Deep Dive: Solana Gaming - September 2024

Note: Below is the text-accessible version of this post for visually impaired readers.

Mobile gaming is poised to take off. With preorders for the second Solana Mobile device beginning early this year, Seeker will allow gamers to explore various Web3 games and access exclusive assets and rewards. Total Solana Mobile Seeker pre-orders have reached 149k.

Shaga's Odyssey gaming controller presale is live. Shaga, a DePIN cloud gaming platform, allows gamers to play resource-intensive games on their devices by tapping into idle high-end PCs for low-latency gaming. The platform has launched the world's first Web3 gaming controller and has pre-sold dozens of units at the hefty price of $499, a strong start for the team.

Interest in gaming has shown a reversal. Following the Breakpoint Gamer Village event in September, Solana gaming has attracted renewed attention. Gaming DEX volume share has rebounded from its July low and has increased over the past two months.

Part I: Portals

Play and Create Games on the "Roblox of Web3"

With Portals, game creation becomes accessible to everyone through a drag-and-drop interface and a vast collection of customizable assets. Build immersive worlds, craft engaging storylines, and design captivating gameplay - all within your browser.

The Portals NFT presale has seen tremendous success. Portals is building the "Roblox of Web3", allowing anyone to create and explore immersive games and worlds directly in the browser. In just 9 days, 1.1k Portal NFTs have been sold, raising a total of 1.61k SOL (about $250k).

Part II: Moonwalk Fitness

Solana's Latest Accountability Tool for Fitness

Assemble a crew, set a daily step target, and deposit USDC, SOL, or BONK. Meet your crew's goal or keep pace with the highest days completed to safeguard your deposit.

Moonwalk Fitness has built a consistent player base. The platform has consistently attracted more than 500 dedicated depositors in recent months. The platform is set to launch its iOS and Android apps, which will further expand its player base.

Moonwalk Fitness is a tool for community-building. The total amount contributed by a variety of projects to sponsorship pools has reached $20k. In addition to using sponsorship pools, projects such as Kamino have rewarded participants with $KMNO tokens through a raffle.

Part III: Photo Finish Live

The World's Most Realistic Virtual Horse Racing Game

Built on Solana, Photo Finish Live offers an authentic and immersive experience where players can own, race, breed, and trade digital race horses.

Photo Finish's $CROWN net deposits reached an ATH of 115M. By depositing and staking $CROWN, players can own parts of a race track and earn a share of the entry fees.

Depositors have successfully reversed their 6-month downtrend. Following App Store approval, Photo Finish has seen an uptick in total USDC depositor count, reaching 656. Many expect depositor count to rise as the game becomes more accessible and visible through the App Store.

Entry fees collected have stabilized around the $2.5M range. Of these Photo Finish fees, 80% are redistributed to race winners, and 20% are allocated to track owners based on their ownership stakes. Higher entry fees collected translate to higher yields and earnings for $CROWN stakers.

Part IV: Degen Coin Flip

Simple, Fast-Paced Coin-Flipping Game

Players connect their Solana wallets, choose heads or tails, and place their wagers. A provably fair algorithm determines outcomes, and winnings are instantly credited to the user's wallet.

2024 has been a banner year for Degen Coin Flip. 2024 flip volumes are up 2.5x against 2023. Monthly flip volumes have averaged $25M in 2024, hitting an ATH of $41M in July.

Degen Coin Flip has maintained a steady flipper base. Since the start of 2023, DCF's average player count has hovered steadily around 4k. The platform continues to see new players joining each month.

Degen Coin Flip has consistently delivered real yields. DCF charges a fixed 3.5% fee on flip volume, accumulating over $12M since 2023. The protocol redistributes a significant portion of the collected fees to NFT holders, incentivizing the ownership of Degen Fat Cats NFTs.

Part V: Projects to Watch & Notable Developments

MagicBlock supports fully on-chain games with <50ms latency via Ephemeral Rollups (ERs), while keeping full state on Solana - ensuring it remains the sole source of truth. It preserves composability, so MagicBlock games interact seamlessly with other Solana programs and tokens without bridges.

Notable Developments

Play Solana launched Solana's first handheld gaming console, Play Solana Gen1 (PSG1), designed specifically for blockchain-based games.

The Backwoods launched its beta version with exciting new features designed to enhance player engagement and game dynamics.

SOL Arena introduced a Slither-like battle royale to Solana. The game went live in open beta in September and is available on mobile and PC browsers.