Do you know why some play-to-earn games are more popular than others?
Gameplay? Earning potential? Graphics?
Sure, those play a role in it.
However, the number one factor that determines the success of a blockchain game is its community. All chart-topping play-to-earn games have mastered the art of community building and have loyal players who support the project.
If you want to learn more about community building for blockchain games, keep on reading.
Why Are Communities Important in Play-to-Earn Games?
Before we begin, let’s take a second to reflect on why communities are so important for blockchain projects like play-to-earn games.
Players in the world of blockchain gaming are more like investors than gamers – you need them way before you even think of fully developing and releasing a game.
Put simply, without people who will support your project and invest in it early on, there’s no way you’ll complete milestones from your roadmap, unless you’re willing to invest your own money. the whole point of the mint is to raise funds for further development of the project.
Not only that, but community members will help you reach more members and players by spreading the word about the game and creating hype online.
For example, chart-topping games like Axie Infinity or Alien Worlds got to where they are and stayed relevant because there’s a strong and loyal community behind them.
Thus, working on community building right from the start is essential. Here are the best practical tips for community building for blockchain games.
1. Join Social Media Networks
The first step is to establish your project on all relevant social media platforms and messaging services. If I look at what works for other games, I recommend that you focus on the following ones:
- Twitter (essential)
- Discord (essential)
- Telegram (recommended)
- Instagram (optional)
- Facebook (optional)
This is the strategy – use Twitter (and/or Instagram) for outreach and then gather the core community in your Discord and Telegram channel.
In other words, Twitter is great for reaching tons of people – this is how you get the word out about your blockchain game. The goal here is to get as many followers as possible.
Once you have a decent number of users on Twitter, you can send them to your Discord and Telegram, which is where the majority of community building happens. Naturally, only the people who are the most interested in your project or have already invested in it will join, which leaves you with your core group.
2. Post Often
To attract more fans and keep existing ones engaged, you need to post a lot of good content about the project. The goal is to create a lot of hype around your project.
Here’s what you should post to accomplish that.
Feel free to present your game and the team around it through photos, promo videos, gifs, etc. It’s important to educate new users so that they quickly learn what the game is about.
Post all updates, especially important roadmap milestones. This signals that your project is healthy and the development is ongoing.
Streaming is a great way to give updates or talk about anything. For example, Splinterlands has regular streams named Town Hall.
Memes are always a good option as they take the edge of serious blockchain gaming talk. Finally, try to engage people with your posts – ask them questions, allow them to express their opinions in the comments, etc.
Additionally, post various contests, giveaways, quizzes, etc. – more on this later.
3. Directly Engage with the Community
Community building for blockchain games is not a post-and-ghost type of situation. Sure, posting is one way of engaging with your community, but you should do it more directly.
Ask them questions, allow them to voice their opinions, and ask for recommendations or advice. This is the type of communication that makes people feel included and like they’re a part of something.
Do Q&A and AMA Sessions
Along with regular posts and answering comments, the easiest way to talk to your community directly is to do frequent Q&A and AMA sessions. One of the best ways to do that is through Twitter Spaces, but you can also use your Discord or Telegram channels.
Establish a Shared Goal
When communicating with your community, you need to establish and reiterate the shared goal you have because you’re in this together.
Make it clear that they’re an integral part of this project and if it becomes a huge success, everybody will reap the benefits.
Be Transparent
An important thing to remember when talking to the members of your community is to always be 100% transparent. People in the blockchain community are quick to smell BS and will call you out if they notice something sketchy.
Thus, always be honest and upfront. Communities are built on mutual trust and respect.
4. Share User Generated Content
Running out of ideas about what to post on social media?
Here’s a solution – share user-generated content.
Not only does it aid your content marketing strategy, but it also contributes to community building. Sharing a meme, drawing, or video one of the users made inspired by your game lets the community know their contributions are valued.
Furthermore, it shows new users that your community is thriving.
5. Games, Contests, and Giveaways
While posting game-related and user-generated content is great, you need more ways to engage people and attract new community members.
The thing is, community building for blockchain games is done in the early stages, meaning there is still no game to play or the game is in the testing phases. Because of that, you need to provide additional content to keep things interesting.
I recommend holding weekly trivia quizzes, contests, and giveaways, either on Twitter or your Discord channel.
The good news is various Discord bots can help you with all that, which saves a lot of time. However, make sure you advertise it on your Twitter page to get more people to join.
Giveaways are particularly effective for community building and it’s a great way to reward members. Rewards can include cash/token prizes, free mint, getting access to exclusive drops, gaining access to private testing, etc.
Contest Ideas
When it comes to contests, you can let your imagination run wild. However, what’s popular at the moment are meme contests, fan art contests, writing contests, social media contests, etc.
Challenges
Teams behind blockchain projects also use challenges to grow their communities. For example, Splinterlands has social media challenges where the goal is to get the game trending by sharing Splinterlands content and tagging it.
That way, the existing members of the community help you attract new members.
6. Give Special Roles to Devoted Community Members
In every community, some individuals stick out because of their enthusiasm and devotion. Make those people feel special by giving them unique roles or badges. Or at least acknowledge and thank them in some way for their contribution.
Furthermore, think of them more as your teammates rather than fans or users. This is the right mindset to have if you want to build a loyal community.
7. Moderate Your Community
Here’s my final tip for community building for blockchain games – remember that every community needs to be moderated.
Inevitably, you’ll get people who don’t follow all community rules, act inappropriately, or otherwise disturb other members. Set up methods to not only deal with these types of people but help you avoid them in the first place.
That can mean setting up various verification processes on Discord. For example, most blockchain games don’t let people in if they don’t verify their wallets.
Additionally, while you want your community to grow as big as possible, you need to segment it properly. For example, allowing everybody to follow you on Twitter is great, but you don’t want to let just anyone into your core Discord channel.
Community Building for Blockchain Games: A Summary
Let’s reiterate some of the benefits of building a strong community for a blockchain game:
- Get your project off the ground
- Grow your game exponentially
- Reach all roadmap milestones
- Persevere through crypto winter and other market fluctuations
- Make your game sustainable long-term
Start building your community right now! For any help, feel free to reach out – we have a lot of experience in community building for blockchain games.
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