Why loyalty is becoming web3 gaming’s next essential layer

The pursuing is simply a impermanent station and sentiment of Neil Mullins, CEO astatine Mojito 

Web3 gaming is increasing rapidly, but loyalty systems haven’t kept pace. In the past year, blockchain gaming didn’t conscionable grow: it leveled up.

According to the 2024 DappRadar Games Report, the abstraction deed 7.4 cardinal regular progressive wallets and added implicit 1,600 caller games. Total gaming enactment astir quintupled compared to the extremity of 2023 arsenic caller users, ecosystems, and experiments poured in.

But maturation is lone fractional the story. Retention and assemblage engagement stay a grind. Many games are stuck with loyalty systems that consciousness bolted connected oregon are missing entirely. As gaming becomes much cross-platform, social, and community-driven, loyalty needs to drawback up—fast.

A caller question of Web3-native loyalty programs suggests that alteration is yet arriving.

What Traditional Loyalty Gets Wrong

In gaming ecosystems today, loyalty is small much than a leaderboard, a regular bonus, oregon a half-baked points system. These tools consciousness progressively retired of measurement with however players really engage.

According to Mistplay’s 2024 Mobile Gaming Spender Report, 79% of mobile spenders actively prosecute with loyalty programs, and 51% accidental they would walk much in-game if loyalty rewards offered much value.

Progression, not perks, is the existent incentive. Players privation loyalty systems that admit the clip and effort they invest.

The aforesaid communicative shows up extracurricular gaming, too. Research from Boston Consulting Group shows that participatory loyalty programs thrust sustained engagement. In gaming, players expect akin extent and flexibility, yet galore games inactive trust connected static rewards oregon platform-locked perks.

Consumer probe level Attest has highlighted this gap:

• 69% of U.S. gamers aged 18–24 accidental cross-platform play is important. Loyalty systems indispensable widen beyond idiosyncratic games oregon platforms.
• One-third of gamers find in-game ads intrusive and actively disregard them. A loyalty exemplary based connected worth volition outperform 1 based connected ads.
• Friends and household recommendations stay the apical operator for trying caller games. Loyalty tin amplify this effect done community-based rewards.

At the aforesaid time, the broader manufacture is being forced to rethink its engagement strategies. In 2024, much than 12,000 gaming jobs were mislaid arsenic studios faced rising costs and diminishing returns connected idiosyncratic acquisition.

As IGN reported, galore teams are present prioritizing sustainable retention implicit maturation astatine each costs. Loyalty programs, conflict passes, and unrecorded work models are emerging arsenic cardinal tools to monetize and fortify existing subordinate communities.

Yet accepted tools aren’t built for this new, community-first satellite of gaming. That’s wherefore a increasing fig of Web3 projects and gaming ventures are exploring caller models.

Where Web3 Loyalty is Emerging

A caller procreation of games and platforms is turning to on-chain loyalty programs arsenic a mode to conscionable modern subordinate expectations. The superior features of these systems see composable rewards, wallet-native ownership, and enhanced assemblage engagement.

Take Decentraland’s caller Marketplace Credits system, for example. It offers players credits conscionable for showing up and exploring, attending events, checking retired caller locations, and more.

Those credits tin beryllium traded successful for avatar upgrades specified arsenic wearables and emotes. It’s a elemental mode to crook mundane information into a loyalty loop that keeps players coming back.

Mastercard’s Gamer Exchange is different motion of wherever things are headed. It lets players person loyalty points from banks, retailers, and airlines into in-game currency crossed apical titles, providing impervious that adjacent bequest brands cognize loyalty is becoming a battleground for gaming.

Infrastructure is besides evolving. Mojito Loyalty enables brands and projects to integrate on-chain loyalty features (quests, rewards, and assemblage progression) straight into gaming and integer experiences.

Meanwhile, games similar Forgotten Runiverse are utilizing play-to-earn mechanics and evolving loyalty programs to physique much persistent subordinate economies. Their attack hints astatine what’s imaginable erstwhile loyalty is treated not arsenic a selling add-on but arsenic a halfway portion of the subordinate experience.

Across these examples, the signifier is clear: erstwhile loyalty is participatory, transparent, and portable, it becomes a operator of engagement alternatively than an afterthought.

Loyalty Will Be Gaming’s Next Layer

Retention curves unsocial won’t physique sustainable gaming communities. As John Wright, VP of Mobile Publishing astatine Kwalee, has said: “It’s not astir going for Day 7, 14, and 28 retention curves. Companies indispensable conception a caller benignant of loyalty strategy that volition bring players backmost for a year.”

On-chain loyalty makes that displacement possible. It allows developers to reward the full subordinate experience, alternatively than conscionable what happens wrong the game—encompassing everything players contribute, specified arsenic attending events, creating content, gathering community, and more.

Loyalty transforms scattered actions into tangible advancement that players tin spot and feel. And arsenic gaming moves toward unfastened economies and cross-platform identities, it isn’t conscionable bully to have; it’s becoming a new, indispensable furniture of the gaming stack.

The station Why loyalty is becoming web3 gaming’s adjacent indispensable layer appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.