Where is the future of Web3 MMO games heading?
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Where is the future of Web3 MMO games heading?
A Web3 game must first and foremost be a game, before we can discuss the various values of its Web3 economic model and mechanisms.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Haotian
Yesterday, Delphi Digital released a report on web3 MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), discussing how MetaCeneGame acquires users through blockchain architecture and how the new ServerFi gaming paradigm can be implemented. After reading it, here are a few quick thoughts:
1) An early investor of Black Myth: Wukong stated they wouldn't invest in web3 games because they "don't love games"—a comment that resonated with many industry practitioners. In the GameFi-dominated web3 gaming landscape, this remark starkly highlights a critical weakness in many current web3 games.
Overemphasizing financialization (Fi) while neglecting core gameplay is precisely why the GameFi sector has been eagerly anticipated yet fails to enter its next spring. In short, for a web3 game to succeed, it must first be a good game—only then can we discuss the added value of web3 economic models.
2) Beyond MetaCene, other experienced teams are also advancing in the web3 MMORPG space, including Avalon, MapleStory Universe, and Project Awakening. Beyond short-term GameFi hype, blockchain technology itself offers meaningful innovations for MMORPGs—such as seamless payment systems, true player ownership of assets, and transparent in-game economies—all of which serve as significant incentives.
While bad money often drives out good across every industry, it's the persistent "good money" that sustains long-term confidence.
3) MetaCene is developed by a team with backgrounds from major web2 gaming companies such as Shanda Games, Blizzard, and Perfect World, taking a long-term approach to implementing the new ServerFi gaming paradigm. Its design emphasizes sustained participation and value creation, aiming to reduce Ponzi-like structural risks and speculative behaviors.
This makes it resemble a high-quality, web2-grade gaming experience that leverages web3 tokenomics to build its in-game economy. Whether this experiment will succeed remains uncertain, but given the widespread skepticism around the "values" of web3 games today, its emergence couldn't be more timely.
4) Web3 gaming incentive models like "Play-to-Earn," dual-token systems, liquidity mining, and NFT staking do not determine a game’s success. The key lies in the type of user base it attracts. If the players are merely short-term, FOMO-driven speculators, the game is inherently unsustainable.
But if it draws genuine gamers with high retention and loyalty, short-term profit expectations won’t lead to entropy and decline. Such a game doesn’t need mass popularity—a dedicated fanbase (including paying whales) can sustain it indefinitely. This holds true for both web2 and web3 games; most successful titles follow this principle.
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Haotian | CryptoInsight
