At the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) BGAConnects, GDC Edition, on March 18, 2025, industry leaders discussed “AI Agents, Telegram, and Questing: The Evolution of Rewarded User Acquisition.” The panel revealed a clear shift from token-centric models to gameplay-focused approaches in blockchain gaming.

Four key voices shared insights: Dr. Adel Elmessiry (Lussa), Jenna Greenfield (Wanderlabs), Joseph Rubin (Salvay), and moderator Zach Heerwagen (Snag Solutions). Their conversation showed how early practices of generous token airdrops are giving way to strategies that prioritize gameplay quality and sustainable economics.

These leaders offered practical wisdom on what’s working, what isn’t, and how AI agents, strategic questing, and even Telegram are reshaping user acquisition in blockchain gaming.

Beyond the Web3 Gamer Myth

“One of the biggest mistakes that game studios do in web3 is they focus too much on the mythical web3 gamer. But there’s really no gamers in web3,” stated Joseph Rubin frankly. This sentiment echoed throughout the panel as speakers acknowledged that targeting traditional gamers, not crypto enthusiasts, should be the priority for blockchain games.

Dr. Adel reinforced this view: “We are all gamers at heart and what gamers really want is not to get tokens but to actually get good games that they can enjoy and can play.”

This shift in perspective has led companies to explore traditional gaming platforms for user acquisition. Joseph recommended listing games on web platforms like Crazy Games or Pokey: “You can instantly get tens of thousands of players and lots of player liquidity by listing on there and integrating their SDKs rather than thinking the only way to do is to give away free token.”

Creating seamless blockchain experiences has become essential. Jenna emphasized being “very strategic and methodical with what assets make sense to be on chain” and ensuring “a very seamless experience for the regular gamer because they will maybe be scared away if they know it is an NFT.”

To bridge this gap, Lussa incorporated “a social account abstraction wallet called chorus so basically you jump in with your Gmail, all your wallets are linked underneath,” explained Dr. Adel, allowing players to focus on gameplay first, with tokens becoming a natural extension later.

Jenna concluded this sentiment perfectly: “I’m just excited to stop saying web3 gaming. I feel like even just two days here at GDC I feel like we’re getting very close to like these worlds converging.”

The Evolution of Questing & Play-to-Earn: Lessons Learned

Wanderlabs‘ experience with questing revealed telling statistics: 100,000 unique wallets engaged with their quests, but only 7,000 actually played their roguelike game. This stark difference highlights the challenge of converting crypto participants into actual gamers.

“The attention of the audience in web3 is very short,” Jenna explained. “Our play-to-airdrop quest season 1… we announced it in like late July and the first drop didn’t happen until January. So the length of time for that questing season was a bit too long for the attention span of everyone.”

This lesson led to a key insight: shorter, more focused campaigns perform better than lengthy, open-ended questing seasons. The panel emphasized being “super methodical” with questing initiatives to maintain audience engagement.

Joseph warned against excessive token distribution: “After they do like a questing or play-to-airdrop campaign… they typically regret giving away too much token. You really want to be kind of stingy with the amount you give away for free because this just increases sell pressure for your token.”

To offset this pressure, he recommended distributing tokens over time rather than in large single drops, creating a more sustainable economic model.

For monetization beyond tokens, Jenna shared that Wanderlabs uses trading cards and “a battle pass coming up soon” – traditional gaming monetization methods that work alongside blockchain elements.

The industry is now shifting toward questing campaigns that connect meaningfully to gameplay rather than existing solely for token distribution. As Dr. Adel noted, “You can’t just get paid without doing a good job” – emphasizing that reward systems should reinforce genuine player engagement and contribution.

Telegram as a User Acquisition Channel: Potential and Limitations

Joseph highlighted Telegram’s potential as a growing user acquisition channel: “The fact that you can create a flywheel by putting a bot into a group and having people reshare that bot across bigger and bigger groups… there’s a lot of value there especially for casino games and social games and gambling.”

This viral sharing mechanism offers an organic growth path that doesn’t rely on expensive paid advertising or token incentives. Instead, it leverages existing social connections and group dynamics to spread gameplay opportunities.

