Number source:Ronin Dashboard
The popular Web3 game Pixels migrated from Polygon to Ronin, a blockchain designed specifically for games, in late October 2023. Pixels was previously the Web3 game with the largest number of active users (number of wallets) on Polygon, and its migration to Ronin has injected strong impetus into the latter's recovery after the hack incident in March 2022.
Since the migration, Ronin’s on-chain activity has grown significantly in November. While Ronin has previously relied primarily on its play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, its recent resurgence appears to be different. We’ll analyze Ronin’s recent performance and explore its current development.
About Ronin
While Ethereum’s architecture is revolutionary, it is not optimized for the high-speed and low-cost gaming transaction needs. In 2021, this limitation became a bottleneck for Axie Infinity’s growth and player retention. In response to these challenges, Sky Mavis, the Vietnamese studio behind Axie Infinity, took decisive steps to launch Ronin in February 2021.
Ronin is an Ethereum sidechain that has been carefully designed to specifically meet the needs of the gaming industry. Its goal is to provide a powerful, fast, and economical platform to promote the development of gaming applications. This strategic move aims to remove barriers that once impacted Axie Infinity’s gaming experience and transaction smoothness.
Sky Mavis has become a major force in the Web3 gaming space and is one of the few teams to achieve true mass adoption of Web3 gaming. According to Footprint Analytics data as of November 2023, Axie Infinity has accumulated a staggering 9.88 million users, of which 9.22 million users are attributed to Ronin, accounting for 93.3%. The success of this flagship game has brought Sky Mavis deep insights and valuable experience in Web3 game development and operations.
Nearly three years after its launch, Ronin has carved out a niche in the Web3 gaming space. However, it remains to be seen whether it becomes the blockchain of choice for Web3 games.
Advantages of Ronin
Ronin has already demonstrated its ability to scale individual games, such as supporting Axie Infinity to millions of users. Through Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis has gained valuable experience in product development, community engagement and market expansion. This experience is very helpful for partners who want to launch projects on the Ronin network.
Ronin can support near-instant transactions with extremely low fees, and can support a large number of in-game transactions efficiently and seamlessly.
In March 2022, Ronin suffered a major security breach, and hackers stole 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC. Following this, Sky Mavis has strengthened its security measures, adopting a zero trust framework. Initially, Ronin used a Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus mechanism, which relied on a selected group of trusted validators for transaction verification. This method was relatively efficient but less decentralized. To enhance decentralization, Ronin turned to a Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) system, which allows token holders to delegate the election of validators, thus decentralizing network control more fairly.
Ronin’s Ecology
The gaming industry occupies the most important position in the Ronin ecosystem. Currently, there are eight running games on Ronin , namely Axie Infinity, The Machines Arena, Bowled, Battle Bears Heroes, Wild Forest, and Apeiron. and the recently added Pixels and Zoids Wild Arena. Additionally, two games, Axie Champions and Tribesters, are coming to Ronin soon.
As of November, just two games, Axie Infinity and Pixels, accounted for more than half of Ronin’s daily transaction volume and nearly 90% of daily active users (DAU). This concentration of user engagement on a small number of games also highlights potential vulnerabilities in the Ronin ecosystem.
Ronin’s share of transaction volume in public chain games currently stands at 21.2%. This shows that despite Ronin's focus on gaming, there is still room for improvement in its market presence. In order to gain a competitive advantage in the public chain field, Ronin needs to adopt a strategy of developing in multiple fields and further developing its game ecosystem.
Data source:Monthly Volume Distribution
In light of this, Sky Mavis is actively pursuing strategies to broaden Ronin’s appeal and further develop its gaming ecosystem. On November 2, Sky Mavis announced a strategic partnership with South Korean game studio ACT Games, a major step in this direction. This collaboration will bring all of ACT’s games into the Ronin system, starting with the blockchain card game Zoids Wild Arena. This move is expected to accelerate the growth of the number of Ronin games and increase developer and user interest in the platform.
In addition to games, Ronin currently has 23 decentralized applications (dApps) running on the platform. These include Katana (Ronin’s native DEX), Ronin Wallet, and Mavis Market (NFT trading market). Katana’s TVL has reached $92.8 million as of November 30, but other dApps still have significant room for improvement in terms of user acquisition and engagement.
The Ronin Domain Name Service (RNS) launches public sales on November 15, 2023, changing the way users interact with the Ronin chain. RNS replaces complex wallet addresses with intuitive, easy-to-read names, making transactions easier and more accurate. In addition, RNS will be integrated into the entire Sky Mavis ecosystem, including App.Axie, Mavis Market and future launches of the platform, optimizing the user experience across the network.
