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Is Web3 gaming your next venture? This is a sector booming high and with rapid speed. This is, in fact, a sector that is on a rampage. It attracts a lot of money and users who are intrigued since it is the one to change the whole concept of ownership fundamentally. According to MRFR analysis, the Web3 Gaming Market Size was estimated at 6.717 USD Billion in 2024. The Web3 Gaming industry is projected to grow from 8.949 USD Billion in 2025 to 157.7 USD Billion by 2035, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.23% during the forecast period 2025 - 2035.
Therefore, getting to know the real cost and the necessary features for your work is the most important thing before you lay down your first brick. It's not just about making a new game, but rather it's about coming up with a decentralized economy where gamers will be the shareholders.
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We will clarify to you the factors that make a Web3 developer different and which, consequently, influence your budget. In the end, you will have a clear plan for figuring out your project's financial requirements.
Web3 is the third generation of the internet which is mainly about decentralization and the use of blockchain technology. The gaming aspect of it means that the authority is taken away from the central publishers and, instead, the users are given verifiable ownership.
This change is most commonly called "real digital ownership." In principle, Web3 games are traditional ones with fun elements, but they take advantage of the blockchain in such ways as using smart contracts and NFTs.
By these means, players can be owners of the assets, which can be either items, virtual land, or unique characters, and this ownership is outside the control of the game company. However, you still need to grasp the basic change first.
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Web3 introduces business models that are radically different and far beyond what traditional gaming can offer. It addresses the problems that have been there for a long time in the areas of asset ownership and player loyalty. As a result, developers are discovering new, sustainable ways of generating revenue.
The economies controlled by users of the game have the power to pull in huge numbers of people and to keep these people for a long time. The fact is that if players put in real money or time for assets that they are the ones who truly own, then they are, by a very large margin, going to be those who will stay. Moreover, the option of being paid royalties by the sellers of the secondary market provides a steady passive income flow for creators.
Besides that, community governance, most of the time via Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), is instrumental in creating trust. Players are the ones who feel that they are being listened to and that they are invested, hence, changing them from merely consumers into the co-creators of the game's development.
Web3 games are targeted at audiences with their technology requirement features, which differentiate them from games released on standard consoles or mobile platforms. These features are considered the yardsticks and significantly change the development timeline and thus, the cost.
True Asset Ownership (NFTs)
NFTs represent the player's ownership of the fundamental mechanism. Any unique item, such as a very rare sword, a virtual land plot, or a cosmetic skin, must be issued in the form of an NFT on a blockchain. Hence, developing robust smart contracts is a must.
Decentralized Gameplay Mechanics
Usually, to keep up with the speed requirements, web3 games have the core gameplay that runs on traditional servers, but the most important economic decisions are still going to be the blockchain. An example would be to stake items or recipes, or the distribution of tokens is regulated by smart contracts that guarantee equity and clarity.
Effortless Wallet Integration
The game platform should have wallet system so that users can add cryptocurrencies without any complications, manage their holdings, carry out operations, and leverage decentralized features. This should be convenient and fast. Your platform can be integrated with existing wallets like MetaMask or Phantom. Or develop a new wallet for your platform with the game UI. Nevertheless, the safety measures need to be of the highest standard in this case.
Play-to-Earn (P2E) or Play-and-Earn (P&E) Systems
These economic models provide players with fungible tokens or assets for reaching certain milestones or for their contribution to the value. Implementing a tokenomics framework that is sound, non-inflationary, and community-friendly can be considered the most difficult part of the whole project.
Community Governance (DAO)
A lot of the Web3 games that are successful hand over control to the community by using DAO mechanisms after a certain period. In this case, there is the production of governance tokens and voting schemes that provide an opportunity for holders to influence the decisions of the developer team further.
Cross-Chain Compatibility
In a perfect Web3 scenario, the assets may be transferred from one chain to different ones or ecosystems. Though it is ambitious, constructing a game that has cross-chain bridges in the future is a way to ensure its scalability and that the broader market will be accessible later on.
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Developing a Web3 game costs different amounts at different times. The cost depends on how complicated the game is, how many people are in the team, and what features the game has. By knowing these core reasons, you will be able to budget correctly.
Game Complexity and Genre
As an example, the development cost of a P2E game based on a simple card collector will be just a fraction of a 3D open-world metaverse project. The detailed graphics, intricate physics, and feature-rich multiplayer capabilities will require a larger budget. So, scope management can never be discarded from your arsenal of project management tools.
Smart Contract Complexity and Audits
The most significant cost source is the blockchain part, especially the tokenomics and smart contracts. In brief, three things lead to increased expenses: specialized blockchain developers are required for writing robust contracts, security audits are mandatory and done by third parties, and therefore a security audit may take a cost of from 10 to 20% of the total time and money of the development process.
Team Size and Expertise
Paying recurring salaries for a big team will always entail a high monthly payroll expense. On the other hand, the Web3 talent pool is limited, and thus the demand for a specialized blockchain engineer is usually met with a higher rate than that of a traditional game developer. Do not risk the security of your platform by employing fewer security architects only because the monetary risk is very high.
Quality of Art and Graphics
The art style basically determines what and how many resources will be needed. Creating high-quality 3D models usually requires a team of modelers, animators, and texture artists, and the work can go on for several months. On the other hand, developing a stylized 2D pixel-art game will hardly take half the time or half of the costs.
Testing and Infrastructure (Gas Fees)
When a developer chooses to work with chains such as Ethereum, then gas fees must be paid for every deployment and testing of a smart contract. It is not often that this expense is a major cost driver; however, it should still always be included in the budget for the testing phase. Additionally, there is a need to ensure a strong server infrastructure off-chain to be able to scale.
