SKALE is a gas-free, invisible blockchain network that offers developers a flexible platform for building high-performance applications. Positioned as a network of interoperable Layer 1s (L1), SKALE offers seamless scaling of EVM dapps, benefitting from Ethereum’s security model while overcoming its scalability limitations.
SKALE operates through app-specific L1 chains, called SKALE chains, that are tailored to the needs of individual decentralized applications (dApps). SKALE chains offer developers their own private throughput, ensuring that games deployed on SKALE can run optimally (no congestion, no crashes, no lag) without competing for resources with other dApps. DApps that don't need the full resources of their own SKALE chain can deploy on hub chains shared by multiple dApps like the Nebula Gaming Hub.
This unique architectural choice provides game developers with significant flexibility, allowing them to customize their chain’s performance, security settings, and resources based on their own needs and their users’ needs. The horizontal scalability of SKALE enables the network to handle thousands of TPS for a virtually unlimited amount of SKALE chains, eliminating the possibility of network congestion and, thus, allowing for lightning-fast transactions. This model improves throughput and is also the mechanism behind SKALE’s zero gas fees. Instead of collecting gas fees, SKALE generates revenue through subscription fees from developers paying monthly for their SKALE chains. These features equate to SKALE offering a highly competitive and robust development environment for game designers to build and seamlessly onboard both Web2 and Web3 gamers.
Gaming, In General, In 2024
The global gaming industry has seen incredible growth over the past decade, largely fueled by technological advances that have made games more immersive, with better graphics and smoother performance. Recently, however, things have started to cool down. In 2023, the gaming market brought in $187 billion—still an impressive figure—but down about $26 billion (or 12% YoY) when adjusted for inflation compared to previous years.
Much of the growth over the past decade came from mobile gaming, which exploded in popularity. However, the market has become quite saturated, resulting in a slowdown over the past few years. The gaming industry grew at a solid 8.2% annually over the last ten years, but 2023 marked a turning point, signaling a shift toward more moderate and sustainable growth.
Mobile gaming has been the real game-changer, driving nearly 75% of the industry’s overall expansion and adding $62 billion annually. With a growth rate of over 10%, mobile gaming made gaming accessible to a much wider audience - globally estimated at over 3 million gamers in 2024. In contrast, traditional console and PC gaming grew at a slower pace, just 2.8%.
Web3 Gaming
In contrast to the slowdown in the traditional global gaming industry, Web3 gaming has been capturing significant attention and generating overall market growth. In April 2024, Web3 gaming accounted for 30% of total dApp activity, with 2.1 million daily active wallets (DAWs). This is a very impressive stat when you consider the rich ecosystem built around DeFi alone, and it showcases just how high of a demand there is for quality gaming experiences on the blockchain.
Emerging ecosystems such as SKALE indicate increasing interest from major Web2 players. New platforms, along with gaming-focused blockchain networks, are positioning themselves to challenge established gaming platforms by offering superior performance, low transaction costs, and user ownership through blockchain technology.
However, the traditional gaming sector still holds some advantages in areas like graphics quality. Traditional AAA games and consoles generally provide unmatched production values and immersive experiences that Web3 games have yet to fully match, not to mention sizable marketing budgets to attract users.
SKALE is making significant strides in addressing the challenges faced by Web3 gaming to date. SKALE’s unique approach focuses on enhancing the user experience through several key innovations, including gasless transactions, easy onboarding via an invisible blockchain experience, and highly scalable gaming chains that improve gameplay. By focusing on user-friendly, scalable solutions, SKALE is helping usher in a new era of blockchain gaming that can compete with and eventually complement the traditional gaming sector.
Why SKALE Is Dominating Gaming
No Gas Fees
A major barrier to entry for most blockchain gaming projects is gas fees. New users will have to create and manage wallets and ensure they are well-funded to cover the ample number of transactions (and associated costs) involved in getting started in most blockchain gaming ecosystems. Not to mention, gas fees disrupt the gameplay experience.
Thankfully, SKALE eliminates this pain point by employing its subscription-based model, where developers pay a fixed fee to access SKALE’s resources (blockspace) rather than passing transaction costs to users/gamers. This makes the platform more cost-effective and predictable, allowing developers to budget efficiently and onboard users seamlessly, even on Web2 platforms like the Epic Games Store, which currently has 5 SKALE-built games. By removing the burden of gas fees, SKALE enables developers to focus on technical improvements instead of cost management, creating an invisible blockchain experience and, thus, a faster path to adoption.
SKALE’s gasless transaction model fuels innovation and mass adoption. Ethereum users experienced significant issues during the 2020/2021 boom when demand for the network surged, resulting in transaction costs skyrocketing to over $100 for even minor contract interactions. This priced out many users and led to a renaissance in blockchain architecture, giving rise to Layer 1 alternatives, Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, and modular blockchain designs. SKALE, having pioneered the app-chain subscription model since 2019, addresses these issues directly. While other Layer 1s and Layer 2s offer low transaction fees, none match SKALE’s sustainable economic model with completely free on-chain transacting for users.
SKALE’s unique architecture allows users to interact with blockchain applications in a familiar way—like using traditional Web2 apps such as the Epic Games Store—without the complexity of transaction fees (players on Epic don't even realize they are processing transactions). This approach creates a user-first, developer-friendly ecosystem that stands out in the broader blockchain space.
The versatility of SKALE’s fast and free architecture has driven massive ecosystem growth across different sectors of the network, including gaming and AI. This has been universally important for SKALE in its battle to attract developers away from other platforms. Users, on the other hand, are coming to SKALE for seamless, gas-free interactions, allowing them to enjoy high-quality applications unburdened by traditional blockchain hurdles.
As a result, SKALE’s zero-gas architecture has saved users over $8.5 billion in gas fees compared to Ethereum. While some critics argue that Layer 2 solutions offer low-cost alternatives, the reality is that if the 129 trillion units of gas consumed on SKALE were processed on other EVM-compatible blockchains, the fees would still range from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. SKALE's solution provides an unparalleled advantage in reducing transaction costs for both developers and users.
Ease of Use
SKALE aims to deliver an “invisible blockchain experience” for developers and traditional gamers, particularly those from Web2. By abstracting away the complexities of blockchain, SKALE allows developers to integrate wallet functionality without forcing users to manage wallets or hold tokens. This means that players can enjoy blockchain-powered games without ever needing to deal with gas fees or complex wallet setups, a crucial step in attracting non-Web3 users.
Moreover, SKALE’s impact is already visible, with five blockchain-enabled games now available on the Epic Games Store. This exposure on a mainstream gaming platform marks a significant milestone in bridging the gap between traditional and Web3 gamers. SKALE’s ability to deliver a familiar gaming experience while utilizing blockchain in the background makes it easier for developers to reach a broader audience, including those unfamiliar with or hesitant to engage with blockchain technology. With no need for tokens or complex technical hurdles, SKALE is enabling the next wave of blockchain gaming adoption.
