Ranked or competitive games are akin to gambling or an addiction. Every time you lose or can’t beat an opponent, you queue up a “just one more, maybe this time I will win”. This Ranking trend taking shape in blockchain games, with players competing for real rewards (value), enhancing competitiveness and fun.

As Banksters is doing, ranking modes, if utilized properly in blockchain games, could become one of the most powerful gamification tools in the space.

VALORANT: An Example Of How Ranking Influences Gaming

Whether physical or digital, almost everyone around the world plays games. According to the Marketer, the number of gamers worldwide has increased to 3.26 billion in 2023, accounting for 40% of the world’s population. This number is predicted to reach 3.8 billion in 2027, as novel technology advances and in-game content continues to evolve. The explosive growth in gaming is rooted in players looking to add a little bit of fun to their daily lives, but also adds other benefits, including improving cognitive memory and problem-solving, mood and enhancing social skills.

While games come in all shapes and forms, ranked games and esports are the fastest growing sector of games, attracting millions of players and billions of viewers in the recent past. Games such as VALORANT have witnessed a meteoric rise in popularity across gaming communities due to the competitive nature of the game.

A month following the game’s launch, in May 2020, few players joined the game, registering only 20,000 players worldwide, according to gaming data firm Tracker.gg. However, at the end of June, Riot Games, the game’s developer, announced a ranking system and competitive modes, a move that saw the number of VALORANT gamers explode from around 20,000 in June to over 1 million at the start of August 2020.

As of October 2023, the monthly number of players has risen impressively to an average of over 15 million players, reaching a peak of 20.4 million in July this year. The ranked experience is the main driver for this growth as it provides a strong driving force for players to join the game, and spend hours playing the game, in order to succeed in hitting higher ranks.

VALORANT is one of the many games that drive gamers to their site via ranking systems and leaderboards. League of Legends, Rocket League, Apex Legends, and more have adopted ranked modes, allowing players to match with skilled players and enjoy a highly competitive environment. What’s surprising is the swift growth of ranked blockchain-based games.

A New Frontier in Web 3 Gaming Rankings

The surge in popularity of these games is a testament to the effects of competitive gaming and the ever-evolving rank systems that create dedication from the games’ loyal communities. The blockchain gaming industry is quickly adopting ranked games, in a bid to give players better experience and real rewards as they climb ranks.

As touched on before, competitive gaming environments allow everyone to improve on their game, as they play with skilled players. In addition, players can prove how good they are in the game, adding an accomplished feeling after the hours put into playing the game. More importantly, ranked games offer higher ranks of LPs or in-game assets as a reward for improving and climbing the leaderboard.

For instance, Banksters, a P2E game that gamifies crypto trading, allows traders to compete against each other on portfolio management in a ranked system. The game is a fictional crypto market that mirrors the actual market. The objective of the game is for players to use their trading skills to come out on top in investing rounds and be rewarded with real crypto as a prize. The game is designed to be both fun and challenging, with players needing to use strategy and skill to advance to higher ranks from Investor to Reptilian (the highest rank).

Additionally, Banksters can be exchanged or used in the game to boost performance, giving players an added advantage over their opponent(s). The game allows players to simulate scenarios that can influence the outcome of their fictional in-game investment decisions. Even if the market goes against their prediction, it is still possible to make a change and salvage the trade within the game.

Ranking in blockchain games plays a significant role in driving adoption by enhancing player engagement, creating competitive incentives, and fostering a sense of community. Critically, players are able to earn real value rewards as they power through premium rankings – a strategy that increases game adoption and revenue. This means as players improve their gameplay, have fun, or play to reach their set ranking goals, they can be paid through NFTs, crypto or other digital assets, translating to cash.

The Challenge of Ranked Web 3 Games

Several challenges still face the widespread launch and adoption of ranked blockchain games today. First, blockchain games lack a substantial player base to ensure you have a chance to play against a variety of players and matchups. Game developers can narrow this gap with features like crossplay and regional matchmaking.

Secondly, most ranked blockchain games do not employ a skill-based matchmaking system, ideally pairing players against players of equal skill levels. Banksters unlocked this issue by creating levels that allow Investors to compete only with players on their level and Reptilians will do the same. The ranked matchmaking queue should avoid matching players against players with significant skill gaps in either direction.

Finally, latency and input delay are key issues across the blockchain gaming industry. To ensure widespread adoption of the game, the delay in matchmaking and in-game play should be minimal.