Gaming dapps on Polygon had a stellar performance in April
Gaming has long been one of the most significant sectors bringing activity to the Polygon blockchain. Impressively, in April 2022, many of the gaming dapps on the chain saw tremendous growth and attracted thousands of new users. However, the question remains whether Polygon will manage to outperform big industry players like BNB Chain, and the new wave of custom gaming blockchains popping up.
Summary:
Polygon games on the rise
Polygon has a long-standing history as one of the preferred blockchains for game developers, thanks to its fast processing speeds and virtually non-existent transaction fees. In April, the chain’s popularity has gone even further, as gaming dapps attracted thousands of unique active wallets. Let’s look at some examples.
Sunflower Land users increase 9,258% in 30 days
Sunflower Land launched its official Beta version and opened up access for players outside its Discord community. This resulted in a massive spike in activity, and the platform attracted over 153.000 unique active wallets in the past thirty days. That’s a 9,258% increase compared to the closed Beta audience Sunflower Lands had in March.
Snook attracts thousands of new players
Snake-like game Snook has seen tremendous growth in the past thirty days, attracting over 6,000 unique active wallets. The game launched on Polygon in October last year, and it is now finding traction among the top performers on the chain. Snook saw a 1,998% increase in player wallets connected to the platform compared to March.
Polygon-favorite Aavegotchi continues its winning streak
March was a big month for Aavegotchi, thanks to the launch of the game’s virtual world Gotchiverse. It seems the platform is reaping the rewards throughout April, as it attracted over 70,000 unique active wallets. That’s an impressive 1,928% spike compared to the previous thirty-day period.
While the dapps mentioned above show the most impressive spikes, the green upwards trend is clear for a large number of games on Polygon. Pegaxy boosted its user base by 28%, Arc8 launched a new season and saw a spike of 39%, and Phantom Galaxies Origin attracted 183% more unique active wallets.
Overall, April was a success in the blockchain gaming space on Polygon. Despite the significant increase in popularity for several gaming dapps on the chain, Polygon still struggles to keep up with the big guns, namely BNB Chain, Wax, and Hive.
Top 5 gaming dapps tell a different story
BNB Chain, formerly Binance Smart Chain, has been the home of some of the most successful gaming dapps in the industry. Thanks to its established name and wide reach, BNB Chain has attracted developers and GameFi enthusiasts alike.
Alien Worlds is a clear winner when it comes to the most played gaming dapps in the past thirty days. The game initially launched on Wax; however, it recently introduced a BNB Chain integration helping it reach even more players. Hence, it is no surprise that Alien Worlds tops the DappRadar Games Rankings, with over 900,000 unique active wallets registered in the past month.
Blockchains like Wax and Hive also have a long-standing spot at the forefront of blockchain gaming. Hives’ Splinterlands ranks second with over half a million unique active wallets in the past month.
The interesting contrast here is the stark absence of Polygon-based dapps. Despite the tremendously successful April, the only Polygon game that makes it to the top 5 is Pegaxy. Top performers Aavegtochi and Snook are not even present in the top 10, while Sunflower Lands manages to scrape the ninth place.
A reasonable explanation for this discrepancy can be found in the relatively nascent status of gaming dapps on Polygon. BNB Chain, Hive, and Wax have hosted blockchain games for years now. Polygon, on the other hand, is off to a great start, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see many more Polygon gaming dapps make it to the top of the charts. One obstacle, however, might be the new concept of game-specific chains.
Are custom chains the next big thing?
Аll-purpose chains like Ethereum and BNB Chain have dominated the blockchain space from the start. Rising stars like Polygon are bringing in improvements and better output. However, there is a new kid on the block in the gaming space: the game-specific blockchain.
Successful game-centric chains are already pushing ahead. Take Ronin, for example. The Axie Infinity-focused chain now hosts everything related to in-game and off-game transactions, purchases, and the game economy as a whole. What’s more, the blockchain hosts all in-game on-chain activity as well. Despite some challenges and misfortunate weeks, Ronin has established itself as the first game-specific blockchain to gain global recognition. After all, Axie Infinity attracted over 90,000 unique active wallets in the past 30 days. Sky Mavis, Axie Infinity’s creator, has major plans for the chain, and its potential is virtually limitless.
Another impressive example of a game-specific chain is the recently introduced DFK Chain. It extends the already existing DeFi Kingdoms infrastructure on Harmony and Avalanche. DFK Chain is an EVM-compatible blockchain that hosts the game’s Crystalvale expansion. Supported by Avalanche subnets, DFK Chain is DeFi Kingdoms’ path to exponential growth.
Other big names in the blockchain gaming space are also exploring custom chains for their projects. Gala Games, for example, presented Project Gyri in February this year and is now actively working on it. In April, the gaming studio released the first alpha game to run on the custom blockchain.
Game-specific blockchains are still a very new aspect of the gaming dapp space. Yet more and more big names are dipping their toes into this untapped well of potential. While established names like Ethereum and BNB Chain and rising stars like Polygon are still the preferred choice, projects with enough backing and resources are already taking the custom-chain path.
DappRadar will continue monitoring the blockchain gaming space as new dapps and new chains rise to the top. If you want to get a more in-depth look at the data, check out DappRadar PRO. A PRO membership gives you access to daily and hourly activity breakdowns for dapps and NFT collections. Additionally, you can follow DappRadar on Twitter to get the latest blockchain gaming news first.
