Research firm Caladan has put hard numbers on what many in the industry suspected: roughly 93% of Web3 gaming projects are effectively defunct, with related tokens down an average of 95% from their 2022 highs. Studio funding has followed the same trajectory, falling approximately 93% from the cycle peak.
The capital reversal is stark. Gaming commanded around 62.5% of all Web3 VC funding in 2022 — a dominant share that reflected the play-to-earn mania of that era. By 2025 that figure had collapsed to single digits, and quarterly deal flow dropped from roughly $1.6 billion to about $18 million.
Caladan frames this as a shakeout rather than a death sentence for the category. Brutal consolidation tends to clear the field for the projects with genuine retention and sustainable token economics — but the survivors will need to prove gameplay comes first.
Lookonchain
Whale Alert