The NFT market is recovering with some really massive positive momentum! Sales jumped by 24% – a huge number for a company of < $600 million sales - to $142 million. This recent spike in interest is fueled by a few key elements, marking the beginning of what potentially could be a major paradigm shift for digital assets. Guild of Guardians is one of the most important projects leading the charge for this growth. This manga-inspired mobile RPG quickly gained popularity among NFT-Gaming enthusiasts. PlayingToken.com is here to help deconstruct what’s led up to this and give you concrete advice.

Factors Fueling the NFT Market's Resurgence

The growing role of celebrities in marketing NFTs is hard to overlook, bringing headlines and legitimacy to the nascent industry. The gaming industry is undergoing a transformation powered by NFTs. Games such as Axie Infinity demonstrate a potential for growth that is unprecedented and opens doors to emerging, dynamic play-to-earn ecosystems. There's a steady increase in demand for digital artworks, which continues to contribute to the overall market surge, and industry giants are working hard to make the Metaverse a reality which is further driving growth in the NFT market.

In part, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked an explosive increase in digital marketplaces. Because of this, more people adopted NFTs than at any point in history. This confluence of circumstances has made the perfect breeding ground for new NFT projects, like Guild of Guardians to take root.

Guild of Guardians: A Case Study in NFT Gaming Success

Guild of Guardians thus far has been one of the best examples as to how NFTs should be used in games. First, the project smartly prioritizes mobile gaming. Mobile platforms offer more accessibility and the opportunity for higher adoption rates.

Guild of Guardians also recently announced partnerships with xNRG Esports, Ubisoft, Yield Guild Games, and The Sandbox. Together, they are poised to create an astounding gaming experience. These partnerships prove the importance of continuing to innovate, create, and build communities that people love. The game exploded right off the bat as millions of players rushed to download it. This level of enthusiasm demonstrates powerful support from the community. After only one week of pre-registration we had collected more than 100,000 email registrations. Our Twitter account reached over 35,000 followers, and our Discord server added over 3,000 new members! That’s powerful because, for example, referral sales were responsible for 50% of the Guild of Guardians Wave 1 Founder NFT sales. Then more than 100,000 people signed up through referral links, and a viral giveaway campaign brought 30,000 new members to Discord.

The Power of Community and Early Adoption

The secret to Guild of Guardians’ success is in their investment into community building and viral marketing. From the start, the team knew that fostering a rich community around the game would be important. They implemented a wide range of strategies to bring this vision to life. Viral giveaway campaign is an example of a very effective seed member acquisition strategy, with new members coming into the Discord community. The referral program engaged current members to help promote the game to newcomers. Ultimately, we experienced an incredible surge of interest and email sign-ups, as well as NFT sales.

Blockchain Performance Comparison: Immutable, Ethereum, Polygon, and Bitcoin

The choice of blockchain platform is crucial for NFT projects, as it directly impacts transaction speed, fees, scalability, adoption, and security. Here's a comparison of four prominent blockchains in the NFT space:

  • Ethereum: As the original home of NFTs, Ethereum boasts a large and established user base. However, it suffers from high gas fees and limited scalability. Ethereum can handle around 15-30 transactions per second (TPS), but can be slower during peak usage, with fees ranging from $10 to $100+.
  • Polygon: Polygon offers a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, providing significantly lower fees and faster transaction speeds. Polygon offers higher scalability with 65,000 TPS and fees often below $1.
  • Immutable: Immutable is specifically designed for gaming NFTs, offering gas-free trading and high scalability through zk-rollup technology. Immutable is built on top of Ethereum, but utilizes a zk-rollup solution, allowing for 100-200 TPS, and gas fees are abstracted away from users, making it more accessible.
  • Bitcoin: While Bitcoin has a massive user base and strong security, its NFT ecosystem is still nascent, and its transaction speeds are limited. Bitcoin is limited to around 7 TPS, and fees can fluctuate, but are generally higher than Polygon, often around $1-$10.

Learning how to choose the right blockchain for an NFT project means understanding the unique needs of the NFT project. Read the complete interview with Immutable. For gaming NFTs, Immutable provides a truly compelling solution with its clear focus and commitment to scalability and user experience.

The Expanding NFT Gaming Market

The NFT gaming market is projected to experience explosive growth in the next few years. As a result, the NFT Gaming Market is expected to reach USD 0.54 trillion by 2025. This segment is projected to witness the highest CAGR over the forecast period, at 14.84%, by 2030 USD 1.08 trillion. This growth is driven by several factors.

The NFT gaming market will continue to flourish as the transition to the metaverse continues to advance. This boom will be compounded by greater awareness of the crypto industry as well as the increased popularity of Play-to-Earn (P2E) gaming. The massive P2E gaming market is positioned to further accelerate adoption. NFT gaming platforms like Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, and The Sandbox lead the charge. The Sandbox expanded to Saudi Arabia through a collaboration with Sandsoft in October 2023, and Asia Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. Other NEAR integrations in August 2023, Jump.trade partnered with NEAR Protocol. Just a few months earlier, in May 2023, The Sandbox had collaborated with Affyn—indicative of the increasingly prevalent strategic partnerships occurring within the NFT gaming sector.

Actionable Advice for NFT Investors

Here are some actionable tips:

  1. Diversify your portfolio: Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Spread your investments across different NFT projects and asset classes.
  2. Do your research: Before investing in any NFT project, thoroughly research the team, the technology, and the community.
  3. Focus on utility: Look for NFTs that offer real-world utility or provide access to exclusive experiences.
  4. Consider the long term: NFTs are a relatively new asset class, so be prepared to hold your investments for the long term.

The NFT market is a fast-moving and quickly evolving space. By following the market and doing their homework before investing, investors can find lucrative opportunities that come with rebirthed NFTs.