Ronin’s data performance
Let’s explore the latest developments in the Ronin ecosystem through data.
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Daily active users (DAU)
From July to October 2023, Ronin’s daily active users (DAU, which counts the number of unique wallets) remained stable, averaging about 17,400. However, Ronin saw significant growth in DAU in November 2023 as Pixels migrated from Polygon to Ronin. The number surged from 17,400 to 88,400, reaching a peak of 152,800 on November 22. Notably, Ronin’s DAU crossed the 100,000 threshold on November 16 and has continued to rise since then.
Number of sources:Ronin Chain Daily Users
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Number of transactions per day
From July to October 2023, Ronin’s daily transaction count remained at a relatively stable level, averaging approximately 95,200 transactions per day. Starting in mid-October, Ronin saw a noticeable increase in trading activity. By November 30, daily trading volume had surged to approximately 232,600 transactions.
The average transaction fee on Ronin has been declining as the number of transactions increases. From July to October 2023, the average transaction fee was 0.0022 RON. In November, the average transaction fee dropped to 0.0019 RON, a decrease of 11.7%.
Data source:Ronin Chain Daily Transactions & Avg. Transaction Fee
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Total Value Locked (TVL)
Since the beginning of this year, bearish sentiment has prevailed in the crypto market. Ronin’s TVL has been trending downward since January. However, since mid-October, with favorable trends in the overall cryptocurrency market and increased user activity in the gaming space, Ronin’s TVL has grown significantly, rising from $49 million to $92.8 million as of November 30, an increase of 86.3 %.
Number of sources:Ronin DeFi Data
However, Ronin’s native DEX Katana accounts for almost all of the chain’s TVL. While the gaming space has been booming, Ronin still has room for improvement and growth in other ecological areas.
Game data performance
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Daily active users (DAU)
Data from Footprint Analytics shows that since July 2023, more than 80% of DAU on Ronin has come from the gaming field.
Number of sources:Daily Active Users - Ronin Chain & Game
Ronin's DAU in the gaming space is consistent with its overall trend. With the addition of Pixels in November, there was significant DAU growth. From July to October, DAU averaged 14,300, but by November, that number jumped to 79,800, a 458.0% increase.
Ronin Chain Key Stats: Ronin Chain Key Stats
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Number of transactions per day
From August to November, the gaming sector accounted for more than 80% of Ronin’s total transactions, with the figure standing at 74.7% in July.
Number of sources:Daily Transactions - Ronin Chain & Game
Daily trading trends in the Ronin gaming space mirror trends in its overall daily trading volume. The number of daily transactions has been on an upward trend since mid-October. The number of daily transactions increased from 40,100 to over 100,000, peaking at 226,000 on November 22.
Ronin Chain Key Stats: Ronin Chain Key Stats
Key games
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Axie Infinity
From July to October 2023, Ronin’s flagship game Axie Infinity has consistently contributed more than 80% of the platform’s DAU. However, with the addition of Pixels to Ronin, Axie Infinity's user share fell to an all-time low of 9.12% on November 18. Despite the decline, Axie Infinity's DAU remains stable at around 15,000.
数据来源：Daily Active Users - Ronin Chain & Axie Infinity
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Pixels
Pixels launched on Ronin and quickly established itself as another flagship game, garnering over 70% of its DAU. Starting on November 6th, Pixels’ DAUs started to grow steadily. The game's DAU peaked on November 19, accounting for 83.6% of Ronin's total DAU, reaching 112,000.
Number of sources:Daily Active Users - Ronin Chain & Pixels
The gaming field is the core of the Ronin ecosystem, with Axie Infinity as the cornerstone, and the addition of Pixels enriches the diversity of the chain and enhances its appeal. The rapid expansion of Pixels demonstrates to developers Ronin's capabilities as the best choice for Web3 games.
Data source:GameFi Project Summary - Pixels on Ronin
Overall, Ronin’s latest data shows a steady growth trend, indicating that it is expected to become the blockchain platform of choice for game developers and players. Ronin is committed to scalability in the gaming field and optimization of Web3 applications, and is moving towards creating an ecosystem with the best gaming experience, striving to create new milestones beyond the success of Axie Infinity.
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The content of this article is for industry research and communication only and does not constitute any investment advice. Market risk, the investment need to be cautious.
This article was contributed by the Footprint Analytics community.
The Footprint Community is a global, mutually supportive data community where members use visual data to work together to create communicable insights. In the Footprint community, you can get help, build links, and exchange blockchain-related learning and research on Web 3, Metaverse, GameFi, and DeFi. With many active, diverse, and highly engaged members inspiring and supporting each other through the community, a worldwide user base has been established to contribute data, share insights, and drive community development.
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