History of GameFi Development: From Ponzi Games to the Metaverse

Since the launch of the Ethereum mainnet in 2015, the Web3 era has officially begun. The booming development of DeFi and NFTs has provided fertile ground for GameFi, and the GameFi concept, which combines DeFi and blockchain gaming, has started to emerge.

In 2017, CryptoKitties, as the first phenomenal DAPP, landed on Ethereum, marking the beginning of the GameFi 1.0 era. Most GameFi projects during this period were simple Ponzi games, lacking a complete financial system and gameplay.

In 2020, Andre Cronje elaborated on the concept of GameFi, predicting that the future of DeFi would evolve into a gamified financial stage. The era of GameFi 2.0 has arrived, and the "play-to-earn" model represented by Axie Infinity has become a hot topic. Axie Infinity combined complex financial mechanisms with gaming for the first time, creating an engaging NFT creature world.

The Sandbox showcases the potential of combining traditional IP with blockchain technology. It inherits the UGC model of past sandbox games and provides copyright protection for creators through blockchain technology. The success of The Sandbox has attracted significant investments from institutions like SoftBank.

GameFi is currently transitioning to the 3.0 era. On-chain gaming has become a new trend, running all game logic, data, and assets on the blockchain. The integration with new technologies such as AI and the Internet of Things has also brought new development opportunities for GameFi.

The future development direction of GameFi may be to create games with high playability that include a complete financial system. The introduction of traditional game IPs may become a breakthrough point. Whoever can be the first to bring outstanding game IPs to blockchain will have the opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in the GameFi field.