Gaming Tokens Keep Rising as Axie Infinity, Ronin, and Illuvium Pump

Crypto tokens tied to video game projects and platforms are some of the biggest gainers among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap over the last week, as tokens like Axie Infinity (AXS), ApeCoin (APE), and Iluvium (ILV) put up considerable percentage gains.

Axie Infinity had a hot week, rising 12% over the last seven days per data from CoinGecko at a current price of $6.88. AXS popped to a nearly six-month high over the weekend, hitting a peak of $7.55. Even at the current price, AXS is up 35% over the past month, while fellow Axie game token Smooth Love Potion (SLP) is down 9% over the past week—but up 17% from 30 days ago.

Developer Sky Mavis made several announcements over the last week, including bringing back the original Axie Infinity monster battling experience (aka “Axie Classic”) and releasing its first wave of official Axie merchandise. Sky Mavis also opened up commercialization rights for owners of rare Axie NFTs, letting them turn their creatures into products and projects.

Axie’s recent rebound also comes from rising momentum around Ronin, its Ethereum sidechain network designed for blockchain gaming.

Adoption of Ronin has surged recently thanks to the launch of the new game Pixels, and the RON token popped 27% over the past week to a current price of $1.06. It has more than doubled in price in the last 30 days.

ApeCoin (APE) rose 7% over the past week, according to data from CoinGecko, at a current price of $1.63 per token. Over the weekend, APE hit $1.77, the highest price seen in over three months for the Ethereum token, which is tied to the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT ecosystem and will power the upcoming Otherside metaverse game.

Also over the past week, Stepn (GMT) popped by 11% this week to nearly $0.29, Illuvium continued its recent climb with a 9% uptick to about $114, and the Treasure (MAGIC) gaming ecosystem token jumped nearly 24% to $0.83 after announcing plans to launch its own chain.