Crypto gaming’s transformative year highlighted by Telegram clicker games and ‘Off the Grid’ release

About this update from Polygon Real Estate Ltd.

Blockchain gaming didn’t make its massive leap into the mainstream in 2024, but it certainly proved an eventful year with the sector making strides in both gameplay and user acquisition."The web3 gaming world has come a long way since the rise and subsequent decline of ‘Axie Infinity,’” veteran gaming executive and Delabs Games CEO Joonmo Kwon told The Block. “While Axie’s early success showed the potential of blockchain-based economies, its decline also revealed the struggles with sustainable tokenomics and user retention."The biggest story in web3 gaming was the emergence of games released on the Telegram messaging app founded by Pavel Durov and used by nearly 1 billion people. Simple mini-games like "Notcoin," "Hamster Kombat," "Yescoin" and "Catizen" stood out. And thanks to the addictive nature of the games, the ease of both building and playing them, plus the lure of players potentially being able to earn token rewards, user numbers soared.Telegram-based games utilize The Open Network, or TON blockchain. In the span of one year, the number of accounts on the TON network rose from approximately 4 million to 128 million, according to TonStat data.Image: TON accounts past 12 months. Source: TonStat.While there are some user-retention concerns over whether players of Telegram games will eventually turn into long-time crypto enthusiasts and embrace digital assets, the deluge of new games launching on the messaging app had a significant impact on not only the TON blockchain, but also the entire GameFi sector.According to Kwon, by the middle of this year the GameFi market had hit a valuation of about $17 billion, largely due to the rise of the Telegram gaming ecosystem.However, although web3 gaming experienced an uptick in terms of adoption in 2024, The Block's GMCI Gaming Index showed that broadly speaking key gaming-related tokens were down about 7% year to date as of Dec. 18. While the index includes major gaming tokens like BEAM, GALA and IMX, it does not include TON, which is up over 100% this year, according to The Block Price Page.Growing Asian market"Telegram games have made it much easier for people to jump right in while introducing new revenue models like play-to-earn (P2E) and decentralized ownership," said Kwon. "This approach has helped Telegram gain traction with players worldwide, especially in mobile-first regions like Southeast Asia, Afri...

View stock analysis, news, and events for Polygon Real Estate Ltd.