This is a summary of the op-ed ”Why We’re (Still) Investing in Web3 Gaming” by Leah Callon-Butler and Nathan Smale, published on CoinDesk on July 10, 2024.
Although Web3 gaming tokens dropped by 37% in 2024, Emfarsis directors Leah Callon-Butler and Nathan Smale saw this as the perfect opportunity to invest. Having discovered blockchain technology in 2016, the duo believed that it was capable of empowering marginal groups and redistributing wealth fairly and transparently. By the following year, they went all-in on Web3, joining a crypto payments startup with the goal of leveling the playing field for business operators.
After spending years evangelizing blockchain’s potential for revolutionizing the payments industry, Leah and Nathan learned of its best use case while living in the Philippines: Web3 gaming. They watched as millions of Filipinos were onboarded to Web3 through Axie Infinity, despite UX and onramp/offramp issues crypto was known for.
“Even when the DAU is low and the token prices are down, gaming is one of the few corners of Web3 where you can find real, genuinely active, thoroughly engaged crypto users.”
During the peak of Axie’s popularity in 2021, most players of the game came from emerging markets like Southeast Asia, Latin America, India, and Africa. It proved that Web3 gaming held massive potential for bringing new demographics into the decentralized digital economy. Although the numbers may not be the same today, developers of fully onchain games (FOCG) and community modders continue to experiment, unlocking unbridled entrepreneurial creativity only possible in Web3.
With over 1,000 playable Web3 games and counting in the ecosystem, Emfarsis sees an industry that’s consistently building, finding original ideas, and driving growth across the sector. Despite low token prices and DAU, they believe that Web3 gaming remains the best use case ever seen for blockchain.
Read the full article here: ”Why We’re (Still) Investing in Web3 Gaming” by Leah Callon-Butler. Published July 10, 2024, on CoinDesk.