Having for years chafed against the non-sequitur that “video games are bigger than movies and music combined”, I’m now hypocritically going to argue the news that spending on “video-based content” in the UK was higher than games in 2023 — £4.9 billion versus £4.7 billion — highlights more than just the sector’s struggles since its covid boom.
After all, this is the first time games haven’t generated the most revenue of a media category in the UK since 2012.
Is it existential? I’m not sure but it could be.
Certainly, I think it is demonstrative of a lack of imagination and technological creativity, as well as a lack of willingness to engage with non-core demographics.
Simply put, the current trend is that the aging population of the UK is increasingly happy to spend money watching TV — Netflix, Disney+, Sky etc — than it is buying games and IAPs.
For all the talk of Baldur's Gate 3 et al, the fact is that Candy Crush Saga was released in 2012 and hasn’t been bettered.
Of course, I’m not saying that blockchain is going to solve this particular problem. It’s clearly not a mass market category any time soon, although it will be incredibly lucrative sooner than most people realize.
More significantly, however, the knee-jerk reactions of many gamers and game developers to the introduction of tech ranging from blockchain and AI — and perhaps even VR/AR — is symbolic of a deeply conservative mindset that seems not to be interested in summoning up visions of new ways to interact, play and monetize.
This needs to change in 2024.
You can read a transcript of our conversation about what could happen in the blockchain gaming sector in 2024 at BlockchainGamer.biz.
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Calendar
Line Next launches DOSI mobile on Android — 10th January
MixMob’s public MXM token and NFT sale — 11th January
Nifty Island starts its play-to-airdrop — 21st January
Let’s meet at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2024 — 23nd January
Yuga Labs next demo for Otherside metaverse — TBC February
Funding news
ArenaX Labs, the developer of AI-centric fighting strategy game AI Arena, has announced a $6 million funding round, which was led by Framework Ventures. Other investors included SevenX, FunPlus/Xterio and Moore Strategic Ventures.
ArenaX Labs previously announced a $5 million seed round in October 2021, which was led by Paradigm — which notably didn’t participate in this round — but with participation from Framework.
As is often the case, the narrative around the funding is how AI Arena will educate players in using AI as they “collect, train and battle intelligent, AI-powered characters”. The argument is players will become more engaged and monetized during this process.
The browser-based Super Smash Bros-styled game will be F2P with blockchain described thus: “a web3-enabled version will be available for highly skilled players who can compete to earn rewards”, which seem to involve its NRN token. It will launch on Arbitrum with a beta planned in early 2024.
Pre-registrations are now live here, although you have to log in via Twitter and join its Discord to qualify.
Additional Links
Arbitrum-based gaming L3 XAI has launched its tokens with complaints about airdrop allocation from some NFT holders.
Solana Saga phone owners received another cool airdrop; Saga Monkes NFTs are now up to a floor price of >10 SOL.
OpenSea has launched a new onboarding experience, including the creation of an integrated self-custody wallet, created via email.
Grapes claims 250,000 players during the first two weeks of its Grape Island experience in Roblox.
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