Gaming chains are winning over developers and players

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TON, Immutable, Ronin — the rise of gaming chains is one of the biggest web3 stories of this year. The Open Network, Telegram’s “official web3 infrastructure”, is a good example of this success, enabling in-app engagement and new levels of engagement and rewards. TON makes it easy for builders to build and players to play, as demonstrated by defining games of the year like Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and BANANA. TON, which started the year with just over 4 million chained accounts, will finish the year with more than 120 million accounts.

Answering “why” this happens is a story of three parts. For developers, game chains provide a foundation that bridges the gap between web2 and web3 by offering better tools, smoother onboarding, and more efficient scaling. For players, they benefit from connected ecosystems where their existence, success, and identity are more malleable on the backend. Meanwhile, for the industry, we are getting closer to AI-enhanced experiences and cross-game economies.

The explosive growth of gaming chains isn’t just about better technology; It’s also about enabling the connected gaming experiences that will define web3 for the next year and beyond.

barrier-free building

Game chains have expanded significantly in 2024. In the third quarter, alongside the inevitable success of TON, Immutable’s ecosystem grew to nearly 200 games, and Sky Mavis’ Ronin had a nearly 40% increase in game count. Much of this success is owed to how chains help developers bridge technical gaps. Similar to how Unreal Engine transformed game development with specialized tools, game chains create purpose-built environments where developers can focus on creativity and develop games without compromise.

Native gaming tools handle high-throughput player transactions and complex smart contracts while providing low latency for real-time experiences. This goes a long way in helping developers feel at home and using something familiar with traditional infrastructure. They can focus on what they do best, with fewer technical headaches.

Additionally, the relationship is synergistic. Game chains can also support developers from start to finish. Gas fee discounts for gaming partners are possible, as well as dedicated technical and tokenomic support for games migrating from Web2. Game chain creators can also incubate and invest in specific games, driving adoption and stimulating the growth of the ecosystem by generating excitement. This virtuous cycle helps developers succeed in creating more engaging player experiences.

Game all over the universe

There’s a lot for players to like in this game chain evolution, too. One of the biggest pain points for startups is recruiting. Things like wallets come with technical know-how, and that’s not always an easy hurdle to overcome. Here again, game chains offer a solution by seamlessly introducing players to the ecosystem and invisibly integrating the blockchain.

Telegram has made a splash in gaming this year because it does both of those things extremely well. Many users around the world (depending on regulation) take advantage of automatic wallet linking in their Telegram profiles, allowing them to jump directly into mini-games without even needing to know crypto concepts. Conclusion; big games, extravagant airdrops and hundreds of millions of players.

Game chains also solve an important problem: Blockchain games often exist in isolation. Thanks to shared infrastructure, players can more easily maintain a single identity across multiple games. The Ronin Name Service is a good example, as players create a unique callsign across the Ronin ecosystem and games, wallets, and dApps. Solutions like this help provide value and benefit to the player by creating true digital ownership of the gaming universe without compromising gameplay.

Unlocking new gaming possibilities

When siled game data is unlocked and combined by game threads, the possibilities expand dramatically. The cross-play economies long promised by NFTs have finally become a reality. Whether it is asset trading or currency sharing, experiences deepen when spread across topics. As a result, players’ digital footprints gain value across entire ecosystems rather than individual games.

This unlocked data brings other additional effects, such as richer player experiences. Imagine rewards tailored to cross-game achievements or reputation systems that reflect your full game identity. Game chains form the common infrastructure that makes player data portable and meaningful.

AI then powers these connected experiences. Chain-specific tools can personalize missions based on behavior, create dynamic content that matches player preferences, and empower AI companions that learn from interactions. This makes gaming unique to each player and therefore improves acquisition and retention. The combined data on the backend also gives game makers a better view of what players want and the ability to improve on that. Frankly, when game data flows freely, all sides of the game equation win.

Game chains are here to stay

This breakthrough year for gaming chains is just the beginning. The digital age is defined by data as the “new oil” and gaming chains are unlocking this asset to drive innovation, engagement and smarter decisions. This is a value proposition that is increasingly resonating with all stakeholders; developers get purpose-built infrastructure, gamers benefit from custom experiences, and the industry unlocks new data-driven possibilities.

As we enter 2025, gaming chains are redefining how we build, play and connect. We expect this momentum to continue.

Yukai Tu

Yukai Tu is CARV’s chief technical officer. Tu is an expert in confidential computing and blockchain and holds a master’s degree in computer science from UCLA. Yukai integrates more than 900 gaming and AI companies at CARV, helping build the largest decentralized identity and data layer for gaming, AI, and beyond. He has also worked as a software engineer at Google and Coinbase, contributed to the Cosmos SDK, and worked as a blockchain engineering lead at LINO Network.