Telegram-based tap-to-earn crypto games are losing users rapidly, even as the broader cryptocurrency market enjoys a bullish phase.
Data from Google Trends reveals that search interest in “tap-to-earn” has plummeted by 80% between June and December 2024. This significant decline suggests that players and investors may be shifting their focus to other areas in the thriving crypto market.
Decline in Tap-to-Earn Games User Interest and Engagement
Leading Telegram-based games such as Hamster Kombat, Notcoin, and Catizen have seen massive drops in users despite a booming crypto market. According to TGStats, Hamster Kombat alone lost over 3 million users in just one month, while Notcoin and Catizen shed 428,000 and 407,000 users, respectively.
On-chain activity data paints a similar picture. The Ton blockchain, which powers these games, recorded more than 1 million daily active wallets in September. According to TonStats, this number had fallen below 500,000 by December.
A Chainplay survey of 957 players supports these findings. While 17.8% of users quit after their first airdrop, a notable 50.6% reduced their activity, suggesting declining interest after initial rewards.
Moreover, developers continue to struggle with user retention, as many players leave after claiming free tokens. Animoca Brands reports that top-performing projects manage to retain only 60% of their peak daily active users, with less successful projects retaining as little as 25%.
However, TON Foundation officials believe this outcome is unsurprising. According to TON Foundation ecosystem lead Alena Shmalko, the recent decline in tap-to-earn game usage aligns with expectations. The model was designed as a short-term onboarding mechanism to attract millions of initial users, rather than a long-term solution.
“The recent drop in usage is logical — plenty of wallets were heavily incentivised by the airdrop and left after TGE (which happens to ANY web3 product across different chains with NO exceptions). This is called conversion rate, and you can never retain 100% users at all project stages. And to be fair, if those TON games manage to keep even a fraction of their entire user base (which counts dozens and even hundreds of millions), it will still be a larger audience than any other web3 product so far,” Shmalko told BeInCrypto.
Why Tap-to-Earn Games Are Losing Players
Repetitive gameplay remains a primary issue. Chainplay reported that over 51% of surveyed players cited monotonous tasks as a key reason for quitting. Despite efforts to improve user experience, many tap-to-earn games rely on simple mechanics, causing player fatigue.
Additionally, larger player bases dilute airdrop rewards, leaving participants feeling undervalued. More than half of surveyed users expressed dissatisfaction with smaller allocations.
Fraud and security concerns also contribute to user attrition. Games like Hamster Kombat have banned millions of accounts for exploiting reward systems. Security risks such as hacking and cheating further discourage participation, with 21.8% of respondents highlighting these issues.
Lastly, difficulties in withdrawing rewards have frustrated players, with 35.9% citing cash-out challenges. As retention problems persist, the future of tap-to-earn crypto games will depend on developers addressing these core issues and delivering engaging, secure experiences that appeal to a broader audience.
TON Foundation is well-aware of these challenges. Alena Shmalko noted that no game lasts indefinitely, not even triple-A titles, and tap-to-earn games have an even shorter lifecycle.
“In 2025, TON Foundation plans to actively support such game genres as mid-core, casual and social games, and gamified DeFi products. We believe that more engaging and valuable interactions between players are key to securing decent growth in the upcoming months. We already see the emergence of many such cases in The Open League, in the hackathon, and in the grant program. Time is needed for them to mature and achieve sustainable growth,” she shared.
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