Solana Foundation Chairman: Blockchain Gaming Has "Died," Industry's Billions in Investment May Be One of the Worst Bets

Mars Finance News, March 21 — Lily Liu, Chairwoman of the Solana Foundation, stated that blockchain games “will not return.” She believes that although the industry once hoped to promote Web3 and the metaverse through on-chain assets and open worlds, the actual performance has fallen far short of expectations. Solana was once considered one of the most promising public blockchains capable of supporting large-scale blockchain games, thanks to its high performance and low costs enabling real-time interactions. However, projects like Star Atlas and Stepn, which once gained attention, have seen the overall GameFi sector decline continuously since its peak in 2021. Market opinions point out that blockchain games rely heavily on token incentive models like “Play-to-Earn” but lack the gameplay and content development that truly attract core players, resulting in poor user retention and ecosystem sustainability. Institutions such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Framework Ventures, and Animoca Brands have invested billions of dollars in this field, but returns have been disappointing. Nevertheless, some companies are still exploring transformation paths, such as Mythical Games and Gunzilla Games, gradually downplaying blockchain elements and making them optional features rather than core mechanisms to improve user experience and market acceptance.