Introduction

Despite negative sentiment in recent times, the intersection between crypto and gaming continues to draw attention from traditional developers eager to explore this sector. With so many different ecosystems and developer tools on the market, it can be difficult to know where to start. While it’s relatively easy to dig up a list of technical specifications, theoretical performance metrics, and claims of UX/UI superiority of a given blockchain, it’s harder to find first-hand accounts of gaming founders that are already building on the front lines.

“In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” – Albert Einstein.

In this report, we shine a light on those founders by taking a look at select blockchains and L2s through the lens of gaming. We consider their differences in security, throughput, cost to users, and business models. Next, we provide insight into the minds of industry pioneers and their experiences building on their respective platforms. We take a qualitative approach in our research, utilizing an interview structure whereby we ask each founder the same 3 questions about their respective chosen blockchain to help us understand what it’s like to build on them as a gaming founder. Finally, we introduce abstraction layers and explore what they might mean for the future of building blockchain games.

Crypto gaming received $3B in private market investments in 2021. This year, crypto games received $1.7B in investments in Q1 and $1.2B in Q2. The investments in these two quarters accounted for 56% and 59% of investment in the entire gaming industry, respectively. Given the activity surrounding blockchain gaming, it may come as no surprise that gaming is a category Delphi continues to be strongly focused on. However, the decision of which platform to build on remains a tricky one to answer for builders entering the space.

When looking at the secondary volumes for the overall NFT market, it is undeniable that Ethereum is king. This is undoubtedly due to its netw