In this article, we will discuss:
Growth fueled by low rates
Polygon has been enjoying a moment lately, with a slew of new DeFi dapps hitting the network weekly. These dapps are not only attracting an audience, but also generating considerable value for the network. But a quieter trend is emerging in Polygon, as blockchain games that rely on users performing costly transactions find a new home. One in which the cost to the user is greatly reduced.
In the last 30 days, Neon District, Brave Frontier Heroes and My Crypto Saga have accumulated over 3.000 active wallets. Neon District takes the biggest share with over 2.1k unique active wallets. While the BFH attracted 740 wallets. Now, while these numbers aren't large signaling 'mass adoption', they are much higher than the activity we see on their Ethereum counterparts. Brave Frontier Heroes is almost dead on the Ethereum network with only 120 unique active wallets in the last 30 days. The reason these games were successful on Polygon is pretty clear – gas fees.
gas drinkers
We recently reported how the Axie Infinity is enjoying one of its best periods of growth as it launches on its own custom Ronin network, where transaction costs are greatly reduced. In a game where users continually need to complete small but essential transactions, gas fees were an issue. Especially when gas peaked at $65 earlier this year, practically putting gaming out of business. blockchain dead on Ethereum. Imagine having to pay $50 to withdraw $20, for example – you wouldn't do that. However, it's worth noting that gas fees have now normalized to around $3 per transaction, which is still high for a gaming transaction. Additionally, the imminent arrival of Ethereum 2.0 could see gas fees disappear altogether.
polygon games
To combat gas fees, Brave Frontier Heroes recently transitioned, while Neon District has been running on Polygon since early 2021. Presumably because on Polygon the same user transactions will cost a fraction of the value and make games much more ' playable'. As a result, they're getting some success, as users apparently enjoyed playing the game but didn't pay the fees.
Brave Frontier Heroes can be considered a veteran in the blockchain gaming space, having been released in December 2019. The game is actually a crossover of the mobile game Brave Frontier and My Crypto Heroes and has maintained a small but dedicated following. While Neon District finally released some playable modes in early 2021. After being constantly teased throughout 2020 and suffering from various setbacks. Including their first choice launch pad, Loom, announcing that they will focus on commercial projects. Only then to disappear.
My Crypto Saga stands out in this group as a title that was deliberately released on Polygon. The game's premise is quite simple. Collect cards, level up and fight other players in real time. Early signs look positive as the game has attracted over 300 active portfolios in the past 30 days, which generated over $22.000. As mentioned earlier, not mega numbers, but certainly respectable in the blockchain gaming world right now.
Polygon keeps giving
The Polygon DeFi category on DappRadar has received a lot of attention lately, as several dapps have quickly gained prominence and continue to innovate in the industry. Arguably, one of the main driving forces behind this move was the high gas rates in Ethereum dapps. The other was simply the sheer volume of new dapps arriving to attract users.
Now, it looks like this movement is spreading to the gaming category as well. For games, it makes even more sense to offer users low-cost transactions. Over the past few weeks, we've seen a variety of game projects adopt Polygon for their future products.
For example, PlayDapp will use Polygon for its next Roblox game, while Animoca will release a new racing game this summer. In addition, the high-level MMORPG Ember Sword also fits into Polygon, as does the pet battle game Ethermon.