Coinbase’s EVM-equivalent L2 network made a splash earlier this year, but will Base be a place mainly for token traders, or will it have an impact on the behemoth web3 gaming space?
In July, Coinbase’s Base Ethereum L2 announced that its mainnet was open for builders to get on board the newest and arguably one of the most exciting new networks to launch in recent memory. With all the excitement surrounding the announcement, some began to wonder what this would mean for web3 space.
Coinbase is one of the most influential names in the crypto industry due to its longevity in the space, reputation of reliability, and its position as a perennial pioneer. However, that influence has generally been limited to its trading platform which serves over 100 million mostly-western users, and through its ongoing battles on the American regulatory front. As a result, it has not been publicly understood how Base would accommodate the global web3 space outside of the developed nations it primarily serves.
However, it recently became far more clear how Base plans on accommodating global web3 gamers who represent one of the most active cohorts within the web3 space: by seeking out and onboarding gaming leaders like ISKRA and Parallel that have a bead on Asian markets and other emerging markets around the world.
The sheer size of the web3 gaming market
For perspective, it’s important to understand just how big the web3 gaming ecosystem has become. DappRadar has data on over 2,300 decentralized apps (dApps) across all the networks it tracks and claimed that blockchain-based gaming accounted for an astounding 45% of the main activity of active wallets. Polaris Market Research estimates that the entire market is worth about $9 billion and that it will grow to over a trillion dollars in annual revenue by 2032. That prediction about the future of the web3 gaming market should make it evident why Base’s involvement in the space should be one of its primary focuses.
More specifically, Base would be served best by targeting Asian nations. The undisputed leader by global region leading the way in the market growth of the web3 gaming space is Asia – specifically nations in South, Southeast, and East Asia. China alone claims over 700 million gamers, and almost two-thirds of the largest gaming companies in the world are from China, Japan, and South Korea. The Philippines accounted for more than 40% of the population of users playing Axie Infinity – one of the largest web3 games on the market – at one point.
Furthermore, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu believes that the rate of adoption of NFTs and web3 gaming will accelerate at the fastest rate in Asia due to the way NFTs, which are commonly used in Web3 gaming, represent a form of property rights that transformed Asian nations over the past several decades into economic powerhouses. He also cited the region’s history of “incredible content” and “digital expression,” much of which can be transformed into blockchain-based assets.
“The powerful [thing about] Web3 is the fact that we can take ownership and we can make a big change with this because we have distributed and decentralized ownership for these assets.” -Yat Siu
Base’s initiative in the web3 gaming space
This is where Base’s potential impact on the gaming industry comes more clearly into focus. It’s clear that while Base has access to the biggest players in the DeFi and web3 gaming spaces respectively and recognizes the opportunity outside the U.S. and Europe, particularly in emerging markets around the world.
It is not a problem in and of itself that higher net worth users who typically reside in Western and developed nations prefer certain protocols over others, but it can be an issue if underserved individuals who have been marginalized by traditional finance and entertainment cannot gain access to the same games and on-chain financial services as their western counterparts. In addressing that issue, Base has begun onboarding projects that have a track record of serving exactly the type of users that have propelled the web3 gaming industry to where it is and could launch it even further into the stratosphere in terms of market size by the next decade.
One such example is Iskra, a top-ranked Games Dapp on DappRadar that currently offers high-quality South Korean games alongside web3 game platform services such as a decentralized wallet app, a decentralized exchange (DEX), an NFT marketplace, and a token launchpad.
ISKRA’s founding team, which consists of veterans from IT and gaming giants like Tencent, LINE, NHN, Netmarble, and Nexon as well as frontrunners in the Asian web3 space such as LINE Blockchain, KRUST/Klaytn, Iconloop, and WEMIX has found success by relying on fun games, compelling content, and the true value of digital ownership.
Most of Iskra’s users are from emerging markets across Southeast Asia and South America. This demonstrates with some certainty that Iskra has been onboarded to bring unique and valuable expertise into how to operate in emerging markets that Base will need to capture the impending growth of the web3 gaming market.
Iskra’s CEO Hongkyu Lee’s agrees with the Base strategy of onboarding as many web3 users as possible with localized game content saying, “By focusing on promoting localized game content and serving local communities through projects like Iskra, Base is showing a concerted effort to onboard the next generation of Web3 users through a sustainable and impactful approach.”
Base has also onboarded Parallel, an NFT sci-fi game on the Ethereum mainnet with a hugely popular following in the U.S. and Europe. Parallel boasts artists and developers from Riot Games, Blizzard, and other triple-A game studios. Animoca brands is another key partner, known for its aggressive investment in the field as well as insightful guidance to the market.
Conclusion
Onboarding high-profile projects such as Animoca, Parallel and Iskra so early in the lifespan of Base’s mainnet is a good sign that the network means to be among the top networks alongside Ethereum, Solana, and others to bring on the next wave of web3 gamers. Surely the network won’t stop there. So, with more diverse international talent, more content, and just a little bit of luck, Base will thrive in emerging global markets to be a champion within the web3 gaming space and help bring financial security and a fun hobby to people around the world.
Image by Brian Penny from Pixabay