Competitive gaming and strong communities drive retention beyond token charts. Web3 adds guilds, scholarships, and on-chain prize pools — but esports success still requires skill-based fun and spectator appeal.
Smart contracts can hold tournament prize pools; winners claim trustlessly once outcomes are attested. Hybrid models with referees remain common because fully trustless match verification is hard at scale.
Discord, streaming, and shared gameplay still dominate crypto gaming community life. Token price alone does not sustain activity — competitive loops and social identity do.