Blockchain game research report in January 2025: Market indicators decline, platform competition intensifies

Author: Stella L ( stella@footprint.network )

Data source: Footprint Analytics Blockchain Game Research Page

Although the crypto market remained strong overall, the market value of the gaming sector fell 19.3% to US$22.3 billion. This month, the main hot spots in the market are concentrated on social platforms, TON has obtained exclusive authorization for Telegram blockchain infrastructure, while LINE has launched the Mini Dapps ecosystem through Kaia.

Macro Market Review

Bitcoin rose from $94,577 to $102,180, an increase of 8.0%. Ethereum, while its performance was weak, fell from $3,353 to $3,292, a drop of 1.8%, with the ETH/BTC ratio hitting a new low since September 2024.

Source: Bitcoin and Ethereum price trends

The development of a number of important policies has significantly affected the trend of the crypto market. The Trump administration’s executive order on cryptocurrency regulation provides unprecedented clear guidance for the industry, emphasizing the protection of self-custodial rights and supporting stablecoin development. However, Trump's remarks on international trade tariffs at the end of the month sparked concerns about global economic growth and market sentiment cooled down.

The Trump family’s $TRUMP and $MELANIA tokens launched on Solana have triggered drastic fluctuations in the Memecoin sector. This speculative boom has significantly distracted the market from other crypto sectors, including the blockchain gaming sector.

DeepSeek's breakthrough progress in the field of artificial intelligence has also affected market dynamics. This progress has accelerated the focus on decentralized AI infrastructure in the crypto ecosystem, with AI-related tokens rising this month.

Blockchain Game Market Overview

In January, the Web3 gaming sector faced resistance despite the overall crypto market remaining strong. The market value of blockchain game tokens fell from US$27.6 billion to US$22.3 billion, a drop of 19.3%.

Data source: Market value of blockchain game tokens and market value of Bitcoin

On-chain activity indicators also performed weakly, with monthly transactions down 7.2% to 550 million, and transaction volumes down 12.4% to 230 million.

Data source: Number of daily transactions in blockchain games

The TON Foundation announced on January 21 that it has obtained the exclusive authorization of Telegram blockchain infrastructure, marking an important turning point in the ecosystem. This exclusive collaboration requires all Telegram-based applications to migrate to TON within 30 days, putting pressure on projects built on other chains. While the TON Foundation will incentivize early adopters who have completed blockchain migrations by February 21, it does present substantial technical and community challenges to affected gaming projects.

Just the day after the above announcement, LINE launched Mini Dapps and Dapp Portal through LINE NEXT, reflecting the emerging competitive trend in the field of social platform gaming. Kaia Wave plans to launch 32 Mini Dapps in the first batch, showing a more controllable, ecosystem-oriented approach compared to Telegram’s relatively open development environment.

These platform-level changes, coupled with the decline in market indicators, indicate that the Web3 gaming sector is entering a period of integration, and platform docking and user experience may take precedence over token economics. Telegram and LINE’s approaches may significantly impact how blockchain gaming projects handle user acquisition and retention strategies in 2025.

Overview of blockchain game public chain

In January 2025, there were 1,697 active blockchain games, a slight increase of 1.4% from December. Traditional market leaders maintain their position in game distribution: BNB Chain (24.2%), Polygon (15.6%) and Ethereum (13.1%). However, the stability of this game distribution is in stark contrast to the significant changes in on-chain activity.

Trading activities show a clear concentrated trend, with three chains dominating. WAX leads with 180 million transactions, accounting for 32.4% of all game activities. opBNB ranked second with 87.2 million deals (15.9% share), while Aptos recorded 37.5 million deals (6.8% share). Together, these three chains account for more than 55% of all game transactions in January.

Data source: Daily transactions for each public chain

In terms of trading volume, Aptos topped the list with a turnover of $51.9 million (22.1% share), followed by Ronin with a turnover of $49.5 million (21.1% share). Immutable X ranks third with a turnover of $19 million (8.1% share).

Data source: Daily transaction amount of each public chain

Competition among various chains in competition for developers is intensifying, and radical incentive plans are launched one after another. Sonic SVM and Galaxy Interactive’s multi-million dollar fund targeting the intersection of Web3 gaming and AI, reflecting the market’s growing focus on AI-enhanced gaming experience. Meanwhile, Ronin Network’s $10 million grant program, in addition to gaming, also expands to consumer applications and DeFi protocols to create a more comprehensive ecosystem.

Investment and financing of blockchain games

In January 2025, Web3 game investment activities continued to decline, with 6 financing events raising a total of US$31.2 million. The reduction in financing activities reflects a wider market dynamic. The surge in speculative activity has significantly distracted the market from other crypto sectors, including the blockchain gaming sector.

Investment and financing events in the blockchain game field in January 2025 (Source: crypto-fundraising.info )

Pixion Games led this month’s financing event, raising $4 million in a strategic round led by Delphi Ventures, with Spartan Capital, Sky Mavis and Animoca Brands among others. The studio's flagship game Fableborne combines ARPG mechanisms with strategic base construction elements. The game's success on Ronin is particularly striking. Other notable game financing events include Drift Zone, BeraTone and Nakamoto Games.

Infrastructure development remains a focus of investors, with two important financings: ZKcandy raised $4 million for its ZKsync-based gaming-specific Layer 2 chain after successfully completing the open testnet phase. In addition, Hyve Labs raised $2.75 million to develop its core infrastructure such as launching testnet chains, first games and other on-chain assets.