High Throughput
The recent launch of SKALE Block Explorer 2.0 introduced a brand-new user interface alongside comprehensive historical chain statistics and an improved token interface, making the platform more accessible to developers. These tools allow for faster contract verification and high-speed deployment, which are essential for supporting the rapid iteration cycles that modern gaming demands.
The upgrades to SKALE’s consensus mechanism in the Pacifica V3 Upgrade further enhance its performance, enabling 166% faster block confirmations, which leads to smoother and more responsive gameplay. As gaming dApps grow in complexity and user base, SKALE’s core functions must continue to operate at an elevated level to accommodate these demands. Recent performance upgrades have significantly increased transaction throughput, a key metric for gaming applications requiring high real-time transaction volumes.
In a study conducted by Dartmouth Blockchain, SKALE was shown to process 397.7 transactions per second (TPS), outpacing its closest competitor, Solana, which capped at 375.31 TPS. This performance boost positions SKALE as one of the most capable platforms for hosting high-throughput gaming dApps, where rapid transactions are necessary for seamless gameplay. Moreover, SKALE’s architecture—comprising over 20 interoperable EVM blockchains—allows the network to scale indefinitely, with a theoretical TPS of 7,954. This scalability provides a massive advantage for gaming ecosystems that require sustained, high performance without sacrificing user experience.
When compared to other blockchains, SKALE’s time-to-finality (TTF) is competitive at 1.46 seconds—significantly faster than competitors like Fantom and Avalanche. In comparison, Ethereum’s TTF is approximately 17 minutes, underscoring SKALE’s advanced performance versus monolithic L1s like Ethereum. This rapid TTF is critical for gaming developers in creating responsive and fluid gaming environments where players experience minimal latency.
2024 Gaming on SKALE Check-In
SKALE’s focus on creating a seamless gaming experience, key user incentives, and a focus on developers has allowed the chain to become the largest gaming chain in the world by daily and weekly active users. In August 2024, SKALE surpassed Near, Base, and other blockchains in daily average gaming UAW and has averaged more than 500k daily average gaming UAW in the past 30 days - an impressive statistic, especially within an otherwise sideways market.
The best part for SKALE is that the majority of this growth has taken place within the past year, growing from sparse activity in 2023 to 500,000+ daily gamers and over 4 million active wallets across SKALE per month.
This growth has predominantly occurred on SKALE’s Nebula Hub, the home of gas-free gaming. Nebula has been a primary catalyst for driving up user activity, transactions, and even developer activity for SKALE overall. This is thanks to several games that have been launched on Nebula over the past year, which have continued to keep users engaged and using SKALE. This includes projects like MotoDex, World of Dypians, Ballers City, Heroes Battle Arena, and others. As illustrated in the transaction chart below, SKALE is experiencing huge growth in 2024 as more game developers find the tools they need within the SKALE ecosystem.
Top Gaming Projects on SKALE
As of 2024, SKALE already has a thriving ecosystem of gaming and consumer-focused dApps, with the total count reaching over 70. These dApps drive millions in monthly active wallets and generate millions of transactions on SKALE, all at zero cost to the user. Within the ecosystem are several coveted gaming projects, discussed below, some of which are built on the Nebula Hub. At the time of writing, SKALE currently has 15 dApps with over 10k UAW in the past 30 days, a statistic that shows true usage across a range of dApps.
Nebula Hub on SKALE is a dedicated blockchain environment specifically designed to support gaming projects. It functions as a shared compute environment that allows gaming applications to benefit from SKALE’s zero gas fee model and high scalability, making it an ideal platform for Web3 gaming. Developers from other EVM-based chains can easily migrate to Nebula, significantly reducing the costs associated with running decentralized games while offering users seamless, fee-free interactions.
Essentially, Nebula aggregates a variety of gaming projects onto one chain, providing a community-driven platform where games can leverage blockchain technology for features like in-game asset ownership and provable ownership of NFTs. The architecture of SKALE ensures that Nebula offers unparalleled scalability and performance, accommodating the needs of both browser-based, mobile, and Web3 games. Because of this, Nebula is a key reason why SKALE has been able to attract and retain gamers to its various titles, significantly reducing the barrier to entry.
Haven’s Compass
Haven’s Compass is one of the most advanced first-person shooter (FPS) games ever released on blockchain and is available on the Epic Games Store. Developed by Ghost Ivy, the game leverages Unreal Engine 5.2, allowing it to have highly advanced graphics capabilities like more immersive environments and dynamic shading. The game itself offers both multiplayer and single-player modes, allowing players to compete against one another (or not) in skill-based combat challenges across a variety of maps.
Haven’s Compass includes NFTs within the game to represent important items such as weapons, character skins, and other accessories, granting players real ownership over their collected in-game assets. Players can then take these NFTs and trade or sell them through a secondary value exchange market, though this feature is optional. The optionality here is important as it allows players to essentially opt out of the tokenization aspects of the game and just focus on the experience itself. Similarly, Haven’s Compass offers a free-to-play model that is tailored toward players simply looking for a rewarding gaming experience, reducing the financial barrier to entry that many blockchain gaming titles face.
To date, Haven’s Compass has successfully attracted active gamers to its ecosystem, with DappRadar indicating that over 150,000 unique active wallets have engaged with the game in the last 30 days.
motoDEX
MotoDEX is a blockchain-based motorcycle racing game built on the SKALE Network, offering a blend of high-speed competition and decentralized gaming experiences. It allows players to race, develop their riders, and improve their racing tracks, leveraging NFTs for in-game assets like characters, tracks, and health capsules. Each asset is unique, tradeable, and can increase in value over time, making the game both engaging and rewarding for players.
The game has sustained traction, with over 1 million UAW and over 1.6 million on-chain transactions, all processed without gas fees. This setup offers a seamless experience, fully immersing users in the competitive racing environment without interruptions.
StrayShot
StrayShot is a third-person battle royale shooter built on SKALE, available on the Epic Games Store, offering fast-paced, competitive gameplay reminiscent of popular titles like PUBG. Developed by iBLOXX Studios, StrayShot introduces unique mechanics that integrate blockchain technology, allowing players to own and trade in-game assets as NFTs. These assets include character skins, weapons, and even licensed NFTs of NBA stars LaMelo and Lonzo Ball, who are featured in the game as special character NFTs with distinct military-style outfits.
The game focuses heavily on competitive multiplayer matches where players can accumulate points and qualify for exclusive rewards in weekly and monthly challenges. Players control bounty hunters in intense firefights, with the goal of outlasting rivals to secure victory. This blend of strategic shooting mechanics and the ownership of digital assets creates a dynamic ecosystem that sets StrayShot apart from traditional shooters.
World of Dypians
World of Dypians is an immersive Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that has rapidly gained traction since its launch on the SKALE Network. Available on the Epic Games Store since December 2023, World of Dypians has achieved over 180,000 downloads.
