A new study indicates that a free-to-play mobile game has enormous potential in the expanding Japanese market in terms of Web3.
A study by DappRadar and the Japanese crypto company Pacific Meta shows that Asian gamers are expected to make up the vast majority of the Web3 gaming market.
The study found that Asia already has 55% of the world’s gamers (1.7 billion users) and will probably make up 80% of all Web3 gamers in the future. That’s a huge number, especially when you consider that some countries in the area have already put limits on gaming.
In China, people under the age of 18 can only play games for an hour a day. And in South Korea, blockchain games have been closely looked at and are almost completely banned.
Even though there are legal limits, DappRadar’s report says that Nexon’s Web3 game MapleStory Universe and Square Enix’s upcoming Web3 game Symbiogenesis show that crypto games are becoming popular in the East. Both will also use Polygon, which, according to the study, is the Web3 network that game studios like the most right now.
The study by DappRadar and Pacific Meta also found that fantasy games are the most popular in Asia. These are games like Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star Online, and Genshin Impact.
Significant interest in Web3 gaming exists on the Asian market. WeMade, a Korean game publisher, had one of the largest displays at last month’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.
A representative on-site told that WeMade intends to release its games in Korea without Web3 integrations, and will subsequently release them globally with NFTs and Web3 integrations via its WeMix platform.
“They find it very natural to get into Web3 gaming because in the early days of Web3 gaming, it’s all about rolling, gatcha, having the best characters that you can find, and then [trading] it on the market,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen believes that as Web3 games become increasingly focused on functionality over financials, western and eastern audiences will come to expect similar experiences.
Pacific Meta surveyed more than 1,000 people in Japan as part of its Web3 gaming study and found that 40% of them knew what blockchain games were. Nearly 57% of people who knew about Web3 games said they “seem interesting,” while about 10% said they didn’t seem interesting.
Notably, about 33% said “neither,” which could mean they didn’t know much about Web3 games and hadn’t made up their minds yet.
When asked about the types of blockchain games they would be interested in, 773 out of 1,030 respondents said they would prefer a free-to-play game, and that initial cost was an essential factor for them. 538 individuals requested that the game be compatible with mobile devices. On the list, player earnings, game quality, consoles, and well-known IP scored lower.
What did respondents care the least about? Whether or not the game “has a unique use of blockchain.”
Many Web3 game creators believe that Web3 games can’t prioritize crypto aspects. At least in Japan, gamers may prioritize platform and pricing.
Regardless, this nascent industry has a ways to go before mainstream adoption, despite the fact that major companies such as Razer and FIFA are doubling down on Web3 gaming initiatives.
Content Source: decrypt.com
