Key Insights
In the first quarter of 2025, Immutable zkEVM observed a 5.7% quarter-over-quarter increase in its average daily transactions, climbing from approximately 469,000 to 498,000. This growth reflects a robust level of network activity, especially amidst a general decline in engagement across the Web3 gaming sector. Conversely, NFT sales volume across both Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM fell by 1.6% quarter-over-quarter, totaling $78.3 million, indicating a slight retreat following a significant 55.3% surge in the previous quarter. The two platforms are set to merge into a unified ‘Immutable Chain,’ with an expected timeline for completion by late 2025, although an official date is yet to be confirmed.
Primer
Immutable is focused on providing scalable solutions for NFTs and gaming economies, offering minimal to no gas fees for minting and trading NFTs, rapid transaction processing, and a robust gaming infrastructure. Founded in December 2018 by James Ferguson, Robert Ferguson, and Alex Connolly, Immutable secured $2.4 million in a seed funding round led by investors such as Coinbase Ventures and others. The company’s mission is to tackle significant issues within the gaming and NFT landscapes, including scalability, user experience, and developer efficiency, while preserving the security and decentralization of Ethereum. It accomplishes this through its two blockchain solutions: Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM. Immutable X employs StarkWare’s ZK-rollup technology as an Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution, facilitating high transaction throughput and zero gas fees for users. On the other hand, Immutable zkEVM, utilizing Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK), is designed to extend the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for high-performance applications, specifically optimized for gaming.
Key Metrics
Performance Analysis
Network and Ecosystem Overview
The native governance and utility token for both Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM, IMX, saw a significant decline of 60.1% in price during Q1 2025, dropping from $1.32 to $0.53. The circulating market capitalization also decreased by 58.4%, falling from approximately $2.3 billion to $946.4 million. This decline in IMX’s market capitalization ranking fell from 53rd to 64th, although it managed to stay within the top 100 crypto assets by market cap. These reductions reflect a broader downturn impacting the Web3 gaming industry, which has experienced similar declines in both token valuations and investor sentiment.
NFT Trading Activity
During the first quarter of 2025, the total NFT sales volume across Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM experienced a slight decrease of 1.6% quarter-over-quarter, going from $79.5 million to $78.3 million. The number of average daily sellers plummeted by 14.9%, from around 880 to 751, while the average daily buyers fell by 17.8%, from approximately 800 to 662. Despite the drop in participant numbers, the stable sales volume suggests an increase in the size of transactions compared to earlier quarters of 2024. The Guild of Guardians Heroes and Avatars NFTs made up an impressive 99.0% of the total NFT sales volume for Q1 2025. While sales volume for Heroes NFTs dipped by 8.5% quarter-over-quarter, the Avatars collection surged by 40.4%, from around $194,000 to $272,000. Moreover, by the end of Q1 2025, Immutable zkEVM accounted for over 99.9% of the total NFT sales volume across both networks.
Immutable zkEVM Network Activity
In the first quarter of 2025, Immutable zkEVM experienced varied trends in user engagement after a slowdown in the previous quarter. Despite a 5.7% quarter-over-quarter rise in average daily transactions—from about 469,000 to 498,000—there was a notable 31.5% decline in average daily active addresses, dropping from around 204,000 to 139,000, and a 36.1% decrease in average daily new addresses, down to approximately 20,600. These statistics indicate that while transactional activities remained strong, user growth has waned, likely due to sustained engagement from existing users.
Contract Deployments
In Q1 2025, the number of new contracts deployed on Immutable zkEVM reached 87,000, representing an impressive 83.3% increase from around 1.03 million to 1.90 million total contracts. This growth followed the removal of the deployer allowlist, marking the first complete quarter of unrestricted deployment on the platform. However, the average daily verified contracts dropped by 57.4% quarter-over-quarter, from approximately 12.8 to 5.5. Conversely, the number of average daily contract deployers saw a slight rise of 1.5%, increasing from about 335 to 340. This suggests that the spike in overall deployments may be attributed more to existing developers increasing their activity rather than a significant influx of new developers entering the ecosystem.
