Interest in GameFi tokens has dissipated since their peak hype of 2021, evidenced in the prices of the most significant gaming tokens, most of which have fallen to new five-year lows.
However, some on-chain statistics, such as the number of transactions and unique addressees, have reached new highs, completely separating themselves from the falling prices.
This analysis will examine several charts regarding crypto gaming usage and see if the declining prices reflect the industry’s state.
Web3 Gaming Historical Stats
The number of active users in Web3 gaming was virtually nonexistent between January 2018 and 2021.
Then, a boom started, likely led by Axie Infinity’s popularity. The number of active users peaked in November 2021 at over 2,000,000.
Despite the perceived bear market in gaming tokens, active users peaked above 7 million in December 2024.
Similarly, the number of protocols has increased nearly sevenfold from 500 in January 2021 to 2025.
However, gaming token prices do not reflect this. On the contrary, they have fallen drastically.
So, there is a disconnect between the increase in activity and declining prices, though this could be a more accurate reflection if 2021 is considered the bubble’s peak.
The comparison of the market capitalizations of gaming tokens and Bitcoin illustrates this perfectly.
While the Web3 gaming market cap was roughly ten times smaller than Bitcoin (BTC) in 2021, it is currently 100 times smaller.
The volume decline despite the increase in transactions is also illustrative of this since gaming tokens are often used in-game, and a decline in their price leads to a decrease in volume.
The Total Value Locked (TVL) decline is similar . The TVL is roughly $100 million, a massive decrease from the $900 million all-time high.
Which Chains Are Leading?
As for chains, the leading chain in 2021 was Ethereum, which had nearly the same number of Web3 games as all the other chains combined.
The picture has changed drastically in 2025 since the BNB chain has the most active games, followed by Polygon and Ethereum.
The biggest category is “Others,” with chains like Ronin and Immutable showing growth.
Ronin has shown especially remarkable progress by evolving past Axie Infinity. The chain crossed 2 million users in 2024, doubling the 2021 high. Its most popular game is now Pixels.
As for the type of games, Web games are the most popular , while the leading categories are Player versus Player (PvP) and Action games.
The game with the most total transactions in the entire gaming ecosystem is Alien Worlds, with over 13 billion, followed by Farmers World and SplinterLands.
However, in volume, the top three are MOBOX, Axie Infinity and BurgerCities.
Recently Popular Games
The number of UAW interactions and volume have grown steadily in the past year.
More specifically, UAWs have increased by 372% while the volume has increased by 90%.
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According to DappRadar , this year’s top project is KGeN, an ecosystem that uses a Proof-of-Gamer engine to allow users to build and monetize their reputation.
Alien Worlds and World of Dypians are leading, categorized by the number of transactions in the past 30 days.
Based on UAWs, number of transactions, and volume for the past 30 days, the top five games are KGeN, Alien Worlds, World of Dypians, Pixudi, and Axie Infinity.
Axie Infinity decisively leads in NFT collection rankings in market cap and volume. It has nearly eight times more than its closest competitor, Gods Unchained.
State of Web3 Gaming
While the price of gaming tokens consistently reaches new lows, the Web3 gaming on-chain stats paint a more optimistic picture.
On the contrary, the number of new Web3 games and users consistently reached new highs.
While this could present dilution problems in the future, it is still promising that builders are not hopeless despite the bear market in gaming tokens.
Overall, the on-chain analysis stats show that the sentiment regarding crypto gaming is worse than the reality.
Disclaimer:
The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, financial advice. We do not make any warranties regarding the completeness, reliability, or accuracy of this information. All investments involve risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results. We recommend consulting a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
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