market, bringing higher quality games and trial funds from old money in the gaming industry. Industry insiders refer to these projects as Web2.5 chain games, which not only show leaps in playability and quality but also deepen user consensus on the long-term strategies for NFT assets during the operational process.

2. Is high playability the only way out?

Improving the quality of blockchain games is undoubtedly a necessary path, as the playability of the last wave of blockchain games was really too low. But is emulating traditional AAA games to enhance playability the only way out for the current blockchain gaming sector? Will existing Web3 game users be willing to pay for it?

After two years of a bear market, most of those who are still holding on are veteran investors. For them, high-quality blockchain games represent not only high playability but also signify that the project has capital, a team, and technology, making it a form of "value investing." Most users believe that big productions mean large initial investments, which reduces the likelihood of the project running away.

However, the large-scale crypto whales will not spend too much time playing games. This leads to large funds being used only to purchase assets, unable to truly enter the core mechanisms of the game. In the game, mainly small funds engage in PVE gold farming or compete against each other, with the survival cycle limited by the speed of new user entry, the funding of the project party, and the ability to acquire off-circle funds.

Currently, the user profile of Web3 games overlaps significantly with that of the crypto circle; they are primarily here to make money, not to be genuine game users. Improving playability may not directly meet their needs. Their logic is: high playability → good project background → early users are likely to make money.

In addition, high playability requires significant investment, but Web3 game users may not be sensitive to exquisite production. Project parties want to showcase value through exquisite production, while users lack sufficient judgment, resulting in both parties not being on the same page.

So, besides improving playability, are there other development paths for blockchain games? The answer is social. In 2024, the casual game series BAC Games will debut with the concept of "playing Web3 games is playing social."

3. "External Strong Social Interaction in Games" May Become the Way to Break the Circle

The social aspect of the gaming track is different from traditional socializing. The social aspect of gaming products is: bringing a group of people together through game mechanics, initially bonding through shared tasks, extending topics beyond the game, capturing users' emotional value, and ultimately achieving the effect of "the game is no longer fun, but this group of friends is still quite enjoyable."

Web3 games have unique advantages in terms of social interaction. Web3 users are mostly engaged in distributed work, with a strong demand for daily socializing. Introducing social elements into blockchain games, where multiple members can discuss decisions and engage in national wars together, will lead to the following effects:

1. Rational chain game gold miners will gradually turn into emotional people, and for the honor of the alliance, they may no longer care about the break-even period.

2. The disharmony generated by social interactions, conflicts and confrontations among members can lead to output friction and extend the token selling pressure cycle.

4. BAC: Innovative Social Game Mechanics

BAC, this blockchain game focuses on "strong social interaction outside of the game". The core model is "Group to earn", emphasizing teamwork. Based on the current information, BAC has the following characteristics in terms of social concepts:

1. Closely tied to the Blast Layer 2 public chain, the game name "Blast Auto Clubs" is a play on words.

2. BAC Games is a series of casual game combinations, with the first game BAC adopting a "Group to earn" model, where users must join a car club to share profits.

3. Ingeniously grafting the Blast ecosystem: Airdrop Vetoken to Blast staking ETH users, which can be used to upgrade character NFTs and open clubs, providing liquidity for users with locked funds.

4. The project team emphasizes making money for early users to create initial traffic effects and accumulate user base for social interactions.

BAC Games has received support from Ultiverse, which is backed by investors such as Binance and Sequoia Capital, with total funding of $9.5 million. Moonlight, the community leader of Ultiverse, has become an ambassador for BAC Games.

The relationship between BAC and Blast has not been officially disclosed, but the launch time closely aligns with the Blast mainnet, making it likely to become the first blockchain game on Blast.

V1 version economic model:

• Users purchase blind boxes to obtain character NFTs, producing different materials.
• Join the car club and contribute materials to build cars.
• Deploy cars to different cities to drive for Uber, providing revenue for the club.
• BAC tokens are distributed to members based on contribution points.

Vetoken is used for building clubs and upgrading character NFTs, initially targeting Blast staking ETH users (, currently exceeding $1.3 billion ). The V1 version is expected to launch with the Blast mainnet in February-March 2024, with a beta test involving 300 people beforehand.

The V2 version is scheduled to be updated in Q2, adding gameplay features such as PVP, car enthusiasts, elections, auctions, and even introducing inscription assets. In the future, avatar-type NFTs will also be issued.

5. Chain Games More Suitable for Web3 Users

The idea of BAC Games is clear:

1. Currently, Web3 game users are more suited for casual and relaxed games.
2. Quickly guide to social scenarios to consolidate community consensus.

Therefore, BAC has two major innovations in its economic model: a grafting model + "Group to earn", similar to Blast's "fleet model".

In 2024, the blockchain gaming sector will flourish with a variety of projects. In addition to leading blockchain games improving quality and playability, projects like BAC Games that adopt a light gaming and social attribute approach may also carve out their own niche and take a different path. We look forward to seeing this.