Transaction Fees
Transaction fees on Immutable zkEVM are paid using the IMX token. In Q1 2025, there was a 28.8% quarter-over-quarter increase in average daily transaction fees, rising from around 477 IMX to 614 IMX. This increase coincided with higher transaction volumes, despite a decrease in active addresses. This discrepancy implies that user activity may have been fueled by increased transactions per user and more complex transactions, particularly in light of the surge in contract deployments. Immutable continues to subsidize gas fees for holders of Immutable Passport, mitigating cost barriers for players and bolstering onboarding initiatives.
Qualitative Analysis
Immutable Chain Announcement
Following Q1 2025, Immutable disclosed its plans to merge its two primary blockchain solutions, Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM, into a single entity known as “Immutable.” This transition is expected to streamline the Immutable ecosystem for Web3 gaming into one cohesive platform, with the merger anticipated by late 2025. Assets held by Immutable X users will be automatically transferred to Immutable zkEVM wallets, eliminating the need for manual actions; however, users opting not to migrate will have the chance to withdraw their assets to Ethereum before the merger. Developers utilizing Immutable X will be required to update their applications to comply with zkEVM’s infrastructure, which includes adjusting deprecated APIs and embracing new RPC calls.
Ecosystem Growth
During the first quarter of 2025, the Immutable ecosystem continued to flourish, now boasting more than 500 games. Noteworthy titles reached significant developmental landmarks in this quarter.
RavenQuest Key Developments
RavenQuest, an MMORPG built on Immutable zkEVM, launched globally in March 2025. Within just 14 days of its release, the game attracted over 1.60 million unique viewers and achieved more than 9,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch. It ranked as the fourth most streamed MMORPG on Twitch, while simultaneously holding the title of the most streamed Web3 game. The ecosystem of RavenQuest is powered by the QUEST token, which was introduced on April 3, 2025, through gameplay-based methods such as bounties, leaderboard standings, guild activities, and seasonal events. The QUEST token can also be used for in-game purchases like cosmetics and land, as well as marketplace fees and event access, with players able to convert QUEST into Silver, RavenQuest’s in-game currency, through a variable-rate conversion system.
Immortal Rising 2 Key Developments
In March 2025, Immortal Rising 2 unveiled its governance and utility token, IMT. This token allows players to unlock premium in-game items, participate in governance decisions regarding game development, and earn staking rewards. The game also launched the IMT-Starlight Swap bridge, enabling users to exchange IMT for Starlight, the in-game currency earned through staking and ranking gameplay. Additionally, the game introduced the Immortal Statue NFT Collection, which consists of 3,000 limited-edition NFTs distributed through a raffle system. The collection features two tier types: the Exalted Immortal Bust, priced at $50 worth of IMX, which provides daily in-game rewards and exclusive NFT claims, and the Divine Immortal Effigy, a rarer NFT with enhanced rewards, randomly awarded at a 20% probability to those who minted an Exalted Immortal Bust. Furthermore, Immortal Rising 2 launched the Ambassadors Program to motivate players, content creators, and community leaders to promote the game. This program includes four tiers—Ember, Spark, Blaze, and Inferno—each offering increasingly valuable rewards, such as IMT tokens and exclusive NFTs.
MARBLEX Key Developments
MARBLEX, the Web3 gaming division of Netmarble, announced its 2025 roadmap in February 2025, which includes seven upcoming Web3 games set to launch on Immutable zkEVM. The games include “Self-Made Billionaire,” a business simulation game; “Mercenary Children,” a collectible RPG; “Dice Go!,” a real-time PvP game; “Project Mine,” a farming simulation; “Meta Toy: Dragonz Saga,” a collectible RPG; “Project X,” a survival action RPG; and “Mad Island: Age of Chaos,” a survival-based MMORPG. To facilitate better integration of these titles into the Web3 ecosystem, MARBLEX has implemented Immutable’s Orderbook API for peer-to-peer trading and has introduced game-first NFT integrations that enhance gameplay through genre-specific NFTs.
