Key takeaways:
- NFT games generated $2.32 billion in sales between July and September
- The NFT gaming sector now accounts for over a fifth of all NFT trading volume
- Axie Infinity ecosystem accounted for the largest share of NFT sales, Splinterlans saw the biggest rise in the number of players
According to the recently published report by Blockchain Gaming Alliance (BGA), non-fungible token (NFT) games produced $2.32 billion in revenue in the third quarter of this year, accounting for 22% of all NFT trading volume during the quarter.
In-game NFT collectibles generated over $2.3 billion in sales
The report by the BGA shows a considerable increase in the popularity of blockchain games between July and September and provides several interesting tidbits about the rapidly growing sector.
Sales of unique digital collectibles surpassed $2.3 billion during the quarter, while the number of crypto wallets used for gaming-related transactions grew from roughly 29,500 at the beginning of 2021 to 754,000 by the end of the third quarter – a massive 2,450% increase.
The three search queries pertaining to crypto gaming saw a big uptick in the third quarter. Image source: BGA, Google Trends
BGA reports that Axie Infinity (AXS) accounted for the largest share of gaming NFT trading volume in the first half of 2021 and surpassed the trading volume of leading NFT marketplaces NBA Top Shot and CryptoPunks in September, with more than $2.5 billion in sales.
Judging by the number of associated crypto wallets, Alien Worlds, Axie Infinity, Splinterlands, CryptoMines, and Bomb Crypto were the top five most played games this year. It is worth noting that Splinterlands (SPS) saw a meteoric rise in the number of players, recording a roughly 3,260% increase in the amount of unique active wallets between the start of July and the end of September.
The data for the report was collected from the blockchain analytics firm DappRadar, and from more than 200 professionals working on 118 different blockchain gaming projects.
The popularity of blockchain gaming is evident when taking a look at the best performing digital assets of 2021 – 3 out of the 10 largest gainers, GALA, AXS, and SAND belong to the nascent gaming sector.
