Whilst 2022 saw swathes of talent enter the industry, 2023 was the year that we saw the first wave of truly impressive web3 games make their mark.
Alphas, Betas, full releases – this year was chock-full of the lot, with all the top genres covered.
Here’s our picks for the top 5 web3 games of 2023.
#5 Dookey Dash
Short-lived? Yes. Big impact? Most definitely.
Debuting on January 18 and lasting until February 8, Dookey Dash kicked-off 2023 with Yuga Labs first foray into ‘skill-based minting’. Players competed for the highest score in a casual endless runner, with the top prize being a fabled one-of-one Golden Key NFT. This prize was claimed by Twitch streamer Mongraal, who subsequently sold it for 1,000 ETH ($1.6mil).
It may have been a flash in the pan, and the Sewer Pass NFT requirement to play (roughly $3,000 at the time) meant access was heavily limited, but its sheer historical significance for web3 gaming cannot be denied.
#4 Gods Unchained
The lead title from Immutable Games, web3 TCG Gods Unchained has had a huge year.
In June 2023, the IMX-based title became arguably the largest web3 game to date to make its debut on the Epic Games Store, following that up by partnering with Amazon earlier this month to distribute card packs via their Prime Gaming service, reaching hundreds of millions of gamers worldwide.
On top of these big-name partnerships, the Gods Unchained team has pushed multiple big updates this year. The game’s 6th and 7th expansions were released in March and October 2023 respectively, two new game modes – Chaos Constructed and Sealed – arrived over the summer, and substantial progress has been made towards the iOS and Android releases.
Despite a minor blip following their AO rating from the ESRB, Gods Unchained has seen continued popularity throughout the year, and the team is positioned well to continue growing in 2024.
#3 Worldwide Webb
When I introduced Thomas Webb – founder of free-to-play browser-based 16-bit MMO Worldwide Webb – to the stage at NFT London 2022, I couldn’t have quite imagined the 12 months that would follow.
Announcing a $10 million Series A round in February 2023, the team immediately began to show results with the concurrent success of competitive MOBA minigame Blockbusterz, followed by their much-anticipated Dungeon playtest in October.
The team also picked up two key ex-AAA hires, bolstering their roster in preparation for an even bigger 2024.
Thomas Webb has stated that he and his team are looking to redefine the gaming industry with Worldwide Webb. These past 12 months have showed that’s a goal they might just be able to achieve.
#2 Pixels
Browser-based casual MMO Pixels had been having an impressive year, but the announcement of and subsequent migration to Ronin, finalised in October 2023, took things to a whole new level.
In just three short months, the already-popular title has exploded in popularity, breaking 100,000 daily players in November and helping drive Ronin to over 250,000 daily users and 1.1mil monthly users this December.
Phase 2 of the Mocaverse x Pixels Odyssey Activation went live last week, with $80,000 USD in prizes over the coming weeks.
Pixels is by far and away the most popular game in web3 right now, and as their partnership with Animoca Brands deepens, the game continues to soar as we enter 2024.
#1 MetalCore
I first spoke to Studio 369, the developers of open-world MMOFPS MetalCore, back at NFT.NYC 2022. One year later at the same event, I got to try the game for the first time, and my reaction was akin to many others who have had the privilege to play the game so far – MetalCore is on a whole other level.
The sheer size and scale of what the team behind MetalCore are trying to achieve would be a mammoth task for even the most seasoned of AAA developers. After several years of development, and a migration to Immutable in March 2023, the game has seen impressive growth across its multiple playtests, with headline appearances at GDC and Gamescom, a $16,000 USD tournament, and a listing on the Epic Games Store to boot.
MetalCore takes the high-octane action of titles such as PlanetSide, Battlefield and Halo, and injects it with web3 tech to create a must-play experience for both tried-and-tested gamers and die-hard web3 fans. We’re looking forward to seeing what the team can continue to deliver in the year ahead.
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The real winners are all of us: the web3 gaming community. There’s never been more variety, more fun or more excitement to be had in the blockchain gaming space as there is right now – and there looks to be plenty more to come in 2024.
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COO of NFT Plazas. Bullish on web3. Competitive soul.
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