Bankless: Web3 gaming is heading to mobile
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Bankless: Web3 gaming is heading to mobile
As you can see, Web3 mobile games are succeeding on iOS.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: Ben Giove
Compiled by: TechFlow
Web3 iOS gaming is having a moment — crypto game developers are starting to embrace the App Store. Yes, you read that right.
Despite Apple's historically hostile stance toward NFTs, Web3 games are finding success on iOS.
The mobile gaming industry is massive. It’s the largest vertical in gaming, generating over $89 billion in revenue in 2021 with support from more than two billion players — iOS games alone accounted for 58% of that, bringing in a staggering $52.3 billion.
This means Web3 games aren’t just sneaking into the Apple App Store — they’re breaking into the most profitable niche across all gaming.
Let’s dive deeper into Web3 gaming on iOS by looking at some of the most successful games on the App Store. By doing so, we can see what their success might mean for the broader space — and why the wave of Web3 gaming on iOS may have only just begun.
NFL Rivals
NFL Rivals is an arcade-style football game. The game resembles EA Madden’s Ultimate Team mode, where users build their own teams by collecting and upgrading individual player cards, then compete across a full football season.
Developed by Mythical Games — the studio behind the popular Web3 title Blankos Block Party — NFL Rivals integrates Web3 elements in an optional, backend manner. While there are no in-app transactions, the players on a user’s team are represented as NFTs.
These NFTs can be traded on the Mythical Marketplace using MYTH, the governance token of the Mythos Foundation DAO. However, the trading experience may feel somewhat foreign to crypto natives, as the marketplace is custodial, allowing users to withdraw their MYTH only to the centralized exchange Uphold.
In this regard, NFL Rivals closely mirrors another licensed sports game, NBA Top Shot, which gained popularity during the 2021 bull run and used a similarly beginner-friendly wrapper.
Despite launching only in April, NFL Rivals has already gained significant traction, briefly topping the U.S. sports games category on the App Store.
Cross The Ages
NFL Rivals isn’t the only one making waves — Cross the Ages is another Web3 game gaining increasing popularity.
This Immutable X-based trading card game (TCG) allows players to build decks, battle opponents, and earn rare NFTs. Each card in a player’s deck is also represented as an NFT and can be freely traded on Immutable’s marketplace.
Like NFL Rivals, these trades do not occur within the app. However, Web3-native gamers may find the trading experience more familiar, as Immutable’s marketplace is non-custodial and built on the Immutable X Layer-2 network.
Cross the Ages is thriving, ranking highly on charts across multiple countries worldwide.
Axie Infinity
On iOS, it’s not just new Web3 games making headlines — legacy titles are also stepping up their game.
On May 17, Axie Infinity: Origins launched on the App Store in Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
As the most popular Web3 game during the 2021 bull market, Axie appears to have broken new ground, allowing players to utilize their Axie NFTs directly within the app. According to the game’s official blog, this marks the first time Apple has permitted such functionality.
While this may seem minor, it represents a milestone for Web3 mobile gaming, given Apple’s historically strict policies against NFTs.
Conclusion
As you’ve seen, Web3 mobile games are achieving success on iOS.
Newcomers like NFL Rivals and Cross the Ages have become chart-toppers despite operating under restrictive in-game economic rules. These games are writing a real-time playbook for creating experiences that attract and retain Web2 gamers while still enabling player ownership of assets through backend NFTs.
Meanwhile, OG Web3 games are paving the way too — Axie Infinity now allows players to use their NFTs within the mobile app environment.
Though the road ahead remains long, these successes could help pave the way for Apple to adopt more NFT-friendly policies — potentially triggering a surge in Web3 mobile development.
We may already be seeing early signs of this coming wave — another Immutable-based TCG, Gods Unchained, recently announced plans to launch on iOS and Android later this year.
Although regulatory hurdles may arise — such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently claiming in its latest lawsuit that several gaming tokens, including SAND, FLOW, and AXS, are securities — the Web3 mobile gaming wave has arrived and could soon become a tsunami.
Crypto is eating finance, crypto is eating money — and now, it’s biting into the video game industry, the most lucrative market of them all.
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