How GameFi Discovery Platforms Will Make Blockchain Gaming Mainstream

Ever since GameFi became wildly popular, investors and gamers alike have wondered when the eventual mass adoption of Web3 games will happen. But an often overlooked factor in enabling mass adoption of GameFi is gaming platforms.

Blockchain gaming has grown significantly over the years. In just one year, Blockchain gaming users have increased by 2000% from 2021, leaving the NFT and DeFi markets in the dust of pure users. Despite its success so far, it’s no secret that the ultimate goal of the GameFi space is the encapsulation of the entire gaming industry. In other words – mass adoption.

The game allegedly allowed users to earn as much, if not more, than third-world players earn in their lifetime. This has even prompted some users to quit their day jobs in hopes of pursuing Axie Infinity full-time. The financial incentives combined with pleasant game mechanics were an important factor in the increase of users.

Web3 games arguably went mainstream, almost achieving the dream of mass adoption, during the Axie Infinity craze. The iconic Play-to-earn game gained almost as many as 2 million daily active users in 2021, whose main player base was from Southeast Asian countries.

Apart from Axie, several other blockchain games also provided various enticing opportunities for players who want to earn, such as virtual land ownership (The Sandbox, Decentraland) and pursuing fitness goals (StepN). But so far, despite all efforts, the industry has yet to touch the hearts of all 3.24 billion players in the traditional gaming industry.

But what is an ignored indispensable application that will help make it mainstream is Web3 gaming platforms. In the traditional industry, applications such as e.g Steam and Epic games plays a crucial role in offering the games to traditional players. The average player is 35 years old, probably busy with jobs and other matters. Gaming platforms make it easier for gamers to search for new games and revisit old video games.

Currently, there are many blockchain games, each with its own website, social media and community. The current status quo for Web3 players is that they have to individually search the blockchain or website to know more about the game. As of now, it is difficult for blockchain players to easily search for games.

Game discovery applications make it much easier for the layperson to search and find out what game they want to play. The moment Steam users open the application, they are immediately greeted with a plethora of games to choose from, optimized according to the user’s preferences. It also includes sales of upcoming hot games and wishlist notifications to their friends. Web3 game applications can learn so much.

Imagine that there are about 3 billion players in total. So far only 3% of these are in crypto and blockchain. Blockchain gaming, despite its popularity, still hasn’t reached at least a fraction of the entire gaming population.

Through game discovery applications, gamers of both crypto and non-crypto will simply go to a one-stop-shop application to look for all their GameFi needs. This concept is not exactly revolutionary, as it already exists on non-crypto games. But there are certain developers in the GameFi space who want to build their own versions of Steam.

If this continues, it may only be a matter of time before Blockchain gaming finally becomes mainstream.