P2E Moon Watch: The Gaming Week in Review (September 9 – September 16, 2022)

The Ethereum Merger event held attention in the past week, for its potential to alter the way of P2E games and Ethereum-based DeFi. All the current games, exchanges and NFT platforms are onboard with using the new proof-of-stake network. At the same time, proof-of-work chains are still trying to revive a version of Ethereum, even causing a split among remaining miners, but this has not affected the gaming ecosystem. P2E games are making a turnaround with new models to retain appealing earnings potential while also not focusing too much on token valuations during an ongoing crypto asset bear market. 

Top Events of the Week

• Ethereum Goes Through Merge Event
• Crabada Tweaks Arena Rules Every Week
• Axie Infinity Origin Season 1 Opens
• Sunflower Land Introduces Isles and Land Expansion Coming Soon
• Pepper Attack Launches After Two Years in Development

Leading Games by Number of Users

Among top 10 games, this week arrived with more surprises as a new contender appeared among top games. Most leading games had an inflow of users based on DappRadar data. The current ranking depends on smart contract activity, and there are also numerous new games with very high daily player counts. Most new games remain only for a short spell among top 10 P2E hubs. Even Axie Infinity fell from the eighth to the tenth spot despite the launch of Origin Season 1.

Game

Previous Week

Current

Splinterlands

159.47K

210.41K

Alien Worlds

126.03K

167.45K

Gameta

118.76K

134.34K

Sweat Wallet

–

120.79K

Farmers World

91.37K

90.42K

Upland

–

37.96K

P2E Token Price Action

P2E tokens may face more pressure as BTC fell under $20,000 again and ETH lost the $1,500 level just a day after its Merge into a proof-of-stake network. 

Weekly Lagger: Axie Infinity (AXS) -13.79% to $12.79. AXS sank to $12.89 despite the launch of a new season with a significant reward. Currently, Axie Infinity promises to pay out $1.5M equivalent to the first 40K players in the game.

The market cap of all P2E tokens sank suddenly to 5.9B, with most of the drop triggered by ETH and BTC correcting downward and losing positions. 

Decentraland (MANA) -9.32 % to $0.73. MANA sank in response to the slide of ETH and other assets.

The Sandbox (SAND) -10.91% at $0.86, turning the trend for weeks now after a recent peak above $1.30.

Axie Infinity (AXS) down to $12.89, becoming the week’s biggest loser after holding above $14 for weeks.

Gala Games (GALA) -8.85% to $0.047. GALA lost its usual $0.05 range that it managed to hold despite market turbulence. 

Ethereum (ETH) accelerated its losses, down to the $1,460 range just a day after becoming a proof-of-stake asset. ETH, even with 99% lower electricity usage, is now erasing the gains that led to its recent rally above $1,700. P2E gaming continues to evolve, but still cannot completely cut its ties to the price trends. Most new games try to make NFT optional and try to add value through competition.