ZEBEDEE, a Fintech and “next-generation” payment processor for the gaming industry, announced the results of a study “surveying over 1,000 U.S. respondents who play a minimum of one hour of video games per week to gauge their feelings toward blockchain technologies, NFTs and cryptocurrencies being integrated into video games.”
Blockchain / NFT gaming companies “have raised more than $3B in investments during the first three quarters of 2022, but the space has been met with negative sentiment from many.”
The ZEBEDEE Web3 Gaming Survey “was conducted to shed light on the overall perception that gamers have toward emerging blockchain gaming technologies such as NFTs and play-and-earn Bitcoin gaming, as well as to better understand their awareness of and sentiment toward cryptocurrencies in general.”
Despite perceived negative sentiment regarding blockchain integration with gaming, the survey found “that the majority of U.S. gamers are supportive or neutral of web3 technologies that make in-game assets transferable for exchange or sale with other gamers.”
That said, it also clearly “showed not all cryptocurrencies are perceived equally, with more established assets, especially Bitcoin, showing significantly higher appeal than newer tokens and NFTs.”
Findings include:
- The majority of gamers (67%) would be more likely to play free games if they provided opportunities to earn cryptocurrencies as rewards
- 45% of respondents believe having the ability to easily sell or trade video game characters and items with other gamers would be beneficial compared to 23% who believe it may have a negative impact on the gamer experience. 32% said they currently have no opinion on the subject.
- When compared directly with NFTs, gamers are five times more interested in earning Bitcoin (27%) vs. NFTs (5%). This indicates that the gaming industry has it wrong by focusing primarily on NFT rewards;
- Only 10% of respondents have a negative view about integration of web3 technology into games. Although not all embrace it (19% feel it’s driven by business interests);
- Although the majority of U.S. gamers do not own any cryptocurrencies (55%), Bitcoin is the dominant cryptocurrency of choice among gamers that do (25%), followed by Ethereum (18%) and Dogecoin (14%);
- The majority of gamers (64%) have never played play-and-earn games with financial rewards, indicating large potential for future growth for these types of games.
- 38% of U.S. gamers say they don’t know anything about cryptocurrencies, NFTs and blockchain technologies being applied to gaming.
The survey also found “that gamers who play more frequently also tend to be more aware of web3 technologies and cryptocurrencies, and are more likely to own cryptocurrencies.”
The survey reveals “that 60% of gamers who play 15 hours or more per week hold some crypto assets compared to 56% of those who play 10-14 hours/week, 46% of those who play 5-9 hours/week, and 32% of those who play less than 4 hours/week.”
These statistics are “in stark contrast to popular belief that gamers are largely anti-crypto.”
Ben Cousens, chief strategy officer, ZEBEDEE, said:
“What struck us most from the survey findings was that there’s clearly a misperception about gamers and their resistance to crypto integration, as most gamers actually have a positive to neutral opinion of crypto rewards in games. Further, despite the bulk of industry attention being focused on NFTs, we found that Bitcoin stands out as the most popular decentralized asset amongst gamers when compared against other cryptocurrencies, including NFTs.”
Ben added:
“However, the majority of gamers have not yet played-and-earned within a game that offers real financial rewards. The findings suggest that gamers are overall more open to seeing these technologies integrated into games, which presents an opportunity for the industry to educate, engage, and attract new gamers to the play-and-earn ecosystem.”
The Zebedee web3 gaming survey was “conducted in late September 2022 and included responses from 1,041 U.S. residents who play at least an hour of video games per week on average.”