The convergence trend in the gaming industry: The new wave of cross-platform and multi-genre

The global gaming market is undergoing a two-way penetration between PC and mobile games. The market share of PC gaming has decreased from 31% five years ago to 23%, while the mobile gaming market, despite its growth, faces limitations in the age demographic of its users (only 23% of players over 45 years old choose mobile games). As the growth ceiling gradually approaches, gaming companies are compelled to adopt a full-platform strategic layout. Top-tier manufacturers have begun to break free from the constraints of single platforms. Activision Blizzard, through "Call of Duty Mobile," has seen mobile revenue climb to 35% of its total; miHoYo is expanding its console and PC business, from "Honkai: Star Rail" to "Zenless Zone Zero," gradually building a cross-platform ecosystem. Simultaneously, the rapid evolution of genres is reshaping the market landscape. From the "survival craze" of 2021 to the rise of "anime + idle" in 2023, the development strategies of gaming companies are undergoing a profound transformation.

In the future, the companies that will truly dominate will not be those focused on a single platform or genre, but rather the comprehensive platforms capable of achieving full-terminal coverage and diversified layouts. The integration of the Web2 industry chain and the transformation of the Web3 ecosystem will ultimately converge in the gaming world of the future, merging to create a new paradigm.

Summary: The Development Bottlenecks of Web3 Gaming—Talent, Product, and Commercialization.

A. The productivity dilemma

Developer gap: There are only 48,000 full-time Web3 game developers, less than 1.6% of the traditional gaming industry (Source: LinkedIn 2024)

Weak productivity：

▸ There are only 2,137 existing blockchain games, with 63% in a state of discontinuation (Source: DappRadar)

▸ Excessive concentration of genres: SLG/RPG account for 71%, compared to over 100 subgenres on the Steam platform.

B. Disordered economic systems

Token model collapse：

▸ Median annual inflation rate of top GameFi project tokens: 380%.

▸ User lifetime value (LTV) <$15, only 1/10 of traditional games.

Deteriorating funding environment:

▸Total Web3 gaming funding in Q1 2024 decreased by 67% year-on-year.

▸ The average seed round valuation has dropped from 25 million to 8 million.

C. Structural contradictions in Web2 gaming: Efficiency loss in industry chain.

C1. The revenue-sharing system is imbalanced

Segment

Developer retention rate

Traditional release

32%-45%

Self release

67%-82%

(Case Study: The profit margin of Subnautica increased by 290% after self publishing)

Cross-platform collaboration challenges:

▸ Development costs across multiple platforms increase by 40%

▸ Cross-platform user data interoperability rate is less than 8%

C2. Market iteration pressure

Shorten product life cycle: