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GameFi Rankings
Overall:
The Sandbox - SAND already has some immense partnerships created with giants such as Atari, Universal Music Group, and others. The metaverse is being actively developed by the world’s largest builders and has a much more favorable player count.
Axie Infinity - AXS saw one of the highest daily player counts out of the games on this list but suffered immensely from the massive Ronin Bridge hack. Outside of the hack, AXS has a high barrier to entry compared to other metaverses/gaming titles but has had one of the highest rates of success in terms of player conversion.
- Enjin Coin - ENJ is providing what could be a multi-billion dollar solution for gaming titles in the near future. As more gaming developers wish to enter the blockchain / P2E space, ENJ will already have a solution to fast-track that process.
- Gala Games - Despite some tokenomics issues, Gala Games has one of the most sophisticated platforms that caters to pure gamers. Many gamers don't want to deal with blockchain mechanics openly or have it interfere with the gameplay, and Gala is doing a good job of offering that.
- Merit Circle - Has a sophisticated ecosystem model and already launched some well-renowned scholarship programs to bring in new gamers to GameFi. MC is ahead of YGG in terms of utility for its native token as it offers more of a platform where MC can be considered a medium of exchange.
- FLOW offers a highly sustainable blockchain network and has some of the most impressive NFT partnerships in the space. The gaming side of the blockchain is obviously lacking, however, so for users to bet on FLOW, they need to be betting on the value of art-style NFTs from major brands holding value long term—at least until true gaming titles emerge.
- Decentraland - MANA lags behind The Sandbox slightly but still offers a large metaverse with valuable LAND. Decentraland also benefits from a more favorable graphics package than The Sandbox.
- My Neighbor Alice - Out of all the blockchain games on this list, ALICE does the best job of appealing to non-blockchain gamers. The game model is simple yet refined, and it actually offers a level of gameplay that other titles don’t have.
- Gods Unchained - Unlike other titles on this list, Gods Unchained does have playability. The game is being developed, but it’s amassed a large player community of over 450,000 and fills a niche gaming category as a trading card title. Beyond this, however, growth may appear limited as the game itself hasn’t necessarily improved upon the style of game it is and could fall victim to copycat games.
- Otherside - BAYC is undoubtedly the king of NFTs, and with the successful testing of its metaverse concept, it could end up being a leader among metaverse protocols. Of course, graphics will be an issue while on the Ethereum blockchain, and the high degree of exclusivity will always limit its overall growth.
- Efinity - Efinity by itself offers lower fees and quicker transaction processing than that of its mainnet Enjin. For that reason, Efinity maintains a smaller market share and serves as a secondary solution for users to engage with outside of Polkadot.
- Illuvium - ILV has attracted a lot of attention and hype as players patiently wait for a full game launch. The reason it's low on this list is similar to other gaming titles this low: it has no playability. Those purchasing ILV and ILV-native NFTs are betting on the future of this title.
- Aavegotchi - While initially highly popular, Aavegotchi has no players and little playability. The main appeal of obtaining a ghost is for yield-generating as it gives users passive income over time.
- DeFi Kingdoms - DFK has been at the center of many controversies, but it still lives on as a protocol. The development team have been working diligently to add true playability to the game beyond just being a gamified DEX. Until this happens officially, DFK remains speculative along with Illuvium and Star Atlas.
- Star Atlas - ATLAS is another gaming title that has hype building behind it with no true proven product. With the game set to release sometime in 2022, long-time backers and eager players may finally get to interact with the game.
- Yield Guild Games - YGG is very similar to Merit Circle in a lot of ways, just with less overall utility. The DAO is more centered on the gamers joining and generating revenue for the DAO, acting more like a business than a GameFi protocol. This could lead it getting into trouble with regulators should they ever investigate the space.
Creator Platforms & Gaming Accelerators
Enjin Coin (ENJ)
originally started as a gaming company in 2009 with the official launch of the Enjin network. Enjin began as a community gaming platform where individuals could construct websites, forums, and applications. In 2017, the company decided to move into the blockchain industry with an ICO that raised nearly $20 million from the sale of its native token, ENJ
Enjin launched on the Ethereum blockchain with ENJ being an ERC-20 token. Enjin was the original proposer of the ERC-1155 token standard, a token that's now routinely used on its network.
Key Features
Enjin’s main focus is the creation and deployment of NFTs for gaming titles. To accomplish this, Enjin offers a suite of products and features on its network, including:
Platform - Lets users to create in-game assets in advance and offer them to other existing players through crowdfunding methods.
Marketplace - Facilitates the trading of in-game assets (NFTs) and other collectibles between users.
Enjin Wallet - The network’s secure cryptocurrency wallet that can be used to interact with the platform.
JumpNet - A Proof-of-Authority consensus blockchain allowing instant, gasless transactions. It operates through the private version of the ENJ token, JENJ.
