Illuvium's collapsing token depicts GameFi's troubles

GameFi creators have been preoccupied on making money – and have forgotten that in order to win over gamers, they must make games interesting.

Blockchain games emerged as a way to properly evaluate the full possibilities of technology. However, ensuring that they attain their full potential remains a struggle. While Illuvium was one of the most anticipated crypto game debuts in history, the price of its ILV token has dropped by 97% since 2021.

For quite some time, the project's developers have not produced anything important. The engaging gameplay and stunning aesthetics are unable to keep the game's token from falling. Most GameFi tokens are the same way.

To yet, blockchain games have been generally lackluster due to a lack of attention on creating a decent user experience. Finally, the work of making these games is undervalued. GameFi had a lot of promise when it first launched, but it has generally disappointed. Quality AAA games (those distributed by major publishers) are not easy to create. It is a complicated, costly procedure with fierce competition.

Many outdated clichés and bad practices are currently being used by developers and publishers. Many games have been rushed or planned improperly. Some have no substantial entertainment value, and the only reason people play them is for the money. This is mainly due to a lack of funds or hastily releasing incomplete games. Furthermore, some businesses have delivered games that do not correspond to the gameplay shown in the video, causing users to lose faith in the industry.

With all of this in mind, it's reasonable to conclude that many of these games do not value their players. Audiences wait months for new games to arrive, only to discover that they are of poor quality, badly planned, and lack fun.

Before the game's release, Illuvium raised $72 million by releasing its ILV token and selling land nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Despite this, the public beta debut has been pushed back. This underlines one key downside of AAA games: focusing on earning might possibly detract from the game's fun. The same difficulties that are plaguing Illuvium are plaguing other AAA blockchain gaming projects.

When analyzing AAA blockchain gaming projects that failed not fulfill expectations, Pixelmon stands out. The play-to-earn game inspired by Minecraft, Fortnite, and Pokemon sold 10,000 NFTs in 2022, generating about $70 million merely from buzz — but the game's debut fell short of all user expectations. Some of the characters were regular Unity models, while one user received an invisible character. This was hardly the type of endeavor worth $70 million.