A forecast has emerged that short-lived games could flood the cryptocurrency market as artificial intelligence (AI) sharply cuts game development costs and production time.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Oct. 22 that Illuvium (ILV) co-founder Kieran Warwick (키어런 워윅) projected that up to 100,000 “meme games” aimed at short-term speculative demand like memecoins could be launched within the next year.

Warwick explained that it previously took months to build games such as Wolf Game and Fishing Frenzy, where users compete for monetary rewards. With AI tools, similar games can be produced quickly for as little as $1,000, or about 1.3 million won, he said.

The problem is that the lower development barrier could lead to mass production of speculative games. Warwick expected developers to emerge who release games in rapid succession, similar to actors that repeatedly issue memecoins. He warned many games could be designed to operate for only a few days for creators’ short-term profit. He also pointed out on X, formerly Twitter, that some may earn huge profits while other investors could suffer large losses.

Such concerns overlap with a precedent in the memecoin market. Token launch platforms such as Pump.fun simplified issuance procedures in 2024 and led the memecoin boom. CoinGecko said the memecoin market value rose to $150.6 billion in December 2024, but fell about 69 percent to $47.2 billion in November 2025.

The industry sees uncertainty over whether user demand will follow even if the supply of games increases. Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung (로비 융) said it would be hard for meme games that do not require much effort to produce to establish themselves as a lasting market. He said a game’s core is not the launch itself but keeping users engaged.

Mirai Labs co-founder and CEO Corey Wilton (코리 윌턴) also cited a lack of demand. He said he reached the conclusion that demand for Web3 games is not sufficient, based on experience bringing 6 to 7 games to market. DappRadar said that as of that day, total value locked (TVL) across 2,356 gaming decentralized apps (DApps) was $232.2 million, and the combined market value of tokens for the top 50 games was $3.8 billion.

Still, there is also expectation that adopting AI could broaden choices in the game market. In a 2025 survey by the Blockchain Game Alliance, 32.8 percent of 506 industry workers said their companies had adopted or were testing AI for game design or content production.

Yung compared this to the early growth phase of the mobile game market around 2010. He said cheaper and faster game production than PC and console enabled more developers to enter, while expanding the range of games users could choose from. He also said it is necessary to distinguish whether the sluggishness of crypto games stems from the technology itself or from a lack of sufficiently fun games.

There has also been a recent case of funds flowing into a new game. The developer of Yield Fields, a Robinhood Chain-based Web3 farming game, raised about $8.3 million on Oct. 14 by selling digital land as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The game is due to launch at the end of this month.

Sebastien Borget (세바스티앙 보르제), chairman of the Blockchain Game Alliance and co-founder of The Sandbox, said the focus of competition will shift as AI reduces the burden of production. He said it will become a more important task to be discovered by users amid vast content and to secure distribution channels that translate into actual use than to make games.

The issue shows that AI is sharply lowering entry costs for crypto games. It also shows that a larger supply does not directly lead to market expansion or user retention, meaning the industry’s success ultimately depends on game quality and securing demand.