In terms of gameplay, World of Dypians emphasizes community building and user-generated content, allowing players to create and manage their own virtual experiences. The game features AI-powered NPCs that enhance immersion and contribute to the dynamic, ever-changing world. The gameplay includes a variety of interactive elements like on-chain events, in-game economies, and real-world brand integrations where players can engage with businesses directly inside the game.
Players can also collect and utilize NFTs to customize their avatars, participate in exclusive events, and even own virtual land. These NFTs range from character skins to mounts and in-game assets, contributing to a player-driven economy. World of Dypians Land NFTs allow players to own and develop unique plots of land within the game's universe, creating a personalized experience that further enhances gameplay.
Comparison to Other Chains
Ronin, developed by Sky Mavis, is an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed to enhance Axie Infinity’s scalability and affordability by enabling faster transactions and reducing costs for players. Like SKALE, it supports EVM-compatible smart contracts for building high-performance blockchain projects. Initially based on a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus, Ronin transitioned to Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS), allowing token holders to delegate RON tokens to 26 validators, including 12 initially selected by the team for governance. In contrast to Ronin's single-chain structure, SKALE operates as a network of multiple customizable chains, with each chain tailored to specific applications, providing developers with more flexibility.
Another big name in the blockchain gaming world is Immutable X. ImmutableX is a Layer 2 blockchain solution optimized for gaming, utilizing zk-rollups to batch transactions off-chain and submit cryptographic proofs to Ethereum, significantly improving throughput and latency. Developed by Immutable, it offers zero gas fees, enabling seamless NFT minting and trading while maintaining Ethereum’s security through Starkware's StarkEx technology. In 2024, Immutable expanded with Immutable zkEVM, an EVM-compatible Layer 2 zk-rollup, facilitating easy migration of Ethereum-based games, much like SKALE’s model. Despite its robust infrastructure and growing ecosystem, most Immutable X games trail Nebula chain games in daily active users (UAWs).
Avalanche L1s, formerly known as subnets, provide a customizable solution for blockchain games with rapid finality and scalability. These specialized appchains, validated by a subset of Avalanche’s primary network, offer developers the flexibility to launch games with tailored virtual machines (VMs), gas fee structures, and token standards, supporting EVM, WASM, or Avalanche-native VMs. Gaming projects can integrate compliance features like KYC or proprietary gas tokens without compromising usability. Avalanche’s subnet architecture distributes workloads across multiple chains, ensuring stable performance by isolating network congestion. With sub-second finality, Avalanche L1s enable fast transactions critical for multiplayer and NFT-based games. However, despite the success of Off the Grid, the ecosystem remains early in adoption, with only a few chains gaining meaningful traction in blockchain gaming.
Among all of these blockchain gaming platforms, SKALE demonstrates the strongest overall traction and adoption, as reflected in key metrics. Over the past 30 days, SKALE processed 37.95 million transactions, surpassing Ronin's 33.61 million and significantly outpacing Immutable X’s zkEVM at 6.11 million and Avalanche’s C-Chain with 423.64k. While Ronin leads in unique active wallets (UAW) with 3.69 million, SKALE follows closely with 2.28 million—outperforming Immutable X’s 1.96 million and far exceeding Avalanche’s 84.98k. SKALE's ability to support dedicated chains for individual games, along with its gas-free transactions, positions it as a top contender in the blockchain gaming space, offering both scalability and a seamless user experience. With higher transaction volumes and competitive UAW figures, SKALE is proving itself as a robust platform, closing the gap between Web2 and Web3 gaming more effectively than its competitors.
Conclusion
SKALE’s development of its gaming arm has allowed the chain to secure an impressive dominance over the sector in 2024. By leveraging an invisible blockchain experience, zero gas fees, and an emphasis on developer flexibility, SKALE has positioned itself as a leading platform for Web3 gaming, evidenced by its high market share of overall active users and rich gaming ecosystem.
With gaming-specific chains like Nebula Hub driving unprecedented levels of activity, SKALE is not only catering to current market demands but also shaping the future of decentralized gaming. The successes of flagship titles such as Haven’s Compass, MotoDEX, and World of Dypians highlight the platform’s ability to attract and retain a large user base, offering immersive experiences while integrating blockchain features like NFT ownership and player-driven economies.
Keep up with new games on SKALE with the SKALE Ecosystem Page.
Disclaimer: This report was commissioned by Skale Labs. This research report is exactly that — a research report. It is not intended to serve as financial advice, nor should you blindly assume that any of the information is accurate without confirming through your own research. Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets are incredibly risky and nothing in this report should be considered an endorsement to buy or sell any asset. Never invest more than you are willing to lose and understand the risk that you are taking. Do your own research. All information in this report is for educational purposes only and should not be the basis for any investment decisions that you make.
SKALE is a gas-free, invisible blockchain network that offers developers a flexible platform for building high-performance applications. Positioned as a network of interoperable Layer 1s (L1), SKALE offers seamless scaling of EVM dapps, benefitting from Ethereum’s security model while overcoming its scalability limitations.
SKALE operates through app-specific L1 chains, called SKALE chains, that are tailored to the needs of individual decentralized applications (dApps). SKALE chains offer developers their own private throughput, ensuring that games deployed on SKALE can run optimally (no congestion, no crashes, no lag) without competing for resources with other dApps. DApps that don't need the full resources of their own SKALE chain can deploy on hub chains shared by multiple dApps like the Nebula Gaming Hub.
This unique architectural choice provides game developers with significant flexibility, allowing them to customize their chain’s performance, security settings, and resources based on their own needs and their users’ needs. The horizontal scalability of SKALE enables the network to handle thousands of TPS for a virtually unlimited amount of SKALE chains, eliminating the possibility of network congestion and, thus, allowing for lightning-fast transactions. This model improves throughput and is also the mechanism behind SKALE’s zero gas fees. Instead of collecting gas fees, SKALE generates revenue through subscription fees from developers paying monthly for their SKALE chains. These features equate to SKALE offering a highly competitive and robust development environment for game designers to build and seamlessly onboard both Web2 and Web3 gamers.
Gaming, In General, In 2024
The global gaming industry has seen incredible growth over the past decade, largely fueled by technological advances that have made games more immersive, with better graphics and smoother performance. Recently, however, things have started to cool down. In 2023, the gaming market brought in $187 billion—still an impressive figure—but down about $26 billion (or 12% YoY) when adjusted for inflation compared to previous years.
Much of the growth over the past decade came from mobile gaming, which exploded in popularity. However, the market has become quite saturated, resulting in a slowdown over the past few years. The gaming industry grew at a solid 8.2% annually over the last ten years, but 2023 marked a turning point, signaling a shift toward more moderate and sustainable growth.
Mobile gaming has been the real game-changer, driving nearly 75% of the industry’s overall expansion and adding $62 billion annually. With a growth rate of over 10%, mobile gaming made gaming accessible to a much wider audience - globally estimated at over 3 million gamers in 2024. In contrast, traditional console and PC gaming grew at a slower pace, just 2.8%.
