Monthly volumes show NFT values decreasing, but blockchain gaming projects are ignoring the downturn by refining their play-and-earn mechanics.
Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were in a strong bull run from Jan. 1 to mid-February. During this time, OpenSea volumes topped $5 billion and then fell to $3.6 billion toward the end of February. This could have been a sign that the overall sentiment of the crypto and NFT market was correcting.
As Q2 approaches, the total volumes and sales for NFTs have been in decline, leading new entrants and investors to wonder whether the sector is dying. According to data from DappRadar, OpenSea trading volumes have dropped nearly 11% in the last week and so far, the total volume on the marketplace continues to cool off as the number of users dropped by 13% in the last 30 days. It seems the NFT community has realized that it has exhausted options for blue-chip derivatives and investors are looking toward a more sustainable and less speculative placement of value.
Regardless of where the proof of profile movement (PFP) goes, blockchain game developers and communities are steadily building.
For example, play-to-earn (P2E) blockchain game Axie Infinity topped $4 billion in all-time NFT sales for the month of February. This marks it as the third largest NFT platform in terms of sales and the first NFT collection to do so.
Axie Infinity was created in 2018 and the game is a clear testament to what is possible in a bear market. Axie Infinity built out a minimal viable product (MVP) that onboarded millions to Web3, blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Blockchain games are focused on developing and are bunkering down this bearish market to resist the negative trend. These three blockchain games are focused on increasing capital flows, expanding their infrastructure and establishing stable user-bases.
New funding could jumpstart growth in Guild of Guardians
Blockchain games are situating their positions through strategic partnerships to further develop their products. As made evident by NFT game developer, Immutable X in its recentclose of a $200 million funding round. In light of this news, a “large portion” of its funding will go to current projects, including Guild of Guardians.
According to the Guild of Guardians discord, this news comes at a difficult time where the war in Ukraine has created development setbacks. Since Guild of Guardians is partially developed by Ukrainian development studio Stepico Games, overall game development has inevitably faced delays.
Much like the crypto market, the Guild of Guardians‘ in-game native GOG token has collapsed and is currently valued at $0.37, nearly 87% down from its all-time high of $2.81.