Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, stated that blockchain gaming “is not coming back,” casting doubt on one of the core narratives of the Web3 ecosystem.
Her remarks come amid the ongoing decline of the metaverse push led by Meta, under Mark Zuckerberg, whose ambitious vision failed to achieve mass adoption despite billions in investment. While Meta’s strategy was not directly crypto-focused, it shared key principles with Web3 gaming, including digital ownership and decentralized economies.
For years, the industry believed networks like Solana could enable blockchain gaming at scale thanks to high throughput and low transaction costs, addressing the limitations of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Projects such as Star Atlas and Stepn embodied this vision, but ultimately failed to establish sustainable models.
The structural issue has been evident: many games prioritized “play-to-earn” mechanics over gameplay quality, undermining long-term user retention. The collapse of GameFi tokens following the 2021 boom—led by Axie Infinity—reinforces the view that the sector has fallen short of expectations despite heavy backing from firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Animoca Brands.
Liu’s comments sparked immediate backlash from parts of the developer community, with some arguing that the issue lies not in the technology itself but in its execution. Meanwhile, companies such as Mythical Games and Gunzilla Games continue to build titles where blockchain integration is optional, prioritizing user experience over tokenization.
Source: Statements from the Solana Foundation
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The cryptocurrency market involves risks and high volatility.
