Blockchain Gamers Earned $20M in Their First Year

Research by Flipside Crypto into revenue generated by blockchain games shows that, in some cases, gamers are earning more than the game companies.

New research compares how much gamers and game developers made in the year following the launches of some of the most popular blockchain-based games. 

According to data from Flipside Crypto, the overwhelming majority of revenue was earned by just one, very famous, game.

Revenue Earned By Blockchain Gamers & Gaming Companie

Cat breeding is very lucrative

No one could have envisioned that cat breeding could become such a lucrative business. CryptoKitties generated $27 million in revenue in the first year with $7 million going to the company and $20 million to the breeders. 

In CryptoKitties, gamers breed virtual cats that have unique traits on the Ethereum blockchain. The offspring inherit some of the traits of their parents and cats with rare features are more valuable than others. 

One of these virtual kitties was sold for 600 Ether (ETH) or $170,000. The game is notorious for almost breaking the Ethereum network.

Revenue for other blockchain games paled in comparison. Gods Unchained made $4.2 million in its first year, and players have since earned $237,000 (though auctions were not held in the first year). My Crypto Heroes made $1.5 million in its first year and players earned $118,000 through selling in-game assets.

Revenue Split Between Blockchain Gamers & Gaming Companies

Unequal pay

The research provides an interesting breakdown on how revenue is being distributed. On one extreme, there is Gods Unchained, where almost all of the money went to the company. On the other is Crypto Kitties, where the gamers or the breeders raked in 75% of revenues.

Many consider blockchain gaming as one of the most promising use cases for the technology. Recently, even Blockstream got on the bandwagon when Lightnite was launched on the Liquid Network, a game that uses non-fungible tokens.