Is GameFi Dead? 89% Of Crypto Investors Saw Profit Drop In The Last 6 Months

Gabriel Sieng
August 30, 2022
10 mins read

Without a doubt, GameFi has been a critical driving force of crypto adoption. In 2021, nearly 50% of the active cryptocurrencies wallet were interacting with blockchain games daily.

But things aren’t the same in 2022.

A survey by CHAINPLAY saw 89% of crypto investors worldwide see their GameFi profit tumble down in the last six months. 62% of the respondents lost over half of their profits from GameFi.

This downtrend could be linked to wider macro factors like the current crypto bear market caused by the rising interest rate.

But some protocols like Uniswap and GMX are still printing money so why is GameFi not doing the same?

Poor in-game economy design

The 2022 GameFi research report surveyed over 2000 GameFi investors all over the globe. It showed that over 50% of investors chose poor in-game economy design as the number one reason for declining GameFi profit.

The poor in-game economy design would inevitably lead to a drop in player interest and eventually, it will turn into a downward spiral.

So is a working in-game economy design the most important aspect of GameFi?

Community is king

The community is the leading factor that investors consider when investing. Other factors like team and backers are just marginally behind the community.

69% of the investor believes that the strength and vibrancy of the community are vital to the success of the project and it is the community that would drive adoption and onboard new users to the project.

But is community enough to carry the game?

Games should be fun

It all boils down to the most important factor that GameFi developers keep forgetting – Games should be fun.

The report showed that 81% of investors will prioritize fun factors over earning when valuing future GameFi projects.

This showed that investors know that the earning factor should not be a priority in GameFi and have pivoted away to a new ideology where earning is a secondary goal.

Investors are now more focused on fun factors like the game quality and also the gaming experience.

Instead of the traditional play-to-earn model, a newer model that features a play & earn model where the game is fun and players could earn while enjoying the game would do better in the long run.

You can check out the full report here or watch the video below.