I remember how three years ago everyone joked that the TON ecosystem was about to take off. A typical joke about an airplane circling above the runway and just can't lift off from the ground. But time has passed, and now this joke has somehow proven itself wrong. Mini-games in Telegram unexpectedly turned into a real phenomenon that no one expected to see so quickly.

Currently, more than a hundred such games have been launched in Telegram, and by the end of the month, another couple of thousand are being prepared for release. Honestly, even Telegram itself seems to have not anticipated this happening. But what is really happening inside this market? How do creators of mini-games in Telegram make money? And the main question — will players truly value these projects, or is this just a temporary trend?

I decided to explore these questions by talking with developers, investors, and project creators. It turned out that under the hood of this movement operates a rather complex system.

Traffic — that’s where the money is

When talking about monetizing mini-games in Telegram, the first thing that comes to mind is advertising. One of the market participants, a 30-year-old guy with the nickname Zung Yue, who is involved in crypto projects and loves games, noticed an interesting pattern. According to him, most of the revenue from these games comes not from the players themselves, but from advertising other projects. This is a typical Chinese internet business model, where traffic is the main commodity.

If you launched a new crypto project and need an audience, previously you looked for either crypto media or platforms with Web3 tasks. But, as Zung Yue noted, these platforms have long lost their real users. Mostly, they are operated by bots and studio staff. That’s why mini-games in Telegram have become such a magnet for advertisers — here are real people, real traffic.

This created serious competition for old Web3 platforms. Zung Yue even suggested that if mini-games in Telegram continue to grow at this pace, traditional task platforms might simply disappear. Venture capitalists understood this earlier than anyone else. Investors like Vertex Capital are not just investing money into games; they are creating their own projects. For example, they developed a mini-game called Token Hunter to activate users of their NFT projects like HAPE and Meet48.

Vertex Capital sees huge potential. They believe that mini-games in Telegram can technically support complex games, similar to how mini-games in WeChat do. The cost of user acquisition is lower, and the market could grow to hundreds of millions of active users per month. That’s tens of billions of dollars in annual turnover.

But it’s not just about advertising

I was honestly skeptical that people would really pay in these games. But then I spoke with Sleepy, the founder of the well-known NFT project Weirdo Ghost Gang. And I had to reconsider my position.

Sleepy said something interesting: people think that mini-games in Telegram are only for those who want to play for free and get some airdrops. But that’s a big misconception. They recently launched their own mini-game OUTA and achieved shocking results. The number of users willing to pay for the game far exceeded expectations.

There are many examples. Catizen, one of the most popular games in this ecosystem, earned over $16 million through the sale of in-game items and modules via Atomic Wallet. That’s more than 500,000 paying users. Notcoin receives over $300,000 a month, mostly thanks to advertising and in-game purchases.

Another developer, Jeremy, launched two mini-games in Telegram — QGame and PalMiner. He noted that the Web3 gaming industry has always suffered from sales issues. The NFT market almost collapsed, many games shut down. But mini-games in Telegram solve this problem differently. Instead of demanding players buy expensive “shovels” ( like in traditional crypto games ), here you can buy something for $0.99 or $1.99. This generates revenue through turnover.

Sleepy added an important point. Traditional crypto games do not differentiate players by spending level. In mini-games in Telegram, you can better manage the audience — there are free players, those who pay a little, and whales. In Web3 games, people often demand expensive props, which deters casual payers. Here, small payments add up to large sums.

Coins — that’s a separate art

A natural question arises: if mini-games in Telegram already make such money, why do they need tokens? Zung Yue is confident that tokens will still be issued. Most projects will launch them. The reason is simple — traffic-based business is temporary. If you don’t issue a token, the project is doomed to short-term existence.

But issuing a token is an art. Many games are not yet listed. Some are negotiating with major exchanges, others simply don’t know how to do it, and end up using users for PUA.

Sleepy shared his journey. Initially, his team resisted issuing a token due to compliance requirements and long-term risks. They believed that a token is a double-edged sword. Yes, it accelerates development, but if misused, the project could collapse.

They concluded that tokens are suitable for infrastructure projects that require long-term development. For consumer applications and games, early token issuance can be a burden. The project needs time to prove its value.

But then Sleepy saw real numbers. The number of users willing to pay turned out to be huge. This changed their stance. They realized that a token, at the right moment, could help the project grow.

Hybrid monetization — this is the future

Looking at traditional mini-games, like in WeChat, they have long been using hybrid models. A casual game that was previously monetized only through advertising suddenly becomes paid. A classic example is Zynga’s Twisted Tangle. Small payments of $0.99 and $1.99 for gift packs led to monthly revenue approaching $30 million.

Mini-games in Telegram are following the same path. They combine advertising, item purchases, and potentially tokens. This has become a necessity in the Web3 industry, where organic game purchases are almost impossible. Hybrid monetization helps turn free players into paying ones.

The statistics speak for themselves. Catizen earned over $16 million, Notcoin hundreds of thousands per month. Some leading projects generate $1.8 million monthly just from advertising. This allows them to stabilize income and extend the game’s lifespan.

More and more developers and investors are joining the ecosystem. Although challenges remain — game convenience, the risk of collapse after token issuance — mini-games in Telegram are gradually proving that this is not just a trend. It’s a real market with real value.

Perhaps a large-scale Telegram mini-game is already launched, but the world has not yet realized it. Or it will appear in the coming months. In any case, it’s becoming interesting.