Enjin Coin (ENJ) is the third-largest blockchain gaming protocol in the space and fourth-largest NFT-based platform. The ENJ token holds a respectable market cap of ~$500 million and a maximum total supply of 1 billion tokens. ENJ is most commonly used to back the value of ERC-1155 assets, giving it a unique utility.
Pros & Cons
Enjin provides a solution to what could be a very in-demand service in the coming years. Enjin was the original creator of the ERC-1155 token, which is at the heart of the protocol. Every ERC-1155 token is backed by ENJ, promoting stability in the value of the asset itself.
In the future, any gaming title wishing to integrate with blockchains and a P2E structure could use Enjin’s ERC-1155 tokens as a solution. To date, Enjin has minted over 1 billion assets that are all backed by ENJ.
There’s a good side and bad side to backing the actual assets with ENJ tokens. For typical gamers, the value of their collected assets is 100% dependent on the value of the ENJ token itself. If the token goes through a market contraction, so too do the in-game assets.
An additional obstacle for Enjin is the relative difficulty for external platforms to use the ERC-1155 tokens as in-game assets for their games. Not all titles can leverage this exact technology and could be hindered by Ethereum’s gas fees. For this reason, Efinity was created, but that requires going through an entirely different blockchain network. So, the process for developers may come off as slightly convoluted.
Flow (FLOW)
is an independent blockchain and smart contract platform that caters to blockchain gaming projects and NFT collections. The Flow network uses a multi-role architecture design to scale, fast-tracking the work of a miner or validator into four distinct roles that are all accomplished through staking Flow’s native token FLOW.
Key Features
Flow is the industry-leading protocol for NFTs, taking a top ranking above Decentraland, Axie Infinity, and Enjin Coin. The native token FLOW powers the platform. FLOW has a market cap of $1.6 billion, making the platform the 12th-largest smart contract platform on the market. This puts Flow above Tezos, Fantom, and other well-known networks.
Flow’s best feature is its world-class NFT collections including:
The NBA (NBA Top Shot
The NFL (NFL ALL DAY
UFC Strike
Other leading collections include BALLERZ and Matrix World. In total, Flow has over $1 billion in NFT sales on secondary markets.
Pros & Cons
Flow is undoubtedly one of the best blockchains for NFTs. No other network can boast partnerships with the NBA, NFL, and UFC for users to engage. The blockchain infrastructure itself is also relatively sophisticated, and the chain is scalable due to its architecture.
Additionally, the Flow network is one of the most sustainable in the space, using only 0.18 gWh of energy annually, verified in 2021 by Deloitte. To visualize this energy usage, conducting a single Google search uses the same amount of energy as minting 12.5 NFTs on Flow.
2021 Flow energy consumption. Source:
The major downside of Flow is the lack of actual games on the network with playability, which include
Chainmonsters
Enemy Metal
Dark Country
The Football Club
Racing Time
The problem is many of these protocols are gamified NFT trading platforms. That said, there are very few protocols within the space with any playability at all and Flow’s only purpose is to provide the underlying infrastructure for developers to use and build on top of. This is very similar to the nature of The Sandbox or Decentraland, providing platforms for builders to create virtual experiences.
Merit Circle (MC)
Merit Circle operates as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with two main focuses: 1) accelerating adoption of P2E titles through educational opportunities and 2) functioning as a profit-seeking investor aiming to grow the Merit Circle treasury. Merit Circle’s unique value proposition comes from its use of ‘scholarships,’ a form of in-game asset loan to encourage players to adopt blockchain-based gaming titles. The first of these scholarships was launched in July 2021 for Axie Infinity (Axie 420 Scholarship).
Key Features
Merit Circle DAO consists of four distinct components
Investments (MC Investments)
Development & Incubation (MC Studios)
Gaming (MC Gaming)
Trading (MC Marketplace)
Through the Merit Circle treasury, the DAO essentially doubles down on creating value from its investments by spearheading the adoption push for protocols, projects, and games that it supports directly. This is the basis behind its scholarship model. The DAO also takes a part in publishing projects through Merit Circle Studios.
Through investments, development, and incubation, MC DAO is able to grow its own treasury and create value for holders of its native token, . The MC token has a ~$100 million market cap with a max supply of 925,922,704 MC. Those holding the MC token can participate in the governance of the DAO and staking to earn awards.
Merit Circle actively supports a number of upcoming blockchain gaming titles including:
Dapper Dinos
Cantina Royale
Axes Metaverse
Blockstars
Pros & Cons
Merit Circle has a unique business model in the blockchain gaming sector. It's hard to argue against the success the DAO has had thus far. They have nearly 4,000 gamers under their belt from across the world using the MC scholarship model to earn income in P2E titles. So far, those gamers have generated over $2 million across 50 different games.
