The blockchain gaming sector has demonstrated resilience in 2025, even as broader decentralised application (dApp) activity declined sharply. However, the standout trend across the year was the rapid rise of gambling and high-risk protocols, which recorded a meaningful user growth in an otherwise contracting market.
According to ChainPlay’s GameFi Statistics 2025 report, gambling and high risk is the only segment with positive gain, though from a tiny base, showing speculative users clustering in high-risk protocols when the wider market cools.
High-risk protocols attract users amid downturn
While most sectors experienced declining engagement, gambling-related dApps saw a surge in both users and activity. According to the report, transactions in the category nearly doubled over the year, with an 89.81 percent increase, rising from modest levels at the start of 2025 to significantly higher volumes by year-end.
This growth reflects a broader behavioural shift. As safer or more traditional decentralised finance (DeFi) and exchange activity slowed, the report showed that users appeared to migrate towards higher-risk opportunities.
In addition, the category posted the highest growth in transactions per user, increasing by 18.86 percent.
GameFi retains dominance despite decline
Despite the rise of gambling dApps, GameFi maintained its position as the leading category by unique active wallets (UAW). By the end of 2025, it recorded 22.45 million UAW, the highest among all dApp sectors.
“GameFi remain the highest dApps UAW category throughout the year,” the report stated, even as overall user numbers declined across the ecosystem. However, this leadership came amid a contraction, with gaming user numbers dropping by roughly 40 percent over the year.
Transaction levels within gaming remained relatively stable, indicating that while fewer users were active, those who remained were more engaged. Supporting this, transactions per UAW increased by 66.25 percent, suggesting a shift towards more committed or higher-value players.
DeFi and exchanges suffer steep losses
In contrast to gambling and gaming, DeFi and exchange platforms experienced substantial downturns. DeFi saw its user base fall by more than half, alongside a reduction in its overall share of activity.
Exchanges were hit hardest, with UAW declining by approximately 70 percent and transactions dropping by 34.07 percent over the year. However, despite fewer users, both DeFi and exchanges recorded sharp increases in transactions per user, up 121.92 percent and 157.82 percent, respectively.
Fewer users but deeper engagement across sectors
Overall, 2025 was marked by a contraction in dApp usage across nearly all categories. Social, marketplace, and collectibles platforms all recorded steep declines, with collectibles seeing the sharpest drop in transactions per user at −65.47 percent, signalling the continued collapse of NFT-driven hype.
Remaining users are becoming more active and, in many cases, more risk-tolerant. The migration towards gambling and high-risk dApps suggests that speculative behaviour intensifies during periods of reduced market confidence.
As the report concludes, the year reflects not just a decline in participation, but a reshaping of user behaviour, where fewer participants are engaging more deeply, and often more aggressively, within the blockchain ecosystem.
Industry enters reset phase
A separate report published in December 2025 by the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) reinforces this narrative of transition. BGA described the sector as entering a “reset phase” after years of hype-driven expansion.
The BGA report outlined a move away from speculative, token-led growth towards more sustainable models focused on gameplay, user retention, and long-term revenue. It stated that blockchain gaming is leaving behind the “token-first” era in favour of “playable games, sustainable revenue, and long-term engagement.”
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