Web3 Gaming
In contrast to the slowdown in the traditional global gaming industry, Web3 gaming has been capturing significant attention and generating overall market growth. In April 2024, Web3 gaming accounted for 30% of total dApp activity, with 2.1 million daily active wallets (DAWs). This is a very impressive stat when you consider the rich ecosystem built around DeFi alone, and it showcases just how high of a demand there is for quality gaming experiences on the blockchain.
Emerging ecosystems such as SKALE indicate increasing interest from major Web2 players. New platforms, along with gaming-focused blockchain networks, are positioning themselves to challenge established gaming platforms by offering superior performance, low transaction costs, and user ownership through blockchain technology.
However, the traditional gaming sector still holds some advantages in areas like graphics quality. Traditional AAA games and consoles generally provide unmatched production values and immersive experiences that Web3 games have yet to fully match, not to mention sizable marketing budgets to attract users.
SKALE is making significant strides in addressing the challenges faced by Web3 gaming to date. SKALE’s unique approach focuses on enhancing the user experience through several key innovations, including gasless transactions, easy onboarding via an invisible blockchain experience, and highly scalable gaming chains that improve gameplay. By focusing on user-friendly, scalable solutions, SKALE is helping usher in a new era of blockchain gaming that can compete with and eventually complement the traditional gaming sector.
Why SKALE Is Dominating Gaming
No Gas Fees
A major barrier to entry for most blockchain gaming projects is gas fees. New users will have to create and manage wallets and ensure they are well-funded to cover the ample number of transactions (and associated costs) involved in getting started in most blockchain gaming ecosystems. Not to mention, gas fees disrupt the gameplay experience.
Thankfully, SKALE eliminates this pain point by employing its subscription-based model, where developers pay a fixed fee to access SKALE’s resources (blockspace) rather than passing transaction costs to users/gamers. This makes the platform more cost-effective and predictable, allowing developers to budget efficiently and onboard users seamlessly, even on Web2 platforms like the Epic Games Store, which currently has 5 SKALE-built games. By removing the burden of gas fees, SKALE enables developers to focus on technical improvements instead of cost management, creating an invisible blockchain experience and, thus, a faster path to adoption.
SKALE’s gasless transaction model fuels innovation and mass adoption. Ethereum users experienced significant issues during the 2020/2021 boom when demand for the network surged, resulting in transaction costs skyrocketing to over $100 for even minor contract interactions. This priced out many users and led to a renaissance in blockchain architecture, giving rise to Layer 1 alternatives, Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, and modular blockchain designs. SKALE, having pioneered the app-chain subscription model since 2019, addresses these issues directly. While other Layer 1s and Layer 2s offer low transaction fees, none match SKALE’s sustainable economic model with completely free on-chain transacting for users.
SKALE’s unique architecture allows users to interact with blockchain applications in a familiar way—like using traditional Web2 apps such as the Epic Games Store—without the complexity of transaction fees (players on Epic don't even realize they are processing transactions). This approach creates a user-first, developer-friendly ecosystem that stands out in the broader blockchain space.
The versatility of SKALE’s fast and free architecture has driven massive ecosystem growth across different sectors of the network, including gaming and AI. This has been universally important for SKALE in its battle to attract developers away from other platforms. Users, on the other hand, are coming to SKALE for seamless, gas-free interactions, allowing them to enjoy high-quality applications unburdened by traditional blockchain hurdles.
As a result, SKALE’s zero-gas architecture has saved users over $8.5 billion in gas fees compared to Ethereum. While some critics argue that Layer 2 solutions offer low-cost alternatives, the reality is that if the 129 trillion units of gas consumed on SKALE were processed on other EVM-compatible blockchains, the fees would still range from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. SKALE's solution provides an unparalleled advantage in reducing transaction costs for both developers and users.
Ease of Use
SKALE aims to deliver an “invisible blockchain experience” for developers and traditional gamers, particularly those from Web2. By abstracting away the complexities of blockchain, SKALE allows developers to integrate wallet functionality without forcing users to manage wallets or hold tokens. This means that players can enjoy blockchain-powered games without ever needing to deal with gas fees or complex wallet setups, a crucial step in attracting non-Web3 users.
Moreover, SKALE’s impact is already visible, with five blockchain-enabled games now available on the Epic Games Store. This exposure on a mainstream gaming platform marks a significant milestone in bridging the gap between traditional and Web3 gamers. SKALE’s ability to deliver a familiar gaming experience while utilizing blockchain in the background makes it easier for developers to reach a broader audience, including those unfamiliar with or hesitant to engage with blockchain technology. With no need for tokens or complex technical hurdles, SKALE is enabling the next wave of blockchain gaming adoption.
High Throughput
The recent launch of SKALE Block Explorer 2.0 introduced a brand-new user interface alongside comprehensive historical chain statistics and an improved token interface, making the platform more accessible to developers. These tools allow for faster contract verification and high-speed deployment, which are essential for supporting the rapid iteration cycles that modern gaming demands.
The upgrades to SKALE’s consensus mechanism in the Pacifica V3 Upgrade further enhance its performance, enabling 166% faster block confirmations, which leads to smoother and more responsive gameplay. As gaming dApps grow in complexity and user base, SKALE’s core functions must continue to operate at an elevated level to accommodate these demands. Recent performance upgrades have significantly increased transaction throughput, a key metric for gaming applications requiring high real-time transaction volumes.
In a study conducted by Dartmouth Blockchain, SKALE was shown to process 397.7 transactions per second (TPS), outpacing its closest competitor, Solana, which capped at 375.31 TPS. This performance boost positions SKALE as one of the most capable platforms for hosting high-throughput gaming dApps, where rapid transactions are necessary for seamless gameplay. Moreover, SKALE’s architecture—comprising over 20 interoperable EVM blockchains—allows the network to scale indefinitely, with a theoretical TPS of 7,954. This scalability provides a massive advantage for gaming ecosystems that require sustained, high performance without sacrificing user experience.
When compared to other blockchains, SKALE’s time-to-finality (TTF) is competitive at 1.46 seconds—significantly faster than competitors like Fantom and Avalanche. In comparison, Ethereum’s TTF is approximately 17 minutes, underscoring SKALE’s advanced performance versus monolithic L1s like Ethereum. This rapid TTF is critical for gaming developers in creating responsive and fluid gaming environments where players experience minimal latency.
2024 Gaming on SKALE Check-In
SKALE’s focus on creating a seamless gaming experience, key user incentives, and a focus on developers has allowed the chain to become the largest gaming chain in the world by daily and weekly active users. In August 2024, SKALE surpassed Near, Base, and other blockchains in daily average gaming UAW and has averaged more than 500k daily average gaming UAW in the past 30 days - an impressive statistic, especially within an otherwise sideways market.
The best part for SKALE is that the majority of this growth has taken place within the past year, growing from sparse activity in 2023 to 500,000+ daily gamers and over 4 million active wallets across SKALE per month.
