Polygon Emerges as Second-Largest Blockchain Gaming Network
Polygon has emerged as the second-largest blockchain gaming network in terms of unique active wallets (UAWs), thanks to a surge in user activity in March. According to the “Blockchain Games Report” by DappRadar, the number of UAWs engaging with games on Polygon hit 138,081 in March, a 53% increase from February. This places Polygon ahead of third and fourth-ranked Hive and BNB Chain, with 84,000 and 80,000 UAWs respectively. The first-placed Wax is well ahead of the pack with 314,000 UAWs.
Polygon, previously known for DeFi DApps, has now gained recognition as a gaming blockchain. The surge in UAWs on Polygon is due in part to the Hunters On-Chain game by BoomLand, which has seen a UAW increase of over 17,000% in the past 30 days, according to DappRadar data. Hunters On-Chain is a Web3 adaptation of BoomLand’s mobile game Hunt Royale, a free-to-play role-playing game with non-fungible token (NFT) integrations and a similar look and style to Minecraft.
On March 9, Hunters On-Chain saw an all-time high UAW count of around 55,300. It is unclear what specifically drove the surge in interest for the game last month, although anticipation for an in-game NFT sale on March 31 may have been a contributing factor.
Looking more broadly, the report noted that on-chain gaming activity decreased by 3.33% in March to 741,567 daily unique active wallets (dUAW). However, games still make up 45.6% of the DApp industry activity in Q1 2023.
Polygon’s bullish momentum has been developing over the past few months, specifically relating to NFTs, gaming, and the metaverse. The team behind the network, Polygon Labs, has notched a long list of big-name partnerships, including Warner Music, Starbucks, Adidas, Reddit, and Adobe, to develop and host NFT projects.
Polygon Labs successfully launched Polygon’s open-source Ethereum Virtual Machine equivalent zero-knowledge rollup on March 27. This technology allows DApps to scale through transaction batching, unlocking higher performance while reducing gas fees to conduct transactions on the network.
The surge in user activity on Polygon is a positive sign for the network’s future, especially as it gains recognition as a gaming blockchain. The partnerships and developments by Polygon Labs show that the team is committed to creating a strong and sustainable ecosystem for NFTs and gaming on the network. As the blockchain gaming industry continues to grow, it will be interesting to see how Polygon competes with other gaming blockchains and how its partnerships and innovations continue to shape the industry.
