The Ronin blockchain daily active user (DAU) count increases thanks to crypto games

Ronin is the blockchain in which many play-to-earn (P2E) crypto games are based on. This includes the immensely popular Axie Infinity. These games are not only increasing in popularity, but they’re also now available on a wider selection of platforms which makes them far more easily accessible. 

For example, some of the best-rated no ID verification casinos, as selected by crypto expert Kane Pepi, now offer blockchain games as well as crypto-based casino games. This means you can play P2E games on the same sites you can play slot and table crypto gambling games. 

On Monday 29 July 2024, the Ronin blockchain recorded a total of two million DAUs, which made this network the most popular blockchain on that day. It surpassed other blockchains which normally take the number one spot. This included Tron which only acquired 1.8 million users on that particular day and Solana which received 1.2 million users. 

Jeffrey Zirlin, who co-founded the team behind the Ronin blockchain, expressed that this surge in users is down to the “hardcore community” of crypto gamers. The fact that the code for web3 games is open source is part of the appeal, as it means that anyone can modify games and create new gaming aspects. The Ronin blockchain is the main web3 gaming blockchain, which makes it the only option for hardcore gamers. 

Over the last few years, many major web3 games that had been based on other blockchains switched to the Ronin blockchain. This included the massively popular Pixels, which is a farming simulator game. Pixels switched from the Polygon to the Ronin blockchain in October of 2023. 

Pixels underwent a major update on 19 June 2024, which definitely boosted the DAUs. More gamers are playing Pixels since it switched to Ronin, going from 4,000 to 800,000 DAUs. 

Some of Ronin’s flagship games, such as Axie, have also made a big comeback this year. Axie was one of the first P2E blockchain games and really made waves on the gaming scene when it was first released in 2018. It reached peak popularity in 2021 when it had 2.7 million DAUs. However, a $615 million cyber-heist that occurred in March 2022 cut the game’s initial popularity short. 

While DAU has plummeted in the time since there has been an increase in users over the last few months. DAU was at 12,000 in April and 60,000 in July, signaling a big jump in popularity. The game’s active monthly player count for June 2024 was 354,849. 

According to Zirlin, Ronin hopes to extend its current success by onboarding as many non-web3 gamers as possible. He also claims that other blockchains spend too long focusing on niche elements of the blockchain, which puts many prospective players off. Ronin, on the other hand, is a lot more accessible, which is another reason why it is becoming the dominant blockchain.