7 Web3 gaming startups to keep an eye on in 2023

Gaming generated $56.9B in 2020, and since then it has continued to grow. According to market research, it is expected to become a $293B industry by 2027. Gaming has played an important role in Web3’s inception, and the industry continues to make waves with startups launching creative and fun integrations. 

Developers need to get a sense of what gamers want before trying to market to a notoriously picky and shrewd audience. As a result, there have been many challenges when trying to achieve mainstream adoption. But that’s not stopping these Web3 gaming startups though. From NBA to NFTs, these developers are charging forward into the future of Web3 gaming, controllers and all.

Trivians It pays to be a know-it-all: Trivians is a Web3-powered trivia game that rewards players with monetary prizes. Players can participate in single games, live-streamed tournaments, and more, without needing any crypto experience. Players can choose between closed and free-to-play games, earn tokens for each correct answer and enjoy different power-up options. There will be a variety of avatars that players can embody. Upcoming NFT items will also give players special abilities. Trivians empowers players to grow their stake in the crypto economy, creating a decentralized gaming experience for all. 

Zilliqa Nearly every Web3 game can be played online, but very few companies have gone down the route of launching full-blown consoles specifically for Web3 gaming, but that’s exactly what Zilliqa did last October. Zilliqa, a high-performance, high-security, and low-fee blockchain platform, launched its hardware gaming console and gaming hub with an embedded Web3 wallet specifically for blockchain games. In the near future, players will be able to mine ZIL tokens and earn money while playing games. Players can even move their tokens to fiat money and back into the player’s bank account for real-world rewards. Zilliqa has also announced its first Web3 first-person shooter (FPS) game, WEB3WAR, and plans to continue its expansion into the blockchain gaming industry with eight more games already in the works.

Dapper Labs

When people think of blockchain gaming, they may not know Dapper Labs by name, but they definitely know of the games the studio develops. Named one of the world's most innovative companies and number one gaming company of 2022 by Fast Company, Dapper Labs builds blockchain games with real people in mind. The Canadian studio is known for its wildly successful NBA Top Shot NFT platform and the CryptoKitties NFT launch. They’ve continued their streak of licensed NFT marketplaces with NFL, UFC, and Laliga Golazos, including their own metaverse builder platform, Dapper. 

Sorare French company, Sorare takes fantasy sports to the blockchain with its gaming platform for football, basketball, and baseball tournaments. Using blockchain technology based on Ethereum, players can collect and trade virtual NFT playing cards representing their favorite players and pin them against others in global tournaments. Founded in 2018, the company has partnerships with the NBA, MLB, and various football leagues. As of August 2022, there are more than 280 clubs in the game. 

Mythical Games

Founded In 2018, Mythical Games made a name for itself as a people-first blockchain gaming studio. Its most recent game, Blankos Block Party was the first blockchain game to be released on the Epic Games Marketplace. They also have an NFL Rivals mobile game, where sports fans can collect their favorite players and be the game manager of their own team. On top of all that, the Mythical Platform is offered to producers and game designers to either add their own blockchain game or develop a brand new title. Like many others, the Mythical Gaming platform can be implemented into existing blockchain economies or built into new games from the ground up. 

Immutable Between its industry-leading NFT minting-trading platform and its rock-solid blockchain gaming studio, Immutable is here to remind Web3 enthusiasts that their content isn’t going anywhere. Founded in 2018, their Syndey headquarters is responsible for Gods Unchained, a card game that recently won “Best Strategy Game” at the Gam3 Awards. It also developed Guild of Guardians, a fantasy action role-playing game, both rooted in Web3 ethos and NFT-powered gaming. The studio offers developer services to other studios, meaning their platform powers dozens of top-notch games. 

Planetarium Labs Most blockchain games use an open-source model to their games, meaning they usually exist on a pre-existing blockchain. That’s not what Planetarium Labs does. Located in South Korea, each game Planetarium builds is on its own network, not linked to any other blockchain or crypto coin (Sky Mavis’ Axie Infinity, for example, runs its cryptocurrency through Ethereum).  Planetarium’s goal is to have Web3 games run indefinitely on their own blockchain, meaning each game is an independent ecosystem. The Planetarium engine is built for developers, offering a free-to-play model in order to retain users. It also has a toolchain and smart contract support so developers can create a game with a permanent revenue-based model, not miscellaneous fees. 

If there’s one thing people know about gamers, it’s that they’re dedicated. Add Web3’s decentralized ethos, which is built on ideas of community ownership, and you have a new, passionate group of trailblazers that are defining the industry. From collecting NBA player trading cards to cute combat encounters, Web3 gaming is just one of the many iterations of blockchain technology the industry is seeing, and we’re likely to see more. What Web3 games will you be playing in 2023?