Three gaming crypto tokens to have in your watchlist as GTA 6 trailer looms: AXS, MANA and ENJ

The trailer of the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6 will be released on Tuesday, a key event for the gaming community that could also become a catalyst for crypto markets, particularly for those tokens closely-related to the sector. Although the new GTA game isn’t expected to have a direct crypto component in it, the crypto community anticipates a higher adoption of play-to-earn gaming, a feature that offers the possibility to earn crypto in real life. 

According to a BBC report, Rockstar Games' announcement of the GTA 6 trailer had 26 million views within two hours. The excitement surrounding the trailer release has pushed this number to 151 million at the time of writing. 

The last update to the game was a decade ago, and GTA 5 remains the second best-selling video game ever– only behind Minecraft – with more than 185 million copies sold. 

The upcoming gaming narrative fuelled by GTA, alongside a broadly bullish crypto market,  could fuel a rally in gaming tokens. Enjin Coin (ENJ), ApeCoin (APE), Axie Infinity (AXS), Decentraland (MANA) and The Sandbox (SAND) are some of the tokens most exposed to the sector and thus more likely to benefit from it, similar to what was observed after the Illuvium launch on the Epic Games Store. 

Also read: Bitcoin price rally to $45,000 likely ahead of fourth BTC halving event

Gaming narrative hype in ongoing Bitcoin bull run

The RPG Blockchain game, Illuvium, was launched on the Epic Games Store on November 28. The games’ release ushered a rally in gaming tokens, AXS, APE, and ILV, among others. ILV price yielded nearly 15% gains on the launch date.

A similar outcome could be on the cards afterthe release of the much-anticipated GTA 6 trailer. While gameplay details and transaction specifics remain unknown, there is widespread anticipation of blockchain technology adoption and play-to-earn implementation in the game.

According to a gamesradar report, several screenshots and videos of gameplay were leaked, and acknowledged by GTA 6. The leak fueled speculation of crypto-transaction-related features in the gameplay on social media. Still, Rockstar Games hasn’t officially confirmed any crypto-related functionality in the game.

Irrespective of whether crypto is included in gameplay or not, its release is driving market participants towards the gaming narrative. 

Gaming tokens are likely poised for gains

Capital inflow to cryptocurrencies is one of the strongest catalysts for price gains. The ongoing speculation of GTA 6 release and the hype surrounding gaming and web3 fuels a bullish outlook for gaming tokens. 

The top gainers of the past week include Internet Computer (ICP), The Sandbox (SAND) and Gala (GALA), whose prices increased 11.2%, 7.8% and 6.1% , respectively. Gaming tokens that are relatively new typically yield higher gains in response to bullish gameplay narratives, as seen during the Illuvium beta launch on November 28. 

Other top gaming tokens leading the way in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are Enjin Coin (ENJ), ApeCoin (APE), Axie Infinity (AXS), and Decentraland (MANA). According to Ronin ecosystem statistics, AXS tokens recently exceeded the threshold of  300,000 holders. A large spike was recorded in the volume of AXS token staked and number of unique stakers, as seen in the chart below. 

AXS tokens staked and new stakers

Iluvium’s beta launch on the Epic Games Store fueled its popularity among other GameFi tokens in crypto, with ILV yielding nearly 10% gains since the November 28 event. 

MANA and ENJ tokens have consistently ranked among top cryptocurrencies by development activity, according to Santiment data. APE recently published a quarterly transparency report on December 1, in which developers of the gaming token updated its DAO schedule and shared details of live voting on proposals.