However, Joseph acknowledged clear limitations: “I haven’t seen too many profitable, strong revenue-generating games on Telegram aside from gambling and casino games.” Part of this challenge stems from technical constraints: “It’s just HTML games right in Telegram and you can’t really have any more powerful game engines except for maybe with Yum and the cloud streaming directly into Telegram.”

For most developers, Telegram games remain “pretty simple clicker games” that struggle to “drive anybody to a bigger game ecosystem even if that’s just like a companion app.” This raises questions about whether Telegram can function effectively as an entry point to more complex blockchain gaming experiences.

The success of casino and gambling games on the platform suggests that simple, immediately rewarding gameplay loops work best in this environment. Developers considering Telegram should focus on bite-sized experiences that can stand alone rather than relying on the platform to funnel players to external games.

AI Agents The New Frontier in Player Engagement

Dr. Adel presented an innovative vision for AI agents that extends beyond traditional gameplay sessions: “Imagine you playing the game and then unfortunately have to go to work. So while at work you can chat with your AI agents within the game like ‘hey go get me some ammo’ and then 15 minutes later ‘boss I found you some ammo, great stash it there’… while you are not playing the game.”

This approach creates persistent engagement by allowing players to progress even when they can’t actively play. Unlike unsuccessful AI chatbots that simply generate “a lot of slop” on social media feeds, these agents serve practical in-game functions.

The Lussa platform takes this concept further by integrating AI from the earliest stages of game development: “From day one when you come to the system to create your own game you are greeted with AI agents that help you with the narrative, helps you create your logo for the game, screenshots, all of that stuff.”

This creates a dual benefit: developers get AI assistance to build their games, while players get AI companions to enhance their gameplay experience. The system also facilitates a marketplace where users can contribute various skills: “Whether you are just creating skins or you are music composer or you simply want to come and be community manager for the game, you can join those and then come in and help and get rewarded.”

AI agents thus bridge the gap between active gameplay and passive interaction, creating a continuous engagement loop that keeps players connected to the game world even during downtime. Unlike traditional play-to-earn models that reward simple actions, this approach encourages meaningful interactions that enhance both the game and the player’s experience within it.

The New Tokenomics Playbook From Airdrops to Sustainable Economies

The panel revealed a significant evolution in tokenomics strategy, moving from generous airdrops to more measured, sustainable approaches to token distribution and utility.

Joseph emphasized the importance of revenue generation: “It sounds like a funny thing to say but I think the most important thing for a web3 game is to drive revenue.” He suggested that one-off events like asset sales or token sales can provide immediate revenue, but sustainable models require ongoing monetization from actual gameplay.

Sharing revenue with token holders emerged as a key strategy: “Once you do have a foundation for generating revenue from your player base… giving back to the token holders and the DAO if you launch a token or NFT holders and giving them some sort of revenue share in the game.” This approach “is a great way to boost the interest in the token and align incentives between the community and the game and publisher itself.”

The discussion also highlighted staking as an effective mechanism for revenue sharing. When asked about restricting revenue sharing to stakers only, Joseph responded, “I think that’s the way to do it. Because if they’re not staking and locking up the token, it’s difficult to track them.”

However, Zach noted an emerging trend: “We’re seeing a lot more desire from web3 holders in particular to move towards soft staking and actually being somewhat negative towards projects that are forcing the actual staking mechanic.” As an alternative, tracking holding duration (one month, six months) provides similar benefits without requiring formal staking mechanisms.

Dr. Adel outlined Lussa’s comprehensive economic approach: “We have a full-fledged market not just to exchange your in-game assets but also cross-game assets exchange. On top of that we have asset rentals… other players can rent your items and pay you for that rental.” This creates multiple revenue streams beyond token inflation, including “game asset finance which is traditional finance but the flip side of it, a lending pool.”

These approaches represent a maturing ecosystem where token value derives from genuine utility and revenue rather than speculative interest or inflationary rewards.

Conclusion

The blockchain gaming landscape is clearly evolving beyond its initial token-centric approaches toward more sophisticated, gameplay-focused strategies. As traditional gaming and blockchain technology converge, old divisions are becoming less relevant.

