Bringing Web2 Games into the Web3 Era with Aethir

Web3 has introduced tremendous innovations to the gaming industry. It leverages blockchain technology to launch unprecedented decentralized features and foster community engagement in gaming. The Web3 gaming market’s total value was $26.38 billion as of 2023, with a projected CAGR of over 19.2% between 2024 and 2032. That’s a staggering annual growth rate, but in terms of market value, it’s still relatively modest compared to the global gaming market’s $187 billion market cap in 2024. However, the tides are turning with the exponential growth of Web3 gaming studios and projects looking to incorporate blockchain-based features like NFTs, crypto tokenomics, and community-powered gaming platforms in their business models. 

Traditional Web2 gaming is focused on one-sided gaming experiences in which players engage in ready-made, immersive gaming content, playing AAA titles like Witcher 3, Grand Theft Auto V, and  Baldur’s Gate 3 as single-player experiences, or they engage in legendary Web2 multiplayer games like League of Legends, and Counter-Strike 2. Web3 gaming, on the other hand, focuses on community-owned and community-driven gaming experiences that offer a high degree of interactivity between players, rich customization possibilities, and often crypto tokenomics. These features make Web3 gaming a refreshing innovation that attracts a rapidly growing user base both among passionate gamers and blockchain enthusiasts.

Apart from gaming studios specializing in Web3 gaming projects, more and more Web2 enterprises are exploring options for Web2 to Web3 gaming transition. That includes studios looking to upgrade their existing projects and those shifting entirely to Web3 and planning to develop innovative, blockchain-based games. In both cases, decentralized cloud support for Web3 gaming is a must-have, especially in light of the growing GPU scarcity on a global scale. Aethir’s GPU cloud offers a reputable platform with scalable GPU resources capable of servicing Web3 gaming clients of all types and sizes. With Aethir, the Web2 to Web3 gaming transition can be smooth thanks to our massive distributed GPU network.

Bridging the Gap Between Web2 and Web3 Gaming

Gaming is the undisputed leader of the global entertainment industry. The music industry’s market share was $28 billion in 2023, while the movie industry’s total value was around $100 billion at the same time. Gaming is nearly $60 billion stronger than both of these industries combined, and there’s no sign that its annual growth rate is going to drop anytime soon. That’s because the gaming market is constantly introducing innovative experiences thanks to technological advancements enabled by breathtaking 3D engines like Unreal 5 and NVIDIA’s latest rendering technologies, such as Ray Tracing and AI capabilities. However, the introduction of Web3 features to the gaming industry is a disruptive force pushing gaming studios to rethink their approach and introduce a whole new range of possibilities to their gaming titles. With Web3 integrations, stunning visuals are just one of the key elements, while community engagement and participation are brought to an entirely new level. 

Allowing gamers to own in-game items tokenized as NFTs and freely trade virtual equipment, avatars, weapons, objects, skills, and perks on gaming marketplaces powered by blockchain networks and facilitated with cryptocurrency is a never-before-seen experience for Web2 gaming. However, the first Web3 gaming experiences lacked polished gameplay and led many traditional gamers to believe Web3 gaming couldn’t compete with conventional AAA games. Well, just a few years later, Web3 gaming is becoming increasingly competitive with classic AAA games thanks to new development achievements that taught Web3 studios how to create the blockchain games the community deserves and blend the best of both worlds. Now, many studios are exploring how to upgrade Web2 games to Web3, recognizing the significant potential upside in Web3 that’s yet to reveal its full scope in the following years.

To successfully manage their Web2 to Web3 gaming transition, studios need ample computing power facilitated by high volumes of top-shelf GPUs. This is quite difficult to obtain for gaming studios, which is why leveraging cloud computing infrastructure is a great solution. 

Decentralized Cloud Support for Web3 Gaming

The Aethir network is a cloud computing infrastructure powerhouse built specifically for AI and gaming enterprise use cases requiring high GPU power volumes. With over 43,000 gaming GPUs, 3000 NVIDIA H100s for AI inference, and more than 32,000 Aethir Edge cloud computing devices distributed globally, Aethir’s DePIN stack is an ideal solution for companies looking to bridge Web2 games to Web3 using decentralized cloud infrastructure. Our GPU cloud is globally distributed, which means we can service Web3 gaming projects worldwide with our resource pooling model that channels processing power from the physically closest available GPU container in Aethir’s network to our clients and their end-users. For gaming studios focused on Web2 to Web3 gaming transition, Aethir provides stable GPU resources to help power innovative Web3 games and improved Web2 titles with blockchain features.

