April GameFi Report: The market is recovering, and user growth shows potential

By: daniel@footprint.network

Data source: Footprint GameFi Research

In April, the cryptocurrency market continued its spring recovery trend, with the price of Bitcoin reaching an 11-month high. The GameFi industry is also showing signs of life. Although there are no outstanding fluctuations, data indicators such as financing rounds and active users have rebounded.

Although there is no huge financing like CCP Games last month, the high-profile Web3 karate fighting game-Karate Combat raised $18 million to launch the Karate Combat "Up Only Gaming" application on the Ethereum and Hedera networks. The KARATE token will be launched soon. Does this mean that ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) are back in fashion?

The data for this report comes from Footprint Analytics' GameFi Research page. This page provides an easy-to-use dashboard that includes the most important data indicators to understand the GameFi industry, and is updated in real time. You can find the latest information on GameFi related prices, individual projects, funding rounds and more by clicking here.

Key Findings

GameFi Market Overview

• Bitcoin held above support at $27,000 and hit an 11-month high of $30,506.
• 51 new GameFi projects launched in April.
• From the beginning of the month, the average daily transaction volume showed a downward trend, and finally reached a monthly low of 19.3 million on April 23.
• Monthly transaction volume fell 8.2 percent.

GameFi User Analysis

• GameFi's user acquisition and retention performance was strong in April. On April 26, the average daily active users jumped to 1.49 million, a growth rate of 72.4%.

GameFi public chain data

• The distribution of the project's active public chains remains basically unchanged.
• BNB has the most new games with the number reaching 20.
• Among the transaction volume, the BNB chain occupies 54% of the market.

GameFi Project Overview

*Items with the largest price increases this month (excluding inactive games or very small items) include League of Ancients, NFT Worlds, and Cryptokittes.

• Crabada, which once had great potential, saw the biggest decline, with the token value falling by more than 60%.

Overview of GameFi Investment and Financing

• There were 12 GameFi-related funding rounds in April, totaling $45 million, a decrease from previous rounds.
• Web3 karate fighting game Karate Combat raises $18 million.
• The chain game RACA completed a financing of 16 million US dollars.

GameFi Market Overview

Bitcoin price holds above $27,000 support and hits 11-month high of $30,506

For most of April, the market cap of the GameFi token was closely correlated with Bitcoin, but in the second half of the month (April 15th to May 1st) GameFi's market cap fell more sharply.

In the second half of the month, Bitcoin’s market capitalization fell by 7.2%, while the GameFi token fell by 15.5%. This discrepancy suggests that GameFi projects are riskier in nature and more susceptible to fluctuations in funding during market downturns. GameFi tokens are particularly vulnerable as investors tend to flee risky assets during times of economic uncertainty. But this downturn also presents potential opportunities for those willing to take extra risk.

Although the GameFi market has experienced a significant decline, it also reminds investors to maintain a balanced investment portfolio, diversify investment choices, and pay attention to managing potential risks.

51 New GameFi Projects Launched in April

In April, 51 new GameFi projects were added, 10 more than in March, but still short of February's staggering 107. Meanwhile, the number of active games hit an all-time high of 1,040 in April. Over the past few months, the indicator has generally shown an upward trend, but there have also been some small monthly fluctuations.

From the beginning of the month, the average daily transaction volume showed a downward trend, and finally reached a monthly low of 19.3 million on April 23.

The overall monthly transaction volume in April was down 8.2% compared to March.

Through the previous analysis of the monthly data, we can see that the market value of both Bitcoin and GameFi tokens has declined, and the decline in the market value of GameFi tokens is significantly higher than that of Bitcoin. This suggests that the decrease in user activity has resulted in less frequent transactions by active users, which in turn leads to a reduction in the overall transaction volume. Possible reasons include reduced user stickiness or reduced in-game trading opportunities.

Although the transaction data in April has declined, the decline is not serious, and the long-term fundamentals of the industry are not expected to be significantly affected.

GameFi User Analysis

GameFi's user numbers saw some fluctuations in April, but the overall trend remains positive.

GameFi's user acquisition and retention performance was stellar in April. On April 26, the average daily active users jumped to 1.49 million, a growth rate of 72.4%.

Although the number of average daily active users fell to 1.01 million on April 30, it was still higher than the level at the beginning of the month, indicating that the surge in active users on April 26 was not a one-time event, but that new users were highly retained to a certain extent . This increase is a positive sign for GameFi projects.

GameFi public chain data

The distribution of active public chains of projects remains basically unchanged.

Wax, BNB, Polygon, Ethereum, and Solana have 84, 78, 73, 23, and 12 active games, respectively.

BNB has the most new games with the number reaching 20.

In April, BNB performed well in the GameFi space, making it a potential leader in the space. Its strong openness, low Gas Fee and strong liquidity support make it an ideal choice for game project development.

Polygon also performed well in April, with the second-highest number of active games at 11.

Among the transaction volume, the BNB chain occupies 54% of the market.

But at the same time, Solana’s transaction volume only accounted for 1.2% of the total transaction volume.

GameFi Project Overview

Items with the largest price increases this month (excluding inactive games or very small items) include League of Ancients, NFT Worlds, and Cryptokittes.

Crabada, which once had great potential, saw the biggest decline, with the token value falling by more than 60%.

A drop in the token’s price suggests that the project may be experiencing problems, or falling short of market expectations. A sharp drop in token prices may have a negative impact on the project, reduce community confidence, and affect subsequent fundraising and development.

And a year ago, the crab-themed fighting game was one of the largest and most active GameFi projects on Avalanche.

Overview of GameFi Investment and Financing

There were 12 GameFi-related funding rounds in April, totaling $45 million.

The number of funding rounds was up from five in March, but fell short of last month's $77 million total (in March, Icelandic developer CCP Games closed a whopping $40 million round).

Web3 karate fighting game Karate Combat raised $18M, the largest amount in April, to launch the Karate Combat "Up Only Gaming" app and the KARATE token.

Chain game RACA also completed a financing of 16 million US dollars.