Key Takeaways
- The Game Awards 2025 takes place on Thursday.
- There isn’t a single Web3 title among 105 nominees in 29 categories.
- Lacking critical acclaim, is crypto gaming doomed to remain a niche interest?
When the gaming industry assembles in Los Angeles for The Game Awards 2025 on Thursday, Dec. 11, blockbuster titles like Clair Obscur and Donkey Kong Bonanza are touted to collect some of the most prestigious awards.
Meanwhile, despite all the hype around the topic, Web3 gaming remains underrepresented in the courts of critical and popular opinion.
Why Don’t Web3 Games Win Awards?
Discounting niche events, mainstream awards have never recognized blockchain games.
Continuing the trend of previous years, there isn’t a single Web3 title among 105 nominees in 29 categories at this year’s edition of The Game Awards.
Neither have any crypto games ever been nominated for a BAFTA, Golden Joystick, or D.I.C.E. Award.
This broad omission reflects the sector’s immaturity.
In a medium where games are judged on the quality of their narrative, gameplay, and animation, existing Web3 games don’t meet the bar.
But there are plenty of developers trying to change that.
In terms of production value, the Illuvium franchise has arguably done the most to advance the cause of Web3 gaming.
Although the multi-game universe still doesn’t match the visual spectacle of leading console titles, it is miles ahead of the clunky graphics that characterize some of its peers.
Moreover, slowly but surely, the sector is shedding some of its negative associations.
Overcoming a Bad Reputation
Among mainstream gamers, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and tokenized in-game currencies have a reputation for inviting speculation.
This is exactly what happened to Axie Infinity and the Sandbox, where speculative investors and yield farmers have been accused of ruining the experience for genuine users.
Developers seeking to address this problem typically follow one of two paths.
Games like Off The Grid have abstracted the tokenomics away entirely, retaining the benefits of player-owned, tokenized items, without the speculative frenzy created by tradable cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, titles like EV.IO embrace the play-to-earn model, but in a way that rewards genuine skill rather than viral token pumps.
Ultimately, critical acclaim isn’t the only measure of success, and platforms have managed to attract loyal users without it.
But if crypto gaming is ever going to break out into the mainstream, it will need to appeal to a wider audience, and a prize or two will surely help.
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James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
