2025 Set To Be Web3 Gaming’s Breakout Year Thanks to AI and $12B War Chest

• Over $12 billion in funding has poured into Web3 gaming projects and startups since 2020, and many are slated for release this year.
• Web3 game investments are down 71% in Q1 2025, but the number of successful deals is up 35%.
• Web3 gaming, or GameFi tokens, collectively command a $10 billion market cap.

After years of development, billions in investments and a number of disappointments, 2025 is believed to be the year that Web3 gaming finally takes off.

Despite signs that funding has slowed considerably in recent months, more Web3 games are slated to launch this year than ever before, thanks to the billions that have poured into the sector since 2020 and powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Web3 Gaming Launches

According to Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of blockchain gaming Layer-2, Immutable, AI has reduced Web3 game development timelines by 65% in the past twelve months.

Thanks to this—and a gigantic $12 billion in funding since 2020—he believes Web3 gaming will see more AAA launches this year than ever before.

Though it’s hard to quantify that claim exactly, there does appear to be plenty of evidence to suggest that billions have poured into Web3 gaming startups and projects over the past four years.

In addition, if the 65% reduction in development time is true, then many of the games that received funding over the past four years will be launching in 2025.

This will range from mobile games to high-fidelity AAA titles coming to consoles and PC, the latter of which Ferguson says will see record launches in 2025.

AI in AAA Gaming

Developing an AAA title for console or PC can take anywhere between four and seven years. Major publishers, such as Capcom, have tapped Google’s AI to generate and iterate on ideas for creating items and environments, reducing time spent in pre- and post-production phases.

A great example of this is Black Myth: Wukong, which was built using Unreal Engine 5, which itself comes packed with AI tools, but also leverages additional AI tools for procedural landscape generation and NPC behavior, among other things.

It’s a stunningly beautiful and rich gaming experience that took just five years to create.

Contrast this with Fortnite, an extremely popular battle royale shooter that began development in 2011 and launched in 2017. It was originally built on Unreal Engine 3 and then 4, at a time when AI tools and generative AI weren’t as widespread and advanced as they are today.

Gunzilla’s Web3 battle royale shooter Off The Grid began development in 2020 and launched its early access in October 2024. Gunzilla took four years to build using Unreal Engine 5, which, again, has native AI tools and features to enhance the development process.

Furthermore, Gunzilla has implemented AI-powered NPC teammates and enemies into the game, which has probably reduced months of work into weeks. This would lend itself to Ferguson’s claim that several years can be reduced in half, though it’s yet to be seen if this is truly the case.

In Mobile Games

The average time it takes to develop a typical Web2 mobile game can vary depending on the type and quality of the game. Where a simple puzzle game can be created in a matter of months, an AAA-like title, such as Genshin Impact, can take years to build.

It can take the average Web3 mobile game anywhere between 12 and 24 months on average to launch. Unlike a Web2 game, Web3 titles have the added complexities of blockchains, smart contracts and cryptocurrencies to also consider.

Web3 gaming titles, like Forest Knight, Age of Dino and Sunflower Land, leveraged AI in some shape or form, allowing them to bring their titles to market quicker. Web3 mobile gaming studio and network ZKcandy recently explained to CCN that AI technologies are being used to both develop titles and enhance their in-game experiences.