Nearly One-Third of Blockchain Games Shut Down in 2023

Out of a total of 1,322 blockchain games tracked by John Jordan’s Big Blockchain Games List, 407 ceased to exist in 2023—approximately 31%.

The majority of games were closed in the first half of the year—248.

The overwhelming majority of applications (112 or 69%) shut down in the second half of the year were still in development. Another 50 were fully launched.

The largest portion of games that ceased to exist during the period supported multiple networks (28 or 17%). Some projects (21 or 13%) did not specify which blockchain their development was based on. BNB Chain and Polygon each accounted for 11%.

Overall for the year, closed multichain games and applications on BNB Chain were at parity—14% each.

The most notable games that ceased operations in 2023 were Blankos Block Party and Goals from Mythical Games. Regarding the former, initially released for PC, the team stated they are working on a transition to mobile platforms.

In 2021, the startup raised $150 million for the development of Blankos Block Party. For the creation of Goals, $15 million was raised in 2022, and nearly $40 million more in 2023. However, developers stated they would no longer integrate blockchain.

The Big Blockchain Games List noted that most discontinued games were “much smaller projects by inexperienced and undercapitalized teams.”

Among official statements about ceasing operations, the most common reasons cited were funding and market conditions. However, most projects made no announcements and were estimated to have closed due to prolonged inactivity.

Experts from Fortune Business Insights predict that the global blockchain gaming market will grow from its current $154.5 billion to $614.9 billion by 2030.

CoinGecko specialists calculated that since the emergence of the GameFi segment five years ago, about 2,127 out of 2,817 projects in this direction have failed.