This growth has predominantly occurred on SKALE’s Nebula Hub, the home of gas-free gaming. Nebula has been a primary catalyst for driving up user activity, transactions, and even developer activity for SKALE overall. This is thanks to several games that have been launched on Nebula over the past year, which have continued to keep users engaged and using SKALE. This includes projects like MotoDex, World of Dypians, Ballers City, Heroes Battle Arena, and others. As illustrated in the transaction chart below, SKALE is experiencing huge growth in 2024 as more game developers find the tools they need within the SKALE ecosystem.
Top Gaming Projects on SKALE
As of 2024, SKALE already has a thriving ecosystem of gaming and consumer-focused dApps, with the total count reaching over 70. These dApps drive millions in monthly active wallets and generate millions of transactions on SKALE, all at zero cost to the user. Within the ecosystem are several coveted gaming projects, discussed below, some of which are built on the Nebula Hub. At the time of writing, SKALE currently has 15 dApps with over 10k UAW in the past 30 days, a statistic that shows true usage across a range of dApps.
Nebula Hub on SKALE is a dedicated blockchain environment specifically designed to support gaming projects. It functions as a shared compute environment that allows gaming applications to benefit from SKALE’s zero gas fee model and high scalability, making it an ideal platform for Web3 gaming. Developers from other EVM-based chains can easily migrate to Nebula, significantly reducing the costs associated with running decentralized games while offering users seamless, fee-free interactions.
Essentially, Nebula aggregates a variety of gaming projects onto one chain, providing a community-driven platform where games can leverage blockchain technology for features like in-game asset ownership and provable ownership of NFTs. The architecture of SKALE ensures that Nebula offers unparalleled scalability and performance, accommodating the needs of both browser-based, mobile, and Web3 games. Because of this, Nebula is a key reason why SKALE has been able to attract and retain gamers to its various titles, significantly reducing the barrier to entry.
Haven’s Compass
Haven’s Compass is one of the most advanced first-person shooter (FPS) games ever released on blockchain and is available on the Epic Games Store. Developed by Ghost Ivy, the game leverages Unreal Engine 5.2, allowing it to have highly advanced graphics capabilities like more immersive environments and dynamic shading. The game itself offers both multiplayer and single-player modes, allowing players to compete against one another (or not) in skill-based combat challenges across a variety of maps.
Haven’s Compass includes NFTs within the game to represent important items such as weapons, character skins, and other accessories, granting players real ownership over their collected in-game assets. Players can then take these NFTs and trade or sell them through a secondary value exchange market, though this feature is optional. The optionality here is important as it allows players to essentially opt out of the tokenization aspects of the game and just focus on the experience itself. Similarly, Haven’s Compass offers a free-to-play model that is tailored toward players simply looking for a rewarding gaming experience, reducing the financial barrier to entry that many blockchain gaming titles face.
To date, Haven’s Compass has successfully attracted active gamers to its ecosystem, with DappRadar indicating that over 150,000 unique active wallets have engaged with the game in the last 30 days.
motoDEX
MotoDEX is a blockchain-based motorcycle racing game built on the SKALE Network, offering a blend of high-speed competition and decentralized gaming experiences. It allows players to race, develop their riders, and improve their racing tracks, leveraging NFTs for in-game assets like characters, tracks, and health capsules. Each asset is unique, tradeable, and can increase in value over time, making the game both engaging and rewarding for players.
The game has sustained traction, with over 1 million UAW and over 1.6 million on-chain transactions, all processed without gas fees. This setup offers a seamless experience, fully immersing users in the competitive racing environment without interruptions.
StrayShot
StrayShot is a third-person battle royale shooter built on SKALE, available on the Epic Games Store, offering fast-paced, competitive gameplay reminiscent of popular titles like PUBG. Developed by iBLOXX Studios, StrayShot introduces unique mechanics that integrate blockchain technology, allowing players to own and trade in-game assets as NFTs. These assets include character skins, weapons, and even licensed NFTs of NBA stars LaMelo and Lonzo Ball, who are featured in the game as special character NFTs with distinct military-style outfits.
The game focuses heavily on competitive multiplayer matches where players can accumulate points and qualify for exclusive rewards in weekly and monthly challenges. Players control bounty hunters in intense firefights, with the goal of outlasting rivals to secure victory. This blend of strategic shooting mechanics and the ownership of digital assets creates a dynamic ecosystem that sets StrayShot apart from traditional shooters.
World of Dypians
World of Dypians is an immersive Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that has rapidly gained traction since its launch on the SKALE Network. Available on the Epic Games Store since December 2023, World of Dypians has achieved over 180,000 downloads.
In terms of gameplay, World of Dypians emphasizes community building and user-generated content, allowing players to create and manage their own virtual experiences. The game features AI-powered NPCs that enhance immersion and contribute to the dynamic, ever-changing world. The gameplay includes a variety of interactive elements like on-chain events, in-game economies, and real-world brand integrations where players can engage with businesses directly inside the game.
Players can also collect and utilize NFTs to customize their avatars, participate in exclusive events, and even own virtual land. These NFTs range from character skins to mounts and in-game assets, contributing to a player-driven economy. World of Dypians Land NFTs allow players to own and develop unique plots of land within the game's universe, creating a personalized experience that further enhances gameplay.
Comparison to Other Chains
Ronin, developed by Sky Mavis, is an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed to enhance Axie Infinity’s scalability and affordability by enabling faster transactions and reducing costs for players. Like SKALE, it supports EVM-compatible smart contracts for building high-performance blockchain projects. Initially based on a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus, Ronin transitioned to Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS), allowing token holders to delegate RON tokens to 26 validators, including 12 initially selected by the team for governance. In contrast to Ronin's single-chain structure, SKALE operates as a network of multiple customizable chains, with each chain tailored to specific applications, providing developers with more flexibility.
Another big name in the blockchain gaming world is Immutable X. ImmutableX is a Layer 2 blockchain solution optimized for gaming, utilizing zk-rollups to batch transactions off-chain and submit cryptographic proofs to Ethereum, significantly improving throughput and latency. Developed by Immutable, it offers zero gas fees, enabling seamless NFT minting and trading while maintaining Ethereum’s security through Starkware's StarkEx technology. In 2024, Immutable expanded with Immutable zkEVM, an EVM-compatible Layer 2 zk-rollup, facilitating easy migration of Ethereum-based games, much like SKALE’s model. Despite its robust infrastructure and growing ecosystem, most Immutable X games trail Nebula chain games in daily active users (UAWs).
Avalanche L1s, formerly known as subnets, provide a customizable solution for blockchain games with rapid finality and scalability. These specialized appchains, validated by a subset of Avalanche’s primary network, offer developers the flexibility to launch games with tailored virtual machines (VMs), gas fee structures, and token standards, supporting EVM, WASM, or Avalanche-native VMs. Gaming projects can integrate compliance features like KYC or proprietary gas tokens without compromising usability. Avalanche’s subnet architecture distributes workloads across multiple chains, ensuring stable performance by isolating network congestion. With sub-second finality, Avalanche L1s enable fast transactions critical for multiplayer and NFT-based games. However, despite the success of Off the Grid, the ecosystem remains early in adoption, with only a few chains gaining meaningful traction in blockchain gaming.
