Airdrops become main driver as Telegram games look to move beyond taps

A new web3 game report from data analytics company Helika further establishes the recent growth trend seen among games on Telegram and TON.

During Q3 2024, not only did TON see a 320% increase in gaming titles, the number of wallets interacting with NFTs rose from 200,000 to over 1 million. Out of those, around 600,000 were considered consistently active as in either using, trading or engaging with NFTs.

In terms of player behaviour, the average playtime session increased from 2.8 minutes to 6.7 minutes. This could be an indication that Telegram mini-games are advancing beyond simple tapping in terms of game features. 

Another finding pointing towards more diversity in the types of games launching on Telegram is the applications to its Telegram Gaming Accelerator program, which is co-supported by Helika and Notcoin. Notably, the variations in genres among the hundreds of games – including shooters, platformers, and simulation – applying to the program, suggests the ecosystem is moving beyond simple clickers.

As a result of more engagement, player retention has also seen an uptick.

According to the report, the average gamer on Telegram also differs from the traditional crypto gaming audience as it is not based in Southeast Asia or Latin America, but in Europe.

Looking at the factors driving this growth, the obvious one would be accessibility, with Telegram games being directly integrated in the messaging app. 

As for web3 games, the main factor seems to be airdrops. In the case of Catizen, its 150 million token airdrop was the reason behind its rising player activity in September. Similarly, Gamee saw a 300% growth in volume and transactions due to its WAT token airdrop, while X Empire gained 48 million players, of which 18 million connected their web3 wallets in order to mine a share of the 483 billion tokens. Rocky Rabbit, Banana, and Wonton are among other projects hitting well above a million users.