Has Success Finally Found Web3 Gaming? Catizen's Growth and Financial Results Offer a Clear Affirmation

Pundits have long suggested that blockchain’s killer app would be gaming. It would lead the masses to adopt digital ledger technology, much as spreadsheets made personal computers essential 40 years ago. While this line of thinking made sense, we’ve endured so many attempts that fell short, so many games that simply weren’t as playable as what was already available via Nintendo – for what we knew was “inevitable.” Could the wait be over?

Reading the latest annual report from Catizen might lead you to believe that, yes, blockchain gaming has finally arrived as a self-sustaining business model.

The rise of Catizen

Catizen is a leading player in the Web3 entertainment space. The company has achieved impressive growth and milestones since its founding in March 2024. In its first 10 months, it generated more than $34 million in revenue as it pivoted from a model that promoted single-game play to one that focused more on Catizen’s Mini App Center.

By the end of last year, the Mini App Center attracted more than 55 million players, with 3.3 million on-chain active users and 1.2 million paying users. Powered by its innovative Play-to-Airdrop mechanism and the $CATI token – listed on all major crypto exchanges – CATIZEN enables its community to unlock significant rewards.

The mini-game Bombie has been a standout performer since its August launch, contributing more than $9.2 million, nearly half of the Mini App Center's total revenue.

There’s more in the pipeline. While Bombie continues to gain popularity, a new game called Cattea is already bringing further traffic to the platform. Cattea’s in-game advertising capability could make it an even bigger earner. It’s designed intentionally to attract users with initially low difficulty levels, but it quickly escalates into the kind of challenge that requires commitment from the gamer. It also offers humor, references to crypto culture and a slew of social features. Cattea appears poised for short-term viral spread and rapid growth.

Another contributor of Catizen’s surprising revenue is its integration with Telegram, which allows Catizen users to pay using Telegram Stars in-app currency.

One major driver of Catizen’s growth relates to sales of the $CATI coin, which debuted in September, shortly after the company’s transition to a multi-application ecosystem. Within the Catizen ecosystem, $CATI tokens users can enjoy a 30% discount on game top-ups. The bulk of $CATI’s float is in users’ hands, due in large part to periodic airdrops. Catizen distributes 10 million $CATI tokens to the community every quarter. The next airdrop is scheduled for April, but for those interested in avoiding the rush, the token is now trading close to its support level.

Combining the geometric growth in mini-games with other innovations, Catizen’s management predicts full-year 2025 revenues of between $80 million and $100 million.

Commitment to innovation

With October’s upgrades of the Catizen Ecosystem Game Center, the ecosystem entered an expansion cycle. In just three months, more than 9 million $CATI tokens were consumed and 21 more mini games were published. Extrapolating from this momentum, more that 10% of total $CATI supply could be consumed in the ecosystem annually.

The $CATI Launchpool has become a cornerstone of Catizen’s community engagement strategy. In October, Catizen debuted its first Launchpool project, Zircuit, offering more than $1.5 million in staking rewards. During this campaign – supported by such prominent blockchain investors as Binance Labs, Panter and Dragonfly Capital – 23 million $CATI tokens were staked.

The Launchpool event and the associated shared rewards model encourage active users to participate and engage in the community. The ecosystem benefits from the Mini App Rebate Center, creating a Web3 sharing economy that directly rewards users. Catizen’s focus on community-driven rewards and incentives allows users to earn based on engagement and token staking, while an increased emphasis on sustainability and long-term community in turn benefits within the ecosystem.

Next, the Launchpool is set to expand within Telegram's non-custodial wallet, broadening its reach to millions of Telegram users and enhancing its value proposition. The white paper lists many other strategies the Catizen team has tweaked or outright invented to guard against the devaluation of its token.

In the meantime, it continues to offer a dynamic ecosystem centered around blockchain-based mini-games and entertainment applications.

The plan for 2025

Catizen’s most immediate goal is to establish itself as a comprehensive consumer application hub. By importing top-tier games and expanding more global communities, the team expects to continue driving utility for $CATI tokens and increase their long-term value.

The next hurdle is geographic growth. The main focus is on expanding into markets with a high concentration of quality users, including Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. Over the past year, the Catizen team has built a solid foundation as it concentrated in English- and Russian-speaking regions and developed the expertise to navigate diverse markets.

To attract more high-quality users, Catizen plans to launch market-specific products tailored to the preferences and needs of each targeted region. With these efforts, the team forecasts a 60% increase in the total number of paying and on-chain users over the next year.