Among all of these blockchain gaming platforms, SKALE demonstrates the strongest overall traction and adoption, as reflected in key metrics. Over the past 30 days, SKALE processed 37.95 million transactions, surpassing Ronin's 33.61 million and significantly outpacing Immutable X’s zkEVM at 6.11 million and Avalanche’s C-Chain with 423.64k. While Ronin leads in unique active wallets (UAW) with 3.69 million, SKALE follows closely with 2.28 million—outperforming Immutable X’s 1.96 million and far exceeding Avalanche’s 84.98k. SKALE's ability to support dedicated chains for individual games, along with its gas-free transactions, positions it as a top contender in the blockchain gaming space, offering both scalability and a seamless user experience. With higher transaction volumes and competitive UAW figures, SKALE is proving itself as a robust platform, closing the gap between Web2 and Web3 gaming more effectively than its competitors.
Conclusion
SKALE’s development of its gaming arm has allowed the chain to secure an impressive dominance over the sector in 2024. By leveraging an invisible blockchain experience, zero gas fees, and an emphasis on developer flexibility, SKALE has positioned itself as a leading platform for Web3 gaming, evidenced by its high market share of overall active users and rich gaming ecosystem.
With gaming-specific chains like Nebula Hub driving unprecedented levels of activity, SKALE is not only catering to current market demands but also shaping the future of decentralized gaming. The successes of flagship titles such as Haven’s Compass, MotoDEX, and World of Dypians highlight the platform’s ability to attract and retain a large user base, offering immersive experiences while integrating blockchain features like NFT ownership and player-driven economies.
Keep up with new games on SKALE with the SKALE Ecosystem Page.
Disclaimer: This report was commissioned by Skale Labs. This research report is exactly that — a research report. It is not intended to serve as financial advice, nor should you blindly assume that any of the information is accurate without confirming through your own research. Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets are incredibly risky and nothing in this report should be considered an endorsement to buy or sell any asset. Never invest more than you are willing to lose and understand the risk that you are taking. Do your own research. All information in this report is for educational purposes only and should not be the basis for any investment decisions that you make.
SKALE is a gas-free, invisible blockchain network that offers developers a flexible platform for building high-performance applications. Positioned as a network of interoperable Layer 1s (L1), SKALE offers seamless scaling of EVM dapps, benefitting from Ethereum’s security model while overcoming its scalability limitations.
SKALE operates through app-specific L1 chains, called SKALE chains, that are tailored to the needs of individual decentralized applications (dApps). SKALE chains offer developers their own private throughput, ensuring that games deployed on SKALE can run optimally (no congestion, no crashes, no lag) without competing for resources with other dApps. DApps that don't need the full resources of their own SKALE chain can deploy on hub chains shared by multiple dApps like the Nebula Gaming Hub.
This unique architectural choice provides game developers with significant flexibility, allowing them to customize their chain’s performance, security settings, and resources based on their own needs and their users’ needs. The horizontal scalability of SKALE enables the network to handle thousands of TPS for a virtually unlimited amount of SKALE chains, eliminating the possibility of network congestion and, thus, allowing for lightning-fast transactions. This model improves throughput and is also the mechanism behind SKALE’s zero gas fees. Instead of collecting gas fees, SKALE generates revenue through subscription fees from developers paying monthly for their SKALE chains. These features equate to SKALE offering a highly competitive and robust development environment for game designers to build and seamlessly onboard both Web2 and Web3 gamers.
Gaming, In General, In 2024
The global gaming industry has seen incredible growth over the past decade, largely fueled by technological advances that have made games more immersive, with better graphics and smoother performance. Recently, however, things have started to cool down. In 2023, the gaming market brought in $187 billion—still an impressive figure—but down about $26 billion (or 12% YoY) when adjusted for inflation compared to previous years.
Much of the growth over the past decade came from mobile gaming, which exploded in popularity. However, the market has become quite saturated, resulting in a slowdown over the past few years. The gaming industry grew at a solid 8.2% annually over the last ten years, but 2023 marked a turning point, signaling a shift toward more moderate and sustainable growth.
Mobile gaming has been the real game-changer, driving nearly 75% of the industry’s overall expansion and adding $62 billion annually. With a growth rate of over 10%, mobile gaming made gaming accessible to a much wider audience - globally estimated at over 3 million gamers in 2024. In contrast, traditional console and PC gaming grew at a slower pace, just 2.8%.
Web3 Gaming
In contrast to the slowdown in the traditional global gaming industry, Web3 gaming has been capturing significant attention and generating overall market growth. In April 2024, Web3 gaming accounted for 30% of total dApp activity, with 2.1 million daily active wallets (DAWs). This is a very impressive stat when you consider the rich ecosystem built around DeFi alone, and it showcases just how high of a demand there is for quality gaming experiences on the blockchain.
Emerging ecosystems such as SKALE indicate increasing interest from major Web2 players. New platforms, along with gaming-focused blockchain networks, are positioning themselves to challenge established gaming platforms by offering superior performance, low transaction costs, and user ownership through blockchain technology.
However, the traditional gaming sector still holds some advantages in areas like graphics quality. Traditional AAA games and consoles generally provide unmatched production values and immersive experiences that Web3 games have yet to fully match, not to mention sizable marketing budgets to attract users.
SKALE is making significant strides in addressing the challenges faced by Web3 gaming to date. SKALE’s unique approach focuses on enhancing the user experience through several key innovations, including gasless transactions, easy onboarding via an invisible blockchain experience, and highly scalable gaming chains that improve gameplay. By focusing on user-friendly, scalable solutions, SKALE is helping usher in a new era of blockchain gaming that can compete with and eventually complement the traditional gaming sector.
Why SKALE Is Dominating Gaming
No Gas Fees
A major barrier to entry for most blockchain gaming projects is gas fees. New users will have to create and manage wallets and ensure they are well-funded to cover the ample number of transactions (and associated costs) involved in getting started in most blockchain gaming ecosystems. Not to mention, gas fees disrupt the gameplay experience.
Thankfully, SKALE eliminates this pain point by employing its subscription-based model, where developers pay a fixed fee to access SKALE’s resources (blockspace) rather than passing transaction costs to users/gamers. This makes the platform more cost-effective and predictable, allowing developers to budget efficiently and onboard users seamlessly, even on Web2 platforms like the Epic Games Store, which currently has 5 SKALE-built games. By removing the burden of gas fees, SKALE enables developers to focus on technical improvements instead of cost management, creating an invisible blockchain experience and, thus, a faster path to adoption.