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The choice of the right blockchain platform has a major impact on the development cost and the scalability of the project in the future. Developers need to have skills in certain languages and environments for each blockchain.
Ethereum (Solidity)
Since Ethereum is the most trusted and decentralized platform, it is also the most secure and hence the security audits are very important. The development costs are generally raised because the price of a Solidity developer is high, and gas costs for testing can be accumulated.
Polygon (Layer 2)
With Polygon, the transaction costs are lowered to a great extent as it provides scaling solutions for Ethereum. The development is almost the same in terms of the needed expertise, but the operational cost after the launch is much lower, which is great for high-volume games.
Solana (Rust)
Due to its speed and very low gas fees, Solana blockchain is the one most people turn to. Nevertheless, there is a problem when it comes to hiring because one has to find someone who is experienced both in Rust and Web3 gaming. So in the beginning, the cost of hiring might be high due to limited options.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC)
BSC is the most suitable platform for P2E games as it provides cheap transactions and is also compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It is a good compromise of both world-familiarity and affordability; thus, it is frequently chosen by projects with limited budgets.
The huge difference in game types a game studio chooses to develop is the main factor which will affect the price of the game, and the number of development hours is directly proportional to it.
Simple P2E Collector Games (e.g., Simple Trading Card Games)
The games in this category have basic 2D graphics that hardly change, there is almost no real-time interaction, and the bulk of the work is done in smart contracts used for asset management.
Medium Complexity Strategy/RPG Games (e.g., Simple Land Management or Auto-Battlers)
Their logical part is much more complicated; they might have some 3D scenes, which are not very complex and have an integrated in-game economy that requires in-depth tokenomics modeling.
High Complexity AAA/Metaverse Projects (e.g., Open-World MMOs)
Such AAA feature finest-of-the-fine computer graphics, highly complex networking, sophisticated server architecture, and huge power sets (avatars, crafting, social spaces) that make this a very expensive and highly specialized project.
The cost of development varies a lot depending on where your development team is located. This is mainly because of the local labor rates.
North America / Western Europe
These are the areas where the highest hourly rates can be found, but along with them come, in general, a lot of experience and the know-how of the project manager. The rates at times may vary from $80 to more than $200 per hour. Consequently, the total costs of the projects in this region are usually the highest ones, even if the duration of the projects is relatively short.
Eastern Europe
Poland, Ukraine, and other such countries have a good mix of high technical skill and relatively low pricing. Local rates are typically between $45 and $90 per hour. This region is a great place for those who have complex projects and need qualified engineers at a reasonable price.
South Asia / Southeast Asia
The countries India, Vietnam, and the Philippines offer the lowest rates, which can sometimes be from $25 to $50 per hour. Even though they are very cost-effective, it is absolutely necessary to select the vendors carefully so that quality and communication are maintained throughout the project lifecycle.
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The place where your game is played determines what kind of optimization and QA will be required, and, thus, what the budget will be.
PC (Windows/Mac)
Typically, development for PC enables visually better and more performant games without causing the developer to have to do a lot of work-intensive optimization. As a result, it is usually a moderate level of complexity in terms of development, but the cost of asset production for a 3D game will be high.
Mobile (iOS/Android)
Working on mobile adds a lot of complexities due to the presence of strict app store policies and the need for performance optimization across a vast range of device models. Besides that, if you want to integrate wallet technology on mobile in a secure way, you will need a professional who has the required skills.
Cross-Platform (PC and Mobile)
Being able to do this is the most costly way of doing it because first, you have to make the game on one engine (like Unity or Unreal), and then a big part of the resources has to be used for the thorough optimization and QA of all the environments. The only advantage of this method is that it creates the largest possible market for the product.
Working out the end expense is not a matter of guessing; this process consists of the hours of development being multiplied by the rates of the blended team. To prevent budget overruns that could ruin your project, you need to take a methodical approach. It is not only the game mechanics that should be included in your feature definition, but also the smart contract functions.
For every single engineering hour, there has to be a detailed explanation of each interaction, such as NFT minting or token staking. After that, you should break down the game hours into each functional component, which includes Game Design, Backend Server Setup, Front-End Development, Smart Contract Coding, Art Asset Production, and QA Testing.
Finally, you need to multiply the complete cost structure and be sure to add an additional buffer. When calculating the cost, add an additional 20%, so that you will have extra budget in case the cost goes up.
Example Calculation Breakdown:-
Subtotal: $74,250 + 20% Buffer (Audit/Scope Creep) $14,850
Total Estimated Cost: $89,100
By using this method, you will be able to cover the blockchain integration and security audit that you didn't see, thus making your budget more accurate.
Costs for Web3 development increase with the complexity of the system. The cleverer your system is, the more planning and expertise it will need. Knowing these layers will allow you to allocate your budget with confidence and not have any surprise costs later.
When Web3 is transitioning from a mere experiment to being actually used in the real world, the question is no longer "Should we build?" but "How quickly can we do it securely and efficiently?"
If you are willing to make a move to the next level, Orion InfoSolutions is the right partner to take you through full-cycle Web3 development, audits, integrations, and long-term support from idea to launch.
Ready to bring your Web3 product to life? Let's estimate your project cost and build a roadmap that delivers real ROI.
I am a programmer & custom casino and sports software developer at Orion InfoSolutions, with a particular focus on creating high-performance, scalable, and compliant gaming software platforms.