Play-to-earn is alive and kicking: Ronin Network sees 193% monthly growth in activity

Investment firm Arca now holds more than $4 million in $RON, the native token of the Ronin Network, according to a Jan. 24 post by on-chain data platform Nansen on X (formerly Twitter). Arca sent 680 Ether ($ETH) to the Ronin bridge that same day, after a previous transfer of 200 $ETH and $500,000 in USDC.

$RON’s performance in the past year has been stellar, with almost 180% gains registered at the time of writing. Data from Nansen also shows that, between last year’s November and December, Ronin Network registered 1.3 million monthly active addresses, being the 7th blockchain with the most activity and showing 193% growth in network activity, the largest during the period.

Nansen research analysts reveal that this surge in activity can be attributed to the slight revival of the gaming narrative and the popularity of Pixels Online as well. Pixels is a ‘farming game’ where players can build their farm, train different skills, and interact with friends, similar to famous ‘Web2’ titles, such as Harvest Moon.

Data from DappRadar points out that the number of unique active wallets interacting with Pixels in the past 30 days rose more than 16%, surpassing 352,000 addresses.

Edward Wilson, from the Nansen research team, told Crypto Briefing that blockchain gaming and play-to-earn (P2E) have often been touted as an exciting sector throughout multiple market cycles.

“Since the last cycle, many new teams that raised funds in the bull market have been building their games throughout the bear market. And at the same time, established teams in previous cycles are working on exciting updates that their users will get to experience soon,” he explains.

Given the historical interest in Web3 gaming and also P2E, Wilson believes that this is likely a sector that will continue to be one to watch.