SKALE’s gasless transaction model fuels innovation and mass adoption. Ethereum users experienced significant issues during the 2020/2021 boom when demand for the network surged, resulting in transaction costs skyrocketing to over $100 for even minor contract interactions. This priced out many users and led to a renaissance in blockchain architecture, giving rise to Layer 1 alternatives, Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, and modular blockchain designs. SKALE, having pioneered the app-chain subscription model since 2019, addresses these issues directly. While other Layer 1s and Layer 2s offer low transaction fees, none match SKALE’s sustainable economic model with completely free on-chain transacting for users.
SKALE’s unique architecture allows users to interact with blockchain applications in a familiar way—like using traditional Web2 apps such as the Epic Games Store—without the complexity of transaction fees (players on Epic don't even realize they are processing transactions). This approach creates a user-first, developer-friendly ecosystem that stands out in the broader blockchain space.
The versatility of SKALE’s fast and free architecture has driven massive ecosystem growth across different sectors of the network, including gaming and AI. This has been universally important for SKALE in its battle to attract developers away from other platforms. Users, on the other hand, are coming to SKALE for seamless, gas-free interactions, allowing them to enjoy high-quality applications unburdened by traditional blockchain hurdles.
As a result, SKALE’s zero-gas architecture has saved users over $8.5 billion in gas fees compared to Ethereum. While some critics argue that Layer 2 solutions offer low-cost alternatives, the reality is that if the 129 trillion units of gas consumed on SKALE were processed on other EVM-compatible blockchains, the fees would still range from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. SKALE's solution provides an unparalleled advantage in reducing transaction costs for both developers and users.
Ease of Use
SKALE aims to deliver an “invisible blockchain experience” for developers and traditional gamers, particularly those from Web2. By abstracting away the complexities of blockchain, SKALE allows developers to integrate wallet functionality without forcing users to manage wallets or hold tokens. This means that players can enjoy blockchain-powered games without ever needing to deal with gas fees or complex wallet setups, a crucial step in attracting non-Web3 users.
Moreover, SKALE’s impact is already visible, with five blockchain-enabled games now available on the Epic Games Store. This exposure on a mainstream gaming platform marks a significant milestone in bridging the gap between traditional and Web3 gamers. SKALE’s ability to deliver a familiar gaming experience while utilizing blockchain in the background makes it easier for developers to reach a broader audience, including those unfamiliar with or hesitant to engage with blockchain technology. With no need for tokens or complex technical hurdles, SKALE is enabling the next wave of blockchain gaming adoption.
High Throughput
The recent launch of SKALE Block Explorer 2.0 introduced a brand-new user interface alongside comprehensive historical chain statistics and an improved token interface, making the platform more accessible to developers. These tools allow for faster contract verification and high-speed deployment, which are essential for supporting the rapid iteration cycles that modern gaming demands.
The upgrades to SKALE’s consensus mechanism in the Pacifica V3 Upgrade further enhance its performance, enabling 166% faster block confirmations, which leads to smoother and more responsive gameplay. As gaming dApps grow in complexity and user base, SKALE’s core functions must continue to operate at an elevated level to accommodate these demands. Recent performance upgrades have significantly increased transaction throughput, a key metric for gaming applications requiring high real-time transaction volumes.
In a study conducted by Dartmouth Blockchain, SKALE was shown to process 397.7 transactions per second (TPS), outpacing its closest competitor, Solana, which capped at 375.31 TPS. This performance boost positions SKALE as one of the most capable platforms for hosting high-throughput gaming dApps, where rapid transactions are necessary for seamless gameplay. Moreover, SKALE’s architecture—comprising over 20 interoperable EVM blockchains—allows the network to scale indefinitely, with a theoretical TPS of 7,954. This scalability provides a massive advantage for gaming ecosystems that require sustained, high performance without sacrificing user experience.
When compared to other blockchains, SKALE’s time-to-finality (TTF) is competitive at 1.46 seconds—significantly faster than competitors like Fantom and Avalanche. In comparison, Ethereum’s TTF is approximately 17 minutes, underscoring SKALE’s advanced performance versus monolithic L1s like Ethereum. This rapid TTF is critical for gaming developers in creating responsive and fluid gaming environments where players experience minimal latency.
2024 Gaming on SKALE Check-In
SKALE’s focus on creating a seamless gaming experience, key user incentives, and a focus on developers has allowed the chain to become the largest gaming chain in the world by daily and weekly active users. In August 2024, SKALE surpassed Near, Base, and other blockchains in daily average gaming UAW and has averaged more than 500k daily average gaming UAW in the past 30 days - an impressive statistic, especially within an otherwise sideways market.
The best part for SKALE is that the majority of this growth has taken place within the past year, growing from sparse activity in 2023 to 500,000+ daily gamers and over 4 million active wallets across SKALE per month.
This growth has predominantly occurred on SKALE’s Nebula Hub, the home of gas-free gaming. Nebula has been a primary catalyst for driving up user activity, transactions, and even developer activity for SKALE overall. This is thanks to several games that have been launched on Nebula over the past year, which have continued to keep users engaged and using SKALE. This includes projects like MotoDex, World of Dypians, Ballers City, Heroes Battle Arena, and others. As illustrated in the transaction chart below, SKALE is experiencing huge growth in 2024 as more game developers find the tools they need within the SKALE ecosystem.
Top Gaming Projects on SKALE
As of 2024, SKALE already has a thriving ecosystem of gaming and consumer-focused dApps, with the total count reaching over 70. These dApps drive millions in monthly active wallets and generate millions of transactions on SKALE, all at zero cost to the user. Within the ecosystem are several coveted gaming projects, discussed below, some of which are built on the Nebula Hub. At the time of writing, SKALE currently has 15 dApps with over 10k UAW in the past 30 days, a statistic that shows true usage across a range of dApps.
Nebula Hub on SKALE is a dedicated blockchain environment specifically designed to support gaming projects. It functions as a shared compute environment that allows gaming applications to benefit from SKALE’s zero gas fee model and high scalability, making it an ideal platform for Web3 gaming. Developers from other EVM-based chains can easily migrate to Nebula, significantly reducing the costs associated with running decentralized games while offering users seamless, fee-free interactions.
Essentially, Nebula aggregates a variety of gaming projects onto one chain, providing a community-driven platform where games can leverage blockchain technology for features like in-game asset ownership and provable ownership of NFTs. The architecture of SKALE ensures that Nebula offers unparalleled scalability and performance, accommodating the needs of both browser-based, mobile, and Web3 games. Because of this, Nebula is a key reason why SKALE has been able to attract and retain gamers to its various titles, significantly reducing the barrier to entry.
Haven’s Compass
Haven’s Compass is one of the most advanced first-person shooter (FPS) games ever released on blockchain and is available on the Epic Games Store. Developed by Ghost Ivy, the game leverages Unreal Engine 5.2, allowing it to have highly advanced graphics capabilities like more immersive environments and dynamic shading. The game itself offers both multiplayer and single-player modes, allowing players to compete against one another (or not) in skill-based combat challenges across a variety of maps.
