Millions of players in China lost access to popular games like World of Warcraft as Blizzard Entertainment’s Chinese servers went offline after 20 years. This marked the end of an era for fans of the epic title, after Blizzard’s licensing agreement with their local partner NetEase expired and no new one was reached. Since 2008, that agreement also covered titles such as Hearthstone and Diablo III.
Hundreds of thousands were destroyed. Some lamented growing up with the game, and others called WoW “my first love,” reflecting the pervasive sense of loss in the Chinese gaming community. Fans of games like Fortnite, Call of Duty and League of Legends, all great Web2 titles, would feel the same way if the decision were made to pull the plug, for whatever reason.
Another problem with Web2 games is ownership. Players can purchase skins, characters, and other virtual assets, but these items have no use outside the developer-controlled ecosystem and are not transferable. Its use is limited to the title in question.
A milestone shift from observation to true ownership
The transition to Web3 marks a shift from players being mere observers, at the mercy of developers or companies, to active participants in rich gaming ecosystems. Blockchain technology has led to decentralized platforms that allow ownership of in-game items, allowing participants to compete and play for longer. A survey by Immutable found that almost half of Web3 gamers played more than 10 hours per week, while Web2 gamers played about 7.5 hours.
Ownership is one factor that makes players more invested in the games they play, and Mythical Games is one of the pioneers of this shift. Launched in an official partnership with the NFL, NFL Rivals allows players to manage NFL teams and trade unique NFTs. The dynamic and casual nature of the game quickly caught the attention of NFL fans. NFL Rivals is the crypto-based mobile game from Mythical Games and has been downloaded over 7 million times on iOS and Android.
Mythical has raised nearly $300 million since 2018 from investors like Andreessen Horowitz, ARK Invest, Animoca Brands and Michael Jordan. In 2021, Andreessen Horowitz led a $150 million Series C round, reaching a $1.25 billion valuation. Company CEO John Linden has held leadership roles at Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty and Skylanders franchises. His experience with Web2 led him to initiate the transition, of which co-founding Mythical Games was an important part.
Web3’s gamer-centric approach translates into owning asset collections without in-depth knowledge of blockchain. Mythical’s in-game blockchain marketplace allows gamers to buy, sell and trade digital assets across platform titles. Players use MYTH tokens for market and board transactions, and developers can use the Mythical platform to plug blockchain features and NFTs into their games. That said, users can play NFL Rivals without understanding NFTs; it is only necessary for those who want to engage in ownership.
The game was downloaded nearly a million times within a month of launch and ranked #1 in the sports and action categories on the App Store. Total revenue increased 10-15% after the platform added secondary trading to NFL Rivals, reflecting players’ belief that Web3 assets are valuable. Players can merge or burn assets and then trade new ones.
A win-win situation for players, developers and the economy through in-game asset trading
Mythical launched Quick Trades, where players agree to trade assets without any money changing hands, and settled with Apple and Google, making them immediately available in the mobile game. The deals are priced on the market in real time. According to Linden, the NFL Rivals secondary market increased from 100 to 7,000 trades per day shortly after Quick Trades became available.
Essentially, Mythical buys a card from a seller and then sells it to a buyer in real time. One transaction may involve multiple parties, but for the gamer it is an equal transaction. Game developers also benefit because they generate transaction fees for these transactions, which generates a lot of value for the economy.
Smart contracts process and secure transactions between Web3 titles
Smart contracts support, process and secure asset transactions in Web3 games. These self-executing blockchain programs do this by writing the terms of the relevant agreement into lines of code. They automate transaction management, guarantee the authenticity of every transaction, enforce rules, manage prize pools, and can even automate dispute resolution.
Characters, skins and weapons are stored as NFTs or cryptocurrencies on a decentralized ledger, and players link blockchain wallets to the game. Wallets serve as a gateway for collecting rewards, managing in-game items and making transactions, and can hold assets earned in-game. Blockchains enable verifiable statistics and transparent leaderboards, ensuring trustworthy exchanges and transparent ownership.
The innovative technology enables a higher quality of games that come onto the market. It is a fact that the number of blockchain gaming companies has dwindled because becoming mainstream is harder and takes longer than many expect. However, in the end there will be games from successful developers that have been in the works for years. One of these is Pudgy Party, a Fall Guys-type game that will be available on Android and iOS. Players will use clothing, hats, glasses, and other accessories, and holders of Pudgy Penguins NFTs may be able to use them in the game.
Decentralized sports, made possible by the people
DAOs are changing the sport by giving power to the community instead of investors. A DAO allows fans to manage a sports team and decide on budgeting, hiring, marketing and sponsorship. It can build a decentralized sports league where teams compete based on fair and transparent incentives and rules.
DAOs can also organize and fund championships, tournaments or charity matches involving multiple sponsors and stakeholders, ultimately creating a diverse and vibrant sporting community. This is a nice alternative to supporting a sports team while not being able to make decisions that affect it and standing on the sidelines while major stakeholders sell and taking money from the club.
While players have always supported ownership, their focus has shifted from short-term profit to long-term commitment. The once-successful play-to-earn model has declined, with player interest waning and funding for Web3 games declining more than 70% in the first quarter of 2025. The model made the mistake of tying rewards to token prices, making gameplay dependent on unstable markets.
Verified digital collectibles allow fans to own the moment
Digital sports collectibles represent ownership of player highlights, digital trading cards and other unique sports-related assets, authenticated using blockchain technology. The sensation of rarity underlies the appeal of both physical and digital sports memorabilia. However, unique versions and limited editions associated with specific achievements or milestones took this concept one step further.
The unique code of each digital item guarantees a limit, making it highly desirable for collectors. Unlike traditional memorabilia, which is vulnerable to counterfeiting, blockchain verifies the scarcity and authenticity of digital collectibles, allowing them to be displayed without concerns about physical storage.
Bringing games to mobile increases global access to competitive sports
The ubiquity of mobile devices has made participation in Web3 gaming easier for a wider range of players. Football has billions of fans worldwide. Mythical Games put a Web3 spin on the sport with FIFA Rivals, attracting a larger, mainstream audience that wasn’t necessarily familiar with blockchain gaming.
Mobile gaming is the largest market segment by number of players and revenue, and launching a high-profile Web3 game on mobile significantly lowers the barriers to entry compared to console or PC titles. Approved and licensed by FIFA, FIFA Rivals allows participants to collect player cards and create a fantasy team, participate in active or simulated matches against other players or AI, and train, upgrade or strategize with the players they have collected.
Interconnected worlds are the next frontier for athletes, players and developers
The prospects for the latest generation of Web3 games are inspiring. NFTs for cross-game athletes are emerging as a new application in gaming and sports. These NFTs would allow athletes to represent themselves in different virtual worlds and potentially integrate into different games. A holder of a rare NFT in one game can use it as a collectible in another, increasing the number of games and activities they participate in.
Cross-game NFTs can provide new marketing opportunities for game developers as they will collaborate with other platforms and titles to highlight them, building an interconnected ecosystem that promotes multiple games at the same time. Such integrations would create a more expansive metaverse, where experiences and resources can flow freely instead of being limited to a single game, increasing the efficiency of marketing efforts.