The Merit Circle DAO also manages over $100 million in digital assets that include NFTs, in-game collectibles, and other valuable digital assets that can assist gamers in earning additional income in certain games. This can be extremely valuable, depending on the title.
Take Axie Infinity for instance. Having suitable upgrades that give a player a greater chance of winning battles means that player will generate more income. Merit Circle is acting as a certain booster for players to propel higher within P2E games.
The downside of this model for the gamers themselves is Merit Circle’s cut. The MC DAO takes a 30% cut from everything each gamer earns from their work within P2E titles. For investors, there must be a higher degree of trust in the DAO itself as well to engage in sound investment strategies. This can become risky when making investments in a highly volatile market such as NFTs.
Efinity (EFI)
is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain network that specializes in NFTs. The chain was created by Enjin Pte Ltd., the gaming organization that went on to start Enjin Coin. The blockchain itself is a Polkadot network parachain built to support NFTs from:
Enjin’s Jumpnet
Efinity was officially launched with the distribution of its native token, EFI, in August 2021. Following the token launch, the platform created a $100 million Efinity Metaverse Fund in November 2021 to engage in metaverse, NFT, and blockchain gaming-related investments.
Key Features
Efinity is a blockchain network developed by Enjin and works as a parachain off Polkadot. Therefore, Efinity uses Polkadot’s Relay Chain to offload computing resources to confirm the validity of transactions. This ultimately leads to much lower user transaction costs.
Participants use the EFI token for:
Running a node to secure the network
Governance of Efinity
Within the Efinity marketplace
Developers who propose new projects and receive grants from Efinity’s community pool
The token itself has a ~$55 million market cap and a circulating supply of 2 billion EFI. The token itself will most commonly be used to mint and exchange new NFTs.
In addition to EFI tokenomics, Efinity also offers a cross-chain bridge to Ethereum. This gives the network an on-ramp to potentially billions of dollars in value across various NFT projects. Aside from simply minting and moving NFTs, Efinity offers buyers and sellers a stack of tools to facilitate commerce. Individuals may trade NFTs across blockchains.
Enjin buyers and sellers market. Source: Efinity white paper
Pros & Cons
Efinity relies heavily on the Polkadot mainnet architecture for competitive pricing and low network fees. Being a parachain offers many advantages in terms of scalability and security compared to Ethereum. Where Ethereum block space is in high demand, Efinity benefits from less load, granting users the ability to mint and trade NFTs without overpaying in fees.
Efinity alone doesn’t necessarily offer any robust, unique value proposition for the NFT market by itself. Additionally, the native token EFI had a relatively centralized distribution of the total supply, with 45% going to early investors and the team. Another 50% is held by the ecosystem or staking pools.
Of course, this only matters for governance over the protocol. The token itself is sufficient for the average user just looking for low fees to mint NFTs. For that pure purpose alone, Efinity offers a competitive model.
Yield Guild Games (YGG)
Yield Guild Games is a gaming accelerator that seeks to provide an on-ramp for those in emerging economies looking to engage with P2E titles. Yield Guild Games operates as a DAO, attempting to strike down barriers to entry for gamers. They do this by acting as a capital market layer, acquiring NFTs that are productive and valuable to titles like Axie Infinity.
Key Features
Yield Guild Games operates through its own native token, YGG. YGG is an ERC-20 token that's used to purchase and back Yield Guild’s assets they acquire for gaming titles and metaverse projects. The token’s main utility is as a governance token. YGG is the eighth-largest gaming protocol and holds a market cap of ~$75 million.
Over time, Yield Guild intends to pass along cashflows of the token and the DAO operations to token holders themselves over time. Cashflows and value can be generated from:
Yield-generating assets
Revenue streams from in-game earnings, sponsorships, merchandise sales, etc.
The value proposition that Yield Guild offers is similar in fashion to what Metric Circle offers. For some gaming titles, there’s a steep entry cost for players to be able to actually generate any yields or participate in the base functionality of certain games. Yield Guild began its journey by focusing on Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, and League of Kingdoms.
Since Yield Guild has been involved with the following gaming titles
Illuvium
Ember Sword
Guild of Guardians
Splinterlands
Star Atlas
Aavegotchi
Nitro League
Pros & Cons
The core philosophy behind Yield Guild is admirable. Blockchain gaming and P2E opportunities have been a popular choice amongst those in emerging markets looking to find a reliable income stream. With Yield Guild’s value proposition, it’ll make it much easier for players to generate revenues with the arsenal of in-game assets, upgrades, and advantages Yield Guild’s collecting.
The major downside to Yield Guild’s model stems from the YGG token. From a regulatory standpoint, redirecting earnings from its yield-generating NFT assets to token holders could be seen as a form of dividend. This leaves Yield Guild vulnerable to regulatory scrutiny for failing the Howey Test for Securities.
