Polygon emerges as the second largest blockchain gaming network
Polygon, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, has emerged as the second largest blockchain gaming network with 138,081 unique active wallets (UAWs) engaging in gaming in March, according to the “Blockchain Games Report” published by Decentralized Application (DApp ) analysis platform DappRadar. The number of UAWs engaging in gaming on Polygon rose 53% from February, placing Polygon well ahead of third- and fourth-ranked Hive and BNB Chain at 84,000 and 80,000 UAWs, respectively. However, Wax remains the leader with 314,000 UAWs.
The report stated that “Polygon, a blockchain previously known for DeFi DApps, overtook Hive this month and secured the second spot. This is a positive sign for Polygon as it is now gaining recognition as a gaming blockchain.” Polygon’s increase in user activity was primarily due to Hunters On-Chain, a game from BoomLand that has seen a UAW increase of over 17,000% in the last 30 days alone, according to DappRadar data.
Launched in January, Hunters On-Chain is a Web3 adaptation of BoomLand’s mobile game Hunt Royale. It is a free-to-play RPG with nonfungible token (NFT) integrations and a similar look and feel to Minecraft. On March 9, the game saw a record number of UAWs of around 55,300. While it is unclear what specifically led to the surge in interest in the game last month, anticipation of an in-game NFT sale on March 31 may have been a contributing case.
The report also noted that all “on-chain gaming activity decreased by 3.33% in March to 741,567 Daily Unique Active Wallets (dUAW), gaming still accounts for 45.6% of DApp industry activity in Q1 2023.”
Polygon has gained bullish momentum in recent months, particularly with regards to NFTs, gaming and the metaverse. Polygon Labs, the team behind the network, has created a long list of partnerships with big names, including Warner Music, Starbucks, Adidas, Reddit and Adobe, to develop and host NFT projects.
The team successfully launched Polygon’s open source Ethereum Virtual Machine equivalent to zero-knowledge abstracts on March 27th. It is touted to allow DApps to scale through transaction batching, unlocking higher performance while reducing gas fees for performing transactions on the network.
In summary, Polygon has established itself as a prominent player in the blockchain gaming space with a significant user base and a growing list of partnerships. With the launch of its zero-knowledge digest and the continued development of its ecosystem, Polygon is poised for continued growth and adoption in the NFT, gaming and metaverse spaces.
