KEYTAKEAWAYS
- The Play-to-Earn trend in Web3 games attracted many gold farming players, boosting Web3 adoption.
- Web3 games face challenges like low quality and unsustainable economic models, impacting continuous popularity.
- Crystal Fun aims to address these challenges with high-quality games, sustainable economic systems, and platform-wide token empowerment.
CONTENT
During the last crypto bull market, the Play-to-Earn trend in Web3 games attracted many ‘gold farming’ players, making it a significant entry point into Web3 gaming, but the GameFi industry also experiences some difficulties it needs to solve.
THE PLAY-TO-EARN CRAZE IN THE LAST BULL MARKET
During the last crypto bull market, the Play-to-Earn trend in Web3 games attracted many ‘gold farming’ players, turning them into Web3 users and making it a significant entry point into Web3.
However, the industry declined as the crypto market entered the bear market. Despite this, mainstream adoption of crypto assets and significant investments have revived hopes for Web3 gaming. Players are eager to participate, hoping to generate gold and gain Web3 dividends continuously.
FROM TRADITIONAL TO WEB3 GAMES: A RENEWED HOPE FOR GOLD FARMING
“World of Warcraft” and “Legend of Mir” demonstrated the value of virtual game assets, remaining popular for 20 years and contributing to a trillion-dollar global gaming market. The gaming industry has long created gold farming opportunities, attracting many participants. However, traditional games have hit a bottleneck, and the gold farming industry has faced intense competition and internal strife, making it difficult for new entrants.
In recent years, the development of traditional games has clearly hit a bottleneck, and the gold farming industry has also entered a “hell mode” for two reasons:
1. Competitive Industry: The intense competition in the gaming industry has forced game companies to seek quick profits, gradually tightening rules (such as restricting transactions), thus reducing the arbitrage space for gold farmers (studios). Both game companies and gold farmers rely on the consumption of paying players, often putting them at odds. As game companies increasingly tighten their grip, the space for gold farmers has shrunk.
2. Intense In-Fighting: The gold farming industry itself has experienced extreme internal competition. Over the years, the number of gold farming studios has surged, with heavy investments in gold farming equipment, employing various methods, making it akin to “Bitcoin mining” and inaccessible to the average person.
Despite the bottlenecks in traditional games, the gold farming opportunities in Web3 games are just beginning. “Axie Infinity” and other “phenomenal” Web3 games that exploded in 2021 reignited hopes for gold farming. Web3 games not only brought new opportunities but also introduced an open economic system where players and companies could win together, rather than being adversaries. With token incentives, user participation skyrocketed. Although Web3 games have certain advantages, they have not maintained continuous popularity.
CHALLENGES FACING WEB3 GAMES
1. Low Quality: Due to the early development stage of Web3 games, startup teams often lacked the strength and resources of traditional game developers. Consequently, their games were often criticized for low quality and lack of playability. Once the novelty wore off, it became difficult to retain players, let alone make them spend money on these games.
2. Unsustainable Ponzi Models: Many Web3 games that lacked playability relied on Ponzi-like schemes for growth. However, this old player cuts new player model was destined to decline. As we saw, when the crypto market went down, many Web3 games disappeared along with the disappearing profits.
WHAT DO TRADITIONAL GAMING GIANTS BRING TO WEB3 GAMING STUDIOS?
With the adoption of crypto assets and improved Web3 infrastructure, traditional gaming giants are exploring and improving Web3 gaming. Crystal Fun Studio, which completed a $5 million seed round, exemplifies this trend:
Who is Crystal Fun?
In February 2024, Crystal Fun announced a $5 million seed round financing. The studio is backed by Century Huatong and Actoz Soft, known for the legendary game “Legend.” The core team includes members from Ubisoft, Gameloft, Glu, Tencent, Shanda Games, and Actoz.
Crystal Fun’s vision includes high-quality games, a sustainable economic system, a multidimensional entertainment platform, and AI empowerment. They have over ten games in development, including major IP works.
Current Developments in Crystal Fun Games
Crystal Fun’s most advanced game is the AAA sci-fi open-world MMO “Outer.” The gameplay involves exploring star systems, engaging in conflicts or cooperation, and participating in interstellar wars. Test data showed impressive retention and interaction rates, highlighting the game’s quality and playability.
Crystal Fun plans to roll out several new features and games, including the elite internal test of “Starfall” and the third test of “Outer,” which will introduce a gold farming model and in-game trading market.
Why Are Crystal Fun Games Worth Attention?
1. Self-Operated High-Quality Games with Traditional Game IPs: Crystal Fun’s games are self-developed and operated, ensuring higher quality control. They benefit from the resources and IPs of traditional gaming giants.
2. Sustainable Economic System Design: Crystal Fun aims to create a sustainable economic model where daily gold farming output can be exchanged directly with stable assets like USDT. This avoids the need for continuous new user influx and promotes long-term economic sustainability.
3. Platform-Wide Token Empowerment: CFUN is the sole token on their platform, used across all games for incentives and governance. The token follows a deflationary model, continuously burning during usage, and aims to empower the entire platform.
CONCLUSION
Both traditional and Web3 games have unique charms. While traditional games may be nearing their end in terms of gold farming opportunities, Web3 games are just beginning. Crystal Fun aims to create high-quality Web3 games with sustained development and popularity. The future likely involves a merger of traditional and Web3 games, with most virtual assets upgrading to crypto assets.