Jenna captured this sentiment perfectly: “I’m just excited to stop saying web3 gaming. I feel like even just two days here at GDC I feel like we’re getting very close to these worlds converging. I think it’s time and we just need to know that the tech we’re building behind the future of gaming is going to make it better.”

The panel revealed several key trends shaping this convergence:

1. Recognition that targeting traditional gamers rather than “web3 gamers” is essential for growth
2. More strategic approaches to questing and token distribution that prioritize sustainable economics
3. Exploration of channels like Telegram while acknowledging their limitations
4. Integration of AI agents to create persistent engagement and support both players and creators
5. Evolution toward revenue-sharing models that align player, creator, and investor interests

What emerges is a new playbook for blockchain game acquisition and retention – one that prioritizes gameplay experience over token rewards, seamless integration over technical barriers, and sustainable economics over short-term token pumps.

As Joseph suggested, success may come from exploring untapped channels like esports: “If we can get a game that gets adopted by the actual esports circuits… if there’s teams that are playing Call of Duty that move over to this web3 game, that would be massive for attention and for user acquisition for the whole ecosystem.”

The future of blockchain gaming appears to be one where the technology fades into the background while the games themselves take center stage – exactly as they should.

Key Insights

The Web3 Gamer Myth
“There’s really no gamers in web3” – Joseph Rubin. Blockchain games should target traditional gamers, not just crypto enthusiasts.

Conversion Gap
Wanderlabs attracted 100,000 wallet connections but only 7,000 actual game players, highlighting the challenge of converting token seekers to genuine players.

Player Attention Spans
Long questing campaigns (5+ months) lose audience interest. Shorter, focused initiatives perform better.

Token Distribution
Giving away too many tokens during airdrops increases sell pressure. Strategic, measured distribution over time works better.

Seamless Integration
Successful blockchain games hide complexity through features like social account abstraction wallets, allowing players to use familiar logins while blockchain technology operates behind the scenes.

Traditional UA Channels
Listing games on platforms like Crazy Games or Pokey can instantly deliver thousands of players, often more effectively than crypto-specific approaches.

Telegram Potential
Telegram can create organic growth through reshared bots, but mostly works for simple games like casino and gambling titles due to technical limitations.

AI Engagement
AI agents can maintain player engagement during downtime by allowing chat-based progression: “Go get me some ammo” while away from the game.

Revenue Sharing
Sharing game revenue with token stakers aligns incentives between developers and community, creating sustainable economics.

Industry Convergence
The distinction between web3 and traditional gaming is blurring as technologies mature and integrate more seamlessly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What was the main lesson from Wanderlabs’ questing campaign?
A: Wanderlabs learned that long questing seasons (5+ months) exceeded player attention spans. Despite 100,000 wallet connections, only 7,000 people played their actual game, showing that crypto participants don’t automatically convert to gamers.

Q: How are successful blockchain games approaching token distribution?
A: They’re becoming more strategic and “stingy” with token distribution to avoid sell pressure. Many are shifting to revenue-sharing models for stakers and long-term holders rather than generous airdrops.

Q: What alternatives exist to crypto-specific user acquisition?
A: Traditional gaming platforms like Crazy Games or Pokey can deliver thousands of players through SDK integration. The panel emphasized that reaching mainstream gamers is more important than targeting the “mythical web3 gamer.”

Q: How effective is Telegram for game user acquisition?
A: Telegram can create viral growth through reshared bots in groups, but works best for simple games (especially casino and gambling) due to technical limitations. It’s generally not effective at funneling players to external, more complex games.

Q: How are AI agents being used in blockchain games?
A: AI agents enable persistent engagement by allowing players to progress through chat interactions even when away from the game. They also help creators develop games faster by assisting with narrative, visuals, and other development tasks.

Q: What monetization approaches are working beyond token sales?
A: Traditional gaming monetization like trading cards and battle passes work alongside blockchain elements. Some platforms also enable asset rentals and lending pools, creating multiple revenue streams beyond token inflation.