GameFi should not just be about "play-to-earn"; what it truly aims to do is drive the game ecosystem with financial mechanisms, allowing "fun" and "profit" to coexist. To survive, it must create genuine games, stable models, and active users. The key is still: having real gameplay, real users, and a real ecosystem. Only in this way can GameFi bridge the gap between games and assets, allowing players' participation to unleash real value in the Web3 world.
After discussing NFTs, let's look at GameFi projects.
What does GameFi do?
GameFi is a combination of "games + finance," which simply means "play-to-earn." It integrates on-chain assets, token economies, and game mechanics, attempting to allow players to gain economic benefits through playing games, turning gaming into an "investment."
At the height of GameFi's popularity, a slew of projects claimed "the longer you play, the more you earn," attracting countless users. However, once the hype faded, most projects fell apart. Where did the problem lie?
1. The games are not fun, and the finance is unsustainable:
Many GameFi projects are essentially not games but "token issuance systems in disguise." You can generate tokens with just a few clicks, and it doesn't matter whether you play or not. Initially, they relied on speculators to prop up the data, but within a few months, players left, token prices crashed, and the projects became worthless. For example, StepN in 2022 and Pixels in 2023 couldn't sustain their popularity beyond a season, lacking any "sustainable" game design.
2. Economic systems are unbalanced, and inflation is out of control:
GameFi needs to issue tokens and encourage players to earn tokens, but it lacks a coherent economic model. Everyone wants to earn, but no one wants to lose; as tokens increase, rewards decrease. This leads to either the project collapsing or a game of hot potato. You will find that many GameFi projects are doomed to be "short-lived" from the moment they launch because they are not economic systems but "token distribution schemes."
3. Users are unstable, and loyalty is extremely low:
Web3 games attract "profit-driven users." They go wherever there are profits; if one game is hot today, everyone plays it; if another game rises tomorrow, they all "migrate." When a project cools down, players immediately cash out and leave. In 2024, the top 50 GameFi projects had a 7-day retention rate of only 12%. So these are not real players but "speculators."
4. Lack of content and insufficient innovation:
Most GameFi projects are just re-skinned Web2 games, with outdated gameplay, rough graphics, and a lack of world-building, storylines, and social systems. Additionally, the on-chain interactions are inherently laggy, resulting in a poor user experience. You could say it's a game, but it lacks content; you could say it's finance, but it lacks a model. Many GameFi projects can't even compete with "mini-games" from Web2.
Now, looking at this GameFi project, what problems does it solve?
You say your game is fun; do you have a complete gameplay logic? Is there continuously generated content? Can "playing" itself retain users?
You say your economic model is stable; how do you control inflation and maintain incentives? Are there "consumption scenarios" to balance output?
You say your users are loyal; what is your user retention mechanism? Is there a reason for players to want to stay? Is there a social system or a guild system?
Ultimately, we must return to three points:
- Is your game fun? Can it retain users better than existing GameFi projects?
- Do you have innovations in mechanisms or technology? For example, on-chain equipment systems, on-chain task systems, or on-chain storyline generation?
- Are there real players playing? Are there real assets being traded? Rather than just the old routine of "ranking, speculation, and cutting newcomers"?
GameFi should not just be about "play-to-earn"; what it truly aims to do is drive the game ecosystem with financial mechanisms, allowing "fun" and "profit" to coexist. To survive, it must create genuine games, stable models, and active users. The key is still: having real gameplay, real users, and a real ecosystem. Only in this way can GameFi bridge the gap between games and assets, allowing players' participation to unleash real value in the Web3 world.
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