Top 5 Blockchain Gaming Companies – Biggest Movers in 2021
Blockchain gaming, crypto-gaming, play2earn and everything around this niche of gaming are still relatively new concepts. The intersection between crypto and thus blockchain technology and gaming was more or less an inevitability, and now that it’s here, it’s rapidly rising in popularity. There are plenty of existing and aspiring blockchain gaming companies, and hundreds if not thousands of upcoming projects – it can be easy to lose track of who’s who and what’s what.
That’s why we assembled a list of some of our favourite blockchain gaming companies – promising upcoming as well as established gaming companies that either have or will make a huge impact on the blockchain gaming scene. If you are wise, you should definitely keep track on these new heavy hitters.
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5. Decentraland
Decentraland is behind the synonymous online gaming platform – announced in 2017, it hosts a plethora of unique projects. Users can buy, sell, trade and use virtual land in the form of crypto tokens, and then decorate and present that land however they want. People have used it for online stores, art galleries, and virtual hangout spots.
Beyond that, Decentraland offers an avatar system, its own collectibles, and further tools to let users make their space their own. In fact, Decentraland is aiming to one day become a proper Metaverse – a collective shared virtual space where physical reality and virtual space connect and overlap. Similar projects include CryptoVoxels and Somnium Space, all of which are land-based crypto-gaming platforms.
4. Mythical Games
Mythical Games is another huge blockchain gaming company, specifically, the one responsible for the Blankos Block Party game that was released in 2020. Unlike quite a lot of different projects, they didn’t launch pre-sale tokens, or otherwise release proof of concepts or alpha versions of the game. That sort of community-based development approach is very common with small indie projects in the crypto-gaming space – and yet Mythical Games went a different way.
They released their game when it was complete, and they also took a different approach to marketing their game – rather than focusing on the blockchain aspect of it, they instead tried to emphasise the player-led economies that feature in the game. That alone makes them worthy of a spot on this list!
3. OpenSea
While OpenSea isn’t a gaming company in the sense that it has made a game, it is one of the central elements of the current blockchain gaming world. OpenSea is an NFT trading platform – users buy, sell, and auction off their tokens on OpenSea. These tokens are then used in actual blockchain games such as Axie Infinity or Decentraland, for example. Despite not having a game of their own, OpenSea is essential as a trading platform for blockchain gaming fans.
In addition to allowing users to buy and sell gaming NFTs, OpenSea also allows users to also trade other types of NFTs – such as collectibles, art content and more. Sales on the platform have exceeded billions of dollars, with NFTs selling for incredible amounts every day.
2. Sky Mavis
Sky Mavis, the company behind Axie Infinity is perhaps the most important blockchain gaming company in the space right now. Not only was it one of the first successful ones, it has so far withstood the test of time, and has seen huge numbers of players consistently for quite some time.
Axie Infinity is featured prominently in our Top 5 NFT Games list. Like other NFT-based games, the NFTs called Axies that are used to play, can be sold or traded on OpenSea – and users can also breed new ones, and then sell them to others.
Axie Infinity is practically synonymous with the Play2Earn concept – in crypto-gaming, earning money by playing a game is a real possibility. For many, especially in 3rd world countries, it’s actually a surprisingly lucrative method of earning money, whereas in the West, users usually just make some pocket change on the side, to bolster their investment.
1. Dapper Labs
This dev studio is closely related to the launch of the overall blockchain gaming trend – back in 2017, they released CryptoKitties, famously the first successful Play2Earn title featuring NFTs and crypto-related gameplay. While the game itself has died down in popularity, Dapper Labs has continued to create more content, including Cheeze Wizards.
Without Dapper Labs there likely wouldn’t be a blockchain gaming economy the way we have it now – or at least, it would look quite different. This will forever cement Dapper Labs as a cornerstone of crypto-gaming history – and of course it’s more than enough to deserve the top spot on this list!
“The industry is experiencing the rise of blockchain-powered gaming. In H1’21, crypto gaming companies closed 24 deals (vs. 12 deals closed in 2020FY) with a total value exceeding $476m — 75% of the total raised sum comes from 3 funding rounds: Forte ($185m), Animoca Brands ($89m), and Mythical Games ($75m).“ – Investgame Gaming Deals Activity Report H1’2021
Blockchain Gaming Companies Worth Watching
While these projects aren’t yet as influential in the blockchain gaming space as the companies on our list, they are still promising to provide something unique and interesting to the existing crypto-gaming space. Check them out!
Voxie Tactics
Voxie Tactics is a still in development RPG-type game based on Ethereum and NFTs. Users can buy Voxies and then use the unique characters like RPG characters – there are classes, stats, pets and more. What makes them unique is their community-focused approach. Where games like Axie require a significant investment in order to get started, you can play Voxie Tactics for free – owning Voxies simply makes the game more enjoyable and more customizable of an experience.
The game itself has been in development for years, and despite not being out yet, the associated Voxie NFTs have been steadily increasing in price, while also fostering an active and surprisingly non-toxic community.
Animoca Brands
A list cannot be complete without mentioning one of the biggest movers in the blockchain gaming sphere. Animoca Brands is both a developer and publisher of various blockchain games, while also serving as an investor in more then half of the companies on this list. What puts them on this list is their unwavering commitment to fully immerse and support most promsing up and coming blockchain gaming companies on the market.
