The following is a guest post and the opinion of Neil Mullins, CEO at Mojito
Web3 gaming is growing rapidly, but loyalty systems have not kept pace. In the past year, Blockchain -Gaming did not grow alone: it threw up.
According to the 2024 Dapradar Games report, the space hit 7.4 million daily active portfolios and added more than 1,600 new games. The total game activity almost quintuped compared to the end of 2023 while new users, ecosystems and experiments came in.
But growth is only half the story. Retention and community involvement remain a routine. Many games are stuck with loyalty systems that are bolted or completely lacking. As gaming becomes more platform, social and community drivers, as loyalty must overtake.
A new wave of Web3-Native Loyalty programs suggests that change is finally coming.
Which traditional loyalty is wrong
In gaming ecosystems today, loyalty is little more than a leaderboard, a daily bonus or a semi-baked points system. These tools feel more and more out of pass with how players are actually doing.
According to MistPlays 2024 Mobile Gaming Spender Report, 79% of mobile expenditures have active contact with loyalty programs, and 51% say they would spend more in-game if loyalty rezonements would offer more value.
Progression, no benefits, is the real stimulus. Players want loyalty systems that recognize the time and effort they invest.
The same story also appears outside of gaming. Research by Boston Consulting Group shows that participatory loyalty programs stimulate persistent involvement. In Gaming, players expect a similar depth and flexibility, but many games still rely on static rewards or benefits with platform flocked.
Consumer Research Platform Attest has emphasized this gap:
- 69% of American gamers aged 18-24 say that cross-platform Play is important. Loyalty systems must reach beyond individual games or platforms.
- A third of the gamers find in-game advertisements intrusive and actively ignores them. A loyalty model based on value will perform better than one based on advertisements.
- Friends and family recommendations remain the best driver for trying out new games. Loyalty can strengthen this effect through community -based rewards.
At the same time, the broader industry is forced to reconsider its engagement strategies. In 2024, more than 12,000 gaming courts were lost because studios were dealing with increasing costs and reducing return on the acquisition of users.
As IGN reported, many teams now prioritize sustainable retention over growth at all costs. Loyalty programs, combat passes and live service models are on the rise as important tools to earn and strengthen existing player communities.
Yet traditional tools have not been built for this new, the first world of gaming. That is why a growing number of Web3 projects and gaming companies explore new models.
Where web3 -loyalty is on the rise
A new generation of games and platforms turns to loyalty programs in chains as a way to meet the expectations of modern players. The primary characteristics of these systems include composable rewards, wallet-native property and improved community involvement.
Take for example the new Marketplace Credits system from Decentraland. It only offers players’ credits for appearing and exploring, attending events, viewing new locations and more.
Those credits can be exchanged for avatar -upgrades such as wearables and emotes. It is a simple way to convert daily participation into a loyalty loop that puts players back.
Mastercard’s gaming exchange is another sign of where things are going. It allows players to convert loyalty points from banks, retailers and airlines into in-game currency in top titles, making the evidence that even legacy brands know that loyalty will be a battlefield for gaming.
Infrastructure also evolves. Mojito-Loyality enables brands and projects to directly integrate loyalty functions on chains (quests, rewards and community program) into gaming and digital experiences.
In the meantime, games such as Forgotten use runivers play-to-ear mechanics and evolve loyalty programs to build more stubborn player economies. Their approach refers to what is possible when loyalty is not treated as a MarketingAdd, but as a nuclear part of the player experience.
In these examples the pattern is clear: when loyalty is participatory, transparent and portable, it becomes a motor for involvement instead of a side issue.
Loyalty will be the next layer of gaming
Retention curves alone will not build sustainable gaming communities. As John Wright, VP of mobile publications at Kwalee, said: “It’s not about going for day 7, 14 and 28 retention curves. Companies must build a new type of loyalty system that brings players back a year.”
Loyalty on the chain makes that shift possible. It allows developers to reward the entire player experience, instead of just what happens in the game – compassing everything that players contribute, such as attending events, creating content, building community and more.
Loyalty changes scattered actions in tangible progress that players can see and feel. And while gaming goes in the direction of open economies and cross -platform identities, it is not just fun to have; It will be a new, essential layer of the gaming pile.