MetaGravity Partnership
In January 2025, Immutable announced a strategic alliance with MetaGravity to incorporate the Edge of Chaos gaming franchise into the Immutable ecosystem. This partnership will launch two key games—Edge of Chaos: Dungeons and Edge of Chaos: Apocalypse—as foundational elements of the broader Edge of Chaos open-world MMORPG universe. Edge of Chaos: Dungeons will serve as a browser-based entry point, while Edge of Chaos: Apocalypse will focus on multiplayer combat experiences. The collaboration merges MetaGravity’s HyperScale Engine with Immutable’s GameFi infrastructure, aiming to enrich gameplay by introducing NFTs and digital assets into the in-game economy, along with streamlined access via the Immutable Passport.
Additional Key Developments
Several other games built on Immutable zkEVM also saw significant advancements in Q1 2025. “Engines of Fury,” a top-down extraction shooter, introduced new gameplay elements and rewards in FURY tokens and NFTs during its “Season 1, Act 2: CLIFFSIDE” update. “Treeverse,” an open-world MMORPG, launched on the Epic Games Store and Google Play, also adding new gameplay features. “REVENGE,” a cooperative PvE extraction shooter, entered pre-alpha launch phase with innovative spectator mechanics. “BADMAD ROBOTS,” a team-based shooter, launched in closed beta, and “Chumbi Valley,” a Web3 RPG, announced its partnership with Immutable ahead of its beta launch. Lastly, “Zipclash,” a play-to-earn game, was launched on Immutable zkEVM in March 2025.
Beta Version of Perpetual Rewards
Immutable launched the beta version of its Perpetual Rewards program in Q1 2025, which allows players to earn rewards by completing daily in-game tasks, holding digital collectibles, and participating in events. Perpetual Rewards enhances player engagement and retention by offering dynamic quests and weekly payouts, with users able to redeem rewards such as IMX tokens and NFTs.
Growth of the Inevitable Games Fund
The Inevitable Games Fund, a collaborative effort between King River Capital, Immutable, and Polygon Labs, saw substantial growth over the past nine months, increasing its assets under management (AUM) by 180% to reach $280 million by March 2025. This rise reflects growing investor confidence in the Web3 gaming sector and the fund’s capacity to identify and support promising projects, with a portfolio that spans 16 projects across various gaming genres.
Conferences and Events
In March 2025, Immutable partnered with RavenQuest, Polygon Labs, Sequence, and MetaGravity at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) to showcase advancements in decentralized gaming. The company highlighted its ecosystem growth in 2024, including the onboarding of games like RavenQuest. During the conference, Immutable hosted the Immutable Saloon, featuring interactive gaming events and networking opportunities.
SEC Closes Investigation
In March 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded its inquiry into Immutable without pursuing any enforcement actions, officially closing a Wells Notice issued in November 2024. Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson hailed this resolution as a significant achievement for the company and the broader Web3 gaming landscape, emphasizing that it allows Immutable to focus on enhancing digital ownership infrastructure within the global gaming market.
Closing Summary
The first quarter of 2025 marked a period of strategic consolidation and gradual progress for Immutable, despite facing challenges within the industry. Immutable zkEVM exhibited resilience with a 5.7% increase in average daily transactions, totaling around 498,000, even as active addresses experienced a 31.5% decline. The NFT trading volume across Immutable’s networks saw a minor dip of 1.6% quarter-over-quarter, amounting to $78.3 million, with Immutable zkEVM contributing over 99.9% of this volume. The Immutable ecosystem continued to grow, now featuring over 500 gaming titles and notable achievements such as the launch of RavenQuest, the introduction of Immortal Rising 2’s IMT token, and MARBLEX’s announcement of seven major games set to debut on Immutable zkEVM in 2025. Furthermore, the SEC’s closure of the investigation without enforcement action represents a critical regulatory milestone for Immutable, enabling the company to focus on advancing its GameFi infrastructure and solidifying its presence in the evolving Web3 gaming sector.
