Blockchain Express

If Solana Foundation President Lily Liu is correct in her assessment that blockchain gaming is effectively dead, then the billions of dollars invested in the sector could ultimately be considered one of the industry’s most significant misallocations of capital.
Liu’s remarks were sparked by a Polymarket post earlier in the week, which suggested that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta may be scaling back its metaverse ambitions after investing approximately $80 billion into a virtual ecosystem that has struggled to achieve meaningful user adoption.
“Also, gaming on a blockchain is not coming back,” Liu stated on Friday.
Although Meta’s metaverse vision did not explicitly center around blockchain or cryptocurrency, its broader strategy—heavily promoted by Zuckerberg, including the company’s rebranding to “Meta”—shared several conceptual similarities with web3 and blockchain-based gaming ecosystems.
Blockchain gaming was widely viewed as a potential catalyst for unlocking the promise of web3 and the metaverse, enabling users to truly own and trade in-game digital assets across decentralized networks. In essence, blockchain technology was expected to serve as the foundation for open, interoperable virtual worlds.
However, major networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum were often criticized for being too slow and expensive for gaming applications. In contrast, Solana emerged as a promising alternative, offering high throughput and low transaction costs suitable for real-time gameplay and frequent in-game interactions.
Liu’s statement drew mixed reactions from the community. Some questioned whether her comments were intended literally. One X (Twitter) user, @Tee9ee—a self-described game designer—remarked, “If by gaming you mean play-to-earn ‘games’ built around questionable tokenomics, then perhaps they shouldn’t return. However, vague statements like this risk undermining confidence among developers and gaming communities. Solana remains a strong platform for builders.”
Notably, several high-profile blockchain gaming projects have been built on Solana, including Star Atlas, an ambitious space-based metaverse project, and STEPN, which initially demonstrated strong user growth.
Despite early optimism, blockchain gaming has faced significant criticism for failing to deliver engaging gameplay and immersive experiences. Instead, many projects relied heavily on token-based incentive models that effectively paid users to participate, rather than focusing on sustainable game design.
By most industry metrics, the sector has underperformed expectations. Despite billions of dollars in investment from firms such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Framework Ventures, and Animoca Brands, the value of GameFi tokens has significantly declined since the 2021 bull market. During that period, play-to-earn titles like Axie Infinity gained global attention but ultimately struggled to sustain long-term engagement and economic stability.