BEIJING, CN – Web3 gaming is taking Asia by storm. A recent collaborative survey by DappRadar and Pacific Meta, a Japanese crypto firm, shows that web3 gaming is increasing in Asia. DappRadar and Pacific Meta surveyed 1,030 people, predominantly from China, Japan, and South Korea. The study found a 

Web3 gaming in Asia

Asia has a massive web3 gaming market, with 1.7 billion gamers generating $72 billion annually. The continent accounts for 52% of all users worldwide and is on pace to grow to 80% in the next few years, dominating the web3 gaming market. 

Although interest in blockchain technology in Asia is particularly high, it has limitations. In China, where cryptocurrencies are banned, game companies cannot incorporate blockchain technology, cutting out a major part of the Asian market. However, game companies in Japan and South Korea, where crypto is not banned, are leading the adoption of the blockchain into gaming. 

The study also found that Polygon is the most-preferred network for web3 gaming studios to build on. Of the gaming studios surveyed, 30.8% are built on Polygon, followed by Ethereum at 9.2%.

Within the continent, China, Korea, and Japan dominate the industry, with 62 of the top 100 gaming companies in the world by market capitalization hailing from these three countries. While large platform companies like Tencent dominate the gaming industry in China, developers and publishers that produce their own games are leading the markets in Japan and South Korea.

Massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) MapleStory Universe and Symbiogenesis are two examples of the rising popularity of blockchain games in the East because of the in-game distribution of digital assets in high demand. 

Role-playing games (RPG), such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, were Asia's most popular web3 gaming genre. This is unsurprising, as RPGs dominated the Asian gaming market throughout the 1980s and 1990s. RPGs are also more suitable to blockchain gaming as the gameplay is naturally conducive to exchanging assets, making them an ideal fit in an open-world metaverse.

Rising trends

1. Implementation of DAOs: Establishing a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in a gaming environment has increased. DAOs add a new layer to the gaming experience by bringing the player and the game developer together to design and improve the game. 

2. Shifting from web2 to web3: Web2 gaming companies are expanding into blockchain technology. Sony has applied for a patent on an NFT-related technology aimed at standardizing digital infrastructure for gamers. Bandai Namco launched a network of games with the popular Gundam franchise.

3. Anime leads NFT collections: In Japan, anime-themed digital art has cornered 10.73% in trading volume in the top 1,000 NFT collections. The average sale of an anime NFT is $511.12. The average trading volume for one collection is over $1.3 million, implying that owners are more interested in collecting NFTs than flipping them for profit.

4. Discovering new games: Among 500 respondents, social media is the most popular medium for gamers to find new games. The top three social media platforms are Twitter, YouTube, and Discord.

Insights for developers

The insights from DappRadar and Pacific Meta can provide web3 gaming companies valuable insight for game development and marketing strategies. With the market growing at an unprecedented pace, there is no better time than the present for web3 gaming companies to capitalize on the Asian market.