Haven’s Compass includes NFTs within the game to represent important items such as weapons, character skins, and other accessories, granting players real ownership over their collected in-game assets. Players can then take these NFTs and trade or sell them through a secondary value exchange market, though this feature is optional. The optionality here is important as it allows players to essentially opt out of the tokenization aspects of the game and just focus on the experience itself. Similarly, Haven’s Compass offers a free-to-play model that is tailored toward players simply looking for a rewarding gaming experience, reducing the financial barrier to entry that many blockchain gaming titles face.
To date, Haven’s Compass has successfully attracted active gamers to its ecosystem, with DappRadar indicating that over 150,000 unique active wallets have engaged with the game in the last 30 days.
motoDEX
MotoDEX is a blockchain-based motorcycle racing game built on the SKALE Network, offering a blend of high-speed competition and decentralized gaming experiences. It allows players to race, develop their riders, and improve their racing tracks, leveraging NFTs for in-game assets like characters, tracks, and health capsules. Each asset is unique, tradeable, and can increase in value over time, making the game both engaging and rewarding for players.
The game has sustained traction, with over 1 million UAW and over 1.6 million on-chain transactions, all processed without gas fees. This setup offers a seamless experience, fully immersing users in the competitive racing environment without interruptions.
StrayShot
StrayShot is a third-person battle royale shooter built on SKALE, available on the Epic Games Store, offering fast-paced, competitive gameplay reminiscent of popular titles like PUBG. Developed by iBLOXX Studios, StrayShot introduces unique mechanics that integrate blockchain technology, allowing players to own and trade in-game assets as NFTs. These assets include character skins, weapons, and even licensed NFTs of NBA stars LaMelo and Lonzo Ball, who are featured in the game as special character NFTs with distinct military-style outfits.
The game focuses heavily on competitive multiplayer matches where players can accumulate points and qualify for exclusive rewards in weekly and monthly challenges. Players control bounty hunters in intense firefights, with the goal of outlasting rivals to secure victory. This blend of strategic shooting mechanics and the ownership of digital assets creates a dynamic ecosystem that sets StrayShot apart from traditional shooters.
World of Dypians
World of Dypians is an immersive Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that has rapidly gained traction since its launch on the SKALE Network. Available on the Epic Games Store since December 2023, World of Dypians has achieved over 180,000 downloads.
In terms of gameplay, World of Dypians emphasizes community building and user-generated content, allowing players to create and manage their own virtual experiences. The game features AI-powered NPCs that enhance immersion and contribute to the dynamic, ever-changing world. The gameplay includes a variety of interactive elements like on-chain events, in-game economies, and real-world brand integrations where players can engage with businesses directly inside the game.
Players can also collect and utilize NFTs to customize their avatars, participate in exclusive events, and even own virtual land. These NFTs range from character skins to mounts and in-game assets, contributing to a player-driven economy. World of Dypians Land NFTs allow players to own and develop unique plots of land within the game's universe, creating a personalized experience that further enhances gameplay.
Comparison to Other Chains
Ronin, developed by Sky Mavis, is an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed to enhance Axie Infinity’s scalability and affordability by enabling faster transactions and reducing costs for players. Like SKALE, it supports EVM-compatible smart contracts for building high-performance blockchain projects. Initially based on a Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus, Ronin transitioned to Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS), allowing token holders to delegate RON tokens to 26 validators, including 12 initially selected by the team for governance. In contrast to Ronin's single-chain structure, SKALE operates as a network of multiple customizable chains, with each chain tailored to specific applications, providing developers with more flexibility.
Another big name in the blockchain gaming world is Immutable X. ImmutableX is a Layer 2 blockchain solution optimized for gaming, utilizing zk-rollups to batch transactions off-chain and submit cryptographic proofs to Ethereum, significantly improving throughput and latency. Developed by Immutable, it offers zero gas fees, enabling seamless NFT minting and trading while maintaining Ethereum’s security through Starkware's StarkEx technology. In 2024, Immutable expanded with Immutable zkEVM, an EVM-compatible Layer 2 zk-rollup, facilitating easy migration of Ethereum-based games, much like SKALE’s model. Despite its robust infrastructure and growing ecosystem, most Immutable X games trail Nebula chain games in daily active users (UAWs).
Avalanche L1s, formerly known as subnets, provide a customizable solution for blockchain games with rapid finality and scalability. These specialized appchains, validated by a subset of Avalanche’s primary network, offer developers the flexibility to launch games with tailored virtual machines (VMs), gas fee structures, and token standards, supporting EVM, WASM, or Avalanche-native VMs. Gaming projects can integrate compliance features like KYC or proprietary gas tokens without compromising usability. Avalanche’s subnet architecture distributes workloads across multiple chains, ensuring stable performance by isolating network congestion. With sub-second finality, Avalanche L1s enable fast transactions critical for multiplayer and NFT-based games. However, despite the success of Off the Grid, the ecosystem remains early in adoption, with only a few chains gaining meaningful traction in blockchain gaming.
Among all of these blockchain gaming platforms, SKALE demonstrates the strongest overall traction and adoption, as reflected in key metrics. Over the past 30 days, SKALE processed 37.95 million transactions, surpassing Ronin's 33.61 million and significantly outpacing Immutable X’s zkEVM at 6.11 million and Avalanche’s C-Chain with 423.64k. While Ronin leads in unique active wallets (UAW) with 3.69 million, SKALE follows closely with 2.28 million—outperforming Immutable X’s 1.96 million and far exceeding Avalanche’s 84.98k. SKALE's ability to support dedicated chains for individual games, along with its gas-free transactions, positions it as a top contender in the blockchain gaming space, offering both scalability and a seamless user experience. With higher transaction volumes and competitive UAW figures, SKALE is proving itself as a robust platform, closing the gap between Web2 and Web3 gaming more effectively than its competitors.
Conclusion
SKALE’s development of its gaming arm has allowed the chain to secure an impressive dominance over the sector in 2024. By leveraging an invisible blockchain experience, zero gas fees, and an emphasis on developer flexibility, SKALE has positioned itself as a leading platform for Web3 gaming, evidenced by its high market share of overall active users and rich gaming ecosystem.
With gaming-specific chains like Nebula Hub driving unprecedented levels of activity, SKALE is not only catering to current market demands but also shaping the future of decentralized gaming. The successes of flagship titles such as Haven’s Compass, MotoDEX, and World of Dypians highlight the platform’s ability to attract and retain a large user base, offering immersive experiences while integrating blockchain features like NFT ownership and player-driven economies.
Keep up with new games on SKALE with the SKALE Ecosystem Page.
Disclaimer: This report was commissioned by Skale Labs. This research report is exactly that — a research report. It is not intended to serve as financial advice, nor should you blindly assume that any of the information is accurate without confirming through your own research. Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets are incredibly risky and nothing in this report should be considered an endorsement to buy or sell any asset. Never invest more than you are willing to lose and understand the risk that you are taking. Do your own research. All information in this report is for educational purposes only and should not be the basis for any investment decisions that you make.
