Gaming is amassing more fans than the movies and music industry combined.
In the new realm of Web3, blockchain unlocks a new way to make money from hobbies. People earn cryptos thorough play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained and The Sandbox. Gaming enthusiasts participate in the creator economy by monetizing from Twitch livestreams playing Call of Duty & CS:GO.
Let’s unpack the future of Web3 gaming and esports!
Section 1: Key Market Trends
(1) Esports memorabilia is going crypto-driven:
- Companies are using blockchain to turn esports moments, players' personalities, and video highlights into NFT collectibles. Fans can buy, sell, and trade these NFT cards, unlock access to limited edition merchandise, participate in a competition and earn rewards.
- Ikonic allows esports fans to create highlights, mint into NFTs, and earn from in-game moments.
- Kolex cards are a series of streamers, teams, players, and events from esports and gaming
- WePlay Collectibles is a platform for buying esports NFT collectibles, including digital and physical memorabilia, rewards related to tournaments, and artwork.
- Epics launched hybrid trading cards that consist of physical and digital NFT twins.
(2) APAC, the biggest esports market:
- The Asian gaming market made up 57% of the global esports revenue ($1.1 billion). China, Japan, and South Korea have over 1 billion gamers. India is following suit, with 373 million players in 2022. Asia also has the strongest esports viewership growth, up by 21% from 2019 to 2020.
- Gaming powerhouse, Tencent has poured money into League of Legends by Riot Games ($400 million), Epic Games ($330 million), Versus Programming Network ($100 million), and Clash of Clan by Supercell (84.3% major shares).
- TikTok’s owner, ByteDance recently invested US$15 million in Reworld. The company also bought Mobile Legends by Moonton for $4 billion.
(3) Southeast Asia’s esports are booming:
- Southeast Asia alone made $4.4 billion in gaming revenue in 2019, at 16% YoY growth rate. Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore are the major gaming markets. More than 80% of the players are mobile gamers. PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is the most regularly watched esports.
- Singapore-based Ampverse is following Axie Infinity’s play-to-earn business model. The company recently raised $12 million in Series A from Falcon Capital.