Recently, I spent some time collecting data on the blockchain gaming ecosystem and found that this track has changed quite a bit over the past two years.

Last year, blockchain games experienced explosive growth. According to DappRadar statistics, the number of unique daily active wallets interacting with blockchain game smart contracts increased from 23,000 in Q3 2020 to 1.22 million, a 52-fold increase. At that time, Axie Infinity’s daily active users once surged to 2 million, with revenue even surpassing OpenSea, Solana, Ethereum, and could be on par with top mobile games like Honor of Kings.

What’s most interesting is that this wave of blockchain gaming directly changed the landscape of public blockchains. Previously, Ethereum was basically the absolute dominant player in the DApp ecosystem, but now that’s different. Popular blockchain games like DeFi Kingdoms, Splinterlands, and Alien Worlds are mainly deployed on non-Ethereum chains such as WAX, Hive, BSC, and Polygon. Projects like Ronin, Flow, and Immutable X are even more direct—they are building their own blockchains or layer-2 solutions to support gaming platforms.

I’ve compiled data on 18 major gaming public chains, and a few with the best performance are worth paying attention to. WAX is currently the most used blockchain gaming platform, with over 400,000 daily active users, accounting for more than 37%. There are 88 blockchain gaming projects in its ecosystem, with Alien Worlds and Farmers World being the main contributors of users. Hive, although with fewer blockchain games, has a large overseas loyal player base for Splinterlands, a card game, with low participation barriers—players can just use email to play.

BNB Chain’s situation is completely different. It hosts 507 blockchain gaming projects, the richest among all public chains. It’s supported by a user base from exchanges, and its ecosystem fund provides strong capital backing. Tiny World and MOBOX are quite active. Polygon, as an Ethereum Layer 2, has also developed rapidly, launching Polygon Studios to help developers and brands.

The top three chains in daily transaction volume are Ronin, Harmony, and BSC. Ronin is the dedicated chain for Axie Infinity; its ecosystem is relatively closed but the data is impressive. Harmony’s DeFi Kingdoms, although with strong DeFi attributes, has indeed attracted a large number of users.

I’ve noticed that successful blockchain games generally share some common traits. First, they lower entry barriers—Splinterlands, PlayMining, and Upland all support email registration, so players can start without a wallet. Second, they have clear P2E (Play-to-Earn) mechanisms, allowing players to earn tangible rewards through gameplay. The puzzle mini-games on Thundercore attract a large user base. Additionally, game quality matters—games like Splinterlands and Gods Unchained feature excellent art styles and user experiences.

Almost all gaming public chains emphasize high performance and low gas fees, which are fundamental requirements for blockchain gaming platforms. Games with high-frequency interactions demand high TPS, which is also why Ethereum is gradually losing its dominant position.

Looking ahead, it seems blockchain gaming will develop towards AAA titles and metaverse directions. The ecosystem will become more open and complex, involving not just the games themselves but also character design, storylines, player social interactions, and sustainable economic models. There may even be intersections with AR and VR fields. The entire blockchain gaming track is worth continuous attention, as this is likely an inevitable development trend.