Detailed explanation of GameFi’s opportunities and challenges in 2025

Author: cointelegraph

Compiled by: ChainCatcher

According to a survey by the Blockchain Game Alliance, 42% of respondents believe that the player reward model is the biggest advantage in attracting new users. However, as the GameFi industry develops, blockchain games will face multiple challenges in 2025.

Seraph CEO Tobin Kuo said in an interview with Cointelegraph that maintaining player engagement, adopting new technologies, and building a sustainable in-game economy are obstacles that GameFi must overcome to remain competitive.

Tobin pointed out that more than 60% of players quit Web3 games within 30 days. He believes that the lack of long-term incentives and poor game mechanics are the main reasons why Web3 games cannot sustain sustainable development. He told Cointelegraph:

“As the attention economy accelerates, projects must prioritize player-centered design, focusing on immersive narratives, skill-based rewards, and game mechanics that transcend a ‘revenue first’ model, rather than relying on trends to attract attention. "

In 2025, developing better blockchain games will also require integrating emerging technologies, such as generative AI, to enhance player experience. Tobin pointed out that for GameFi projects that fail to adopt new technologies in a timely manner, their player retention rates usually drop by 30%-40%.

 According to the Web3 Game Industry Survey, these issues are considered to be the biggest challenges facing the GameFi field in 2024. Source: Blockchain Game Alliance

Build a sustainable in-game economy

Tobin emphasized: “The unstable in-game economy is the main reason for project bankruptcy.” He believes that building a sustainable token model for Web3 games that controls inflation and is based on data-driven player rewards is the key to maintaining player retention. .

He further explained: “Dynamic loot distribution, staking-based rewards, and player-controlled economic strategies through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) may become best practices for GameFi development.”

Take Hamster Kombat, for example, a point-and-click game that made headlines in July and surpassed 300 million users in less than five months. However, after experiencing what is considered the largest token airdrop in cryptocurrency history, the number of active users of the game plummeted by 86%. As of November, the game had just 41 million players, down significantly from its peak of 300 million in the summer.

Current status of the blockchain gaming industry in 2024

The Blockchain Game Alliance recently released the "2024 Industry Status Report", surveying 623 professionals in the Web3 gaming industry.

The report shows that about 53% of the respondents believe that poor user experience and complex user interface are the biggest challenges that prevent new players from entering Web3 games.

 Industry insiders outline the main issues facing the GameFi space. Source: Blockchain Game Alliance

Early reports from BGA indicate that 10% of users have given up on entering Web3 games due to the complexity of setting up a crypto wallet.

At the Blockchain Futurist Conference in August, Anomaly Games CEO Long Do said that abstracting blockchain functions and allowing players to interact with the chain unconsciously is the key to driving adoption. key.

In addition, BGA's 2024 report also shows that 33% of respondents believe that poor gaming experience is one of the three major challenges currently facing the industry.

According to the results of a OnePoll survey earlier in 2024, among more than 2,000 adults, the majority of players surveyed lacked understanding of blockchain games.

The survey showed that 52% of the respondents did not know what blockchain games were, and another 32% said they had heard of blockchain games but had never played them.

Conclusion

With the rapid development of the GameFi industry, changes in player needs and market competition have prompted developers to continue to innovate and optimize. In 2025, how to maintain player stickiness, introduce new technologies, and establish a sustainable economic model will become the key to determining the success or failure of the GameFi project.