With Aethir’s decentralized cloud, gaming enterprises can provide users with InstaPlay cloud gaming functionalities that let players try out their games directly in their web browsers without downloading any data. This is a game-changer for publishers because it allows them to improve user acquisition and retention considerably, thanks to the fact that all entry barriers associated with Web2 gaming installations have been eliminated. By choosing Aethir as their dedicated cloud computing solution, gaming studios can leverage Aethir Atmosphere, our enterprise gaming GPU service, to expand the reach of their Web3 games and potentially acquire new user bases in regions with dominantly low-end gaming hardware. 

Aethir’s GPU infrastructure is community-powered, with 91,000+ Checker Nodes responsible for constantly maintaining optimal service quality of all GPU Containers in our network. This unprecedented decentralization ensures our clients always have access to the best-in-class cloud computing services. Decentralized cloud support for Web3 gaming is essential for enterprises looking to upscale their Web2 games. Furthermore, companies that bridge Web2 games to Web3 using decentralized cloud infrastructure have access to a much more cost-effective computing solution compared to traditional cloud services.

Supporting Web2 to Web3 Gaming Transition with Aethir’s Decentralized Cloud

Let’s take a look at some of Aethir’s Web3 gaming partners. These partners leverage our decentralized GPU cloud to provide Web2 to Web3 gaming transition services or are using Aethir to transition their own gaming projects from Web2 to Web3. 

Sequence is the all-in-one Web3 game development platform that provides gaming studios with a comprehensive suite of tools for integrating Web3 features into their gaming projects. Their seamless gaming-grade platform, Sequence Builder, enables developers to onboard, monetize, grow, and retain players. Sequence offers a wide selection of services that streamline the integration of crucial Web3 blockchain features like invisible Web3 wallets and player accounts, launching digital collections and in-game marketplaces, transaction batching and gas sponsorship, blockchain data, node services, and player analytics. Thanks to Aethir’s DePIN stack, gaming studios building with Sequence can easily reach a portion of the 2.8 billion gamers with low-end devices but reasonable internet connectivity worldwide.

GameSwift is a leading Web3 gaming ecosystem that unites all aspects of the gaming industry from game inception to launch. The GameSwift ecosystem comprises four key pillars: Modular Chain, Web3 Infrastructure, Platform and Launcher, and Gaming Studio. These pillars allow game developers to build, launch, and integrate Web3 features into their gaming projects. GameSwift's SDK provides game developers a broad range of features, including their specially optimized API-based technical environment, along with the Unreal and Unity Game Engine Connector, Easy User Log-in and Gaming Profile Access (GameSwift ID), Advanced Analytics Access (GameSwift Collector), Token and NFT Deployer (GameSwift Platform) and more. Aethir can smoothly facilitate instant play experiences and mass onboarding of users worldwide into any gaming project or platform that leverages GameSwift's services.

Grampus is a seasoned Web2 gaming veteran and a key player in the mobile gaming market with a growing presence in Web3 gaming. They recently launched their flagship game Norma in Metaland as a modern, blockchain-powered reboot of Cooking Adventure, adapted and improved for the Web3 era. Grampus introduced Web3 features such as World Chef Championship (ranking system), Cake Festival (jackpot lottery system), and Chocolate Pop-up Store (quest farming system) to their new game. The game includes NFT and Play-to-Earn (P2E) mechanics, popularly known as Cook-to-Earn in the world of Norma. By partnering with Aethir, Grampus gained access to the world's fastest-growing decentralized GPU cloud infrastructure, which can deliver premium cloud gaming experiences to players worldwide. With Aethir's help, Grampus can reach a broader audience and deliver diverse gaming content across various channels. Also, by leveraging Aetir’s support, Grampus can bridge Web2 games to Web3 using decentralized cloud infrastructure and reach new gaming audiences in a more efficient manner while integrating innovative Web3 features into their titles.

Aethir’s Role in Empowering Web3 Gaming Innovators

Web3 gaming innovation isn’t just the next best thing in the gaming market. It’s the next evolutionary phase of gaming, and the numbers don’t lie. The Web3 gaming market’s current value and projected CAGR of over 19.2% between 2024 and 2032 shows that Web3 gaming is here to stay, and gaming enterprises are recognizing the need to integrate blockchain features in their projects. Community ownership and the unprecedented level of interactivity, along with NFTs and crypto tokenomics, are features that make Web3 gaming highly attractive to users.

Aethir’s decentralized cloud infrastructure is a highly scalable and cost-effective choice for gaming studios leveraging Web3 technology. With Aethir’s DePIN stack, gaming enterprises have a wide range of integration possibilities thanks to our resource pooling capabilities and our globally distributed cloud computing network. InstaPlay integrations, real-time cloud rendering, and the development of vast, blockchain-powered gaming worlds are just some of the functionalities that Aethir can smoothly support with Aethir Atmosphere, our enterprise-grade gaming-focused GPU service. 

For more information regarding Aethir’s Web3 cloud gaming services, check our official website.