Key Insights
In the first quarter of 2025, the Immutable zkEVM network experienced a notable 5.7% increase in average daily transactions, escalating from approximately 469,000 to 498,000. This uptick suggests a robust underlying activity within the network, especially in light of a wider downturn in engagement within the Web3 gaming sector. However, NFT sales volume across Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM saw a slight decline of 1.6% quarter-over-quarter, dropping to $78.3 million. This reduction follows a substantial 55.3% surge in the preceding quarter, indicating a modest correction in the market. Plans are underway to consolidate Immutable X into Immutable zkEVM, creating a unified ‘Immutable Chain,’ with the merger expected to take place in late 2025, although a specific date has yet to be confirmed.
Ecosystem Developments
The Immutable ecosystem continues to thrive with a series of high-profile game releases and developments. Significant highlights from the quarter included the worldwide launch of RavenQuest, the introduction of the IMT token for Immortal Rising 2, and MARBLEX’s announcement of seven new titles set to debut on Immutable zkEVM in 2025. In a positive turn of events, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded its investigation into Immutable without pursuing any enforcement actions, effectively closing a Wells Notice issued in November 2024.
Primer
Immutable specializes in providing scalable solutions for NFTs and gaming ecosystems, allowing for low to no gas fees associated with minting and trading NFTs, alongside rapid transaction finality and a robust gaming framework. Established in December 2018 by James Ferguson, Robert Ferguson, and Alex Connolly, Immutable secured $2.4 million in seed funding shortly thereafter, with contributions from prominent investors like Coinbase Ventures. The company aims to tackle significant issues within the gaming and NFT landscapes—such as scalability, user experience, and developer efficiency—while maintaining Ethereum’s core principles of security and decentralization. This is achieved through its two primary chains: Immutable X, a Layer-2 solution leveraging StarkWare’s ZK-rollup technology for efficient transaction processing; and Immutable zkEVM, an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible ZK-rollup developed with Polygon’s Chain Development Kit, designed for high-performance applications.
Key Metrics
Performance Analysis: In Q1 2025, the IMX token, which serves as the governance and utility token for Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM, saw a significant price drop of 60.1%, falling from $1.32 to $0.53. The circulating market capitalization also diminished by 58.4%, decreasing from approximately $2.3 billion to $946.4 million, resulting in a shift in ranking from 53rd to 64th among cryptoassets by market cap. This downturn reflects a broader trend in the Web3 gaming sector, which has experienced similar declines in token values and overall investor sentiment.
NFT Trading Activity
During Q1 2025, the overall NFT sales volume across Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM experienced a slight contraction of 1.6%, decreasing from $79.5 million to $78.3 million. The average number of daily sellers fell by 14.9%, from around 880 to 751, while the daily buyer count decreased by 17.8%, from approximately 800 to 662. Despite the decrease in participants, the steadiness in sales volume suggests that the average transaction sizes may have grown compared to previous quarters in 2024. Notably, NFTs from the Guild of Guardians Heroes and Avatars collections constituted 99.0% of total sales, with the Avatars collection seeing a remarkable 40.4% increase in sales volume, contrasting with an 8.5% drop in Heroes NFTs.
Immutable zkEVM Network Activity
Immutable zkEVM displayed mixed trends in user engagement for Q1 2025, following a downturn in the previous quarter. Average daily transactions saw a 5.7% increase, rising to 498,000, yet active addresses plummeted by 31.5% to around 139,000, with new addresses declining by 36.1% to approximately 20,600. This indicates that while transactional activity remained solid, user growth has suffered, likely due to heightened participation from a smaller base of existing users.
Contract Deployments
In Q1 2025, Immutable zkEVM witnessed a surge in contract deployments, with 87,000 new contracts launched, representing an 83.3% increase quarter-over-quarter. This growth followed the removal of the deployer allowlist, marking the first full quarter of unrestricted deployments on the network. However, the average number of daily verified contracts fell by 57.4%, while daily contract deployers saw a modest increase of 1.5%. This suggests that the rise in deployments is more indicative of existing developers ramping up their activities rather than a significant influx of new developers.
Transaction Fees
Transaction fees on Immutable zkEVM are denominated in IMX. In Q1 2025, the average daily fees rose by 28.8% from around 477 IMX to 614 IMX, correlating with increased transaction volumes despite a drop in active addresses. This divergence hints that user activity may have intensified, possibly due to more complex transactions or heightened contract deployments. To ease the financial burden on players, Immutable continues to subsidize gas fees for holders of Immutable Passport, aiding in onboarding efforts.
Immutable Chain Announcement
Following Q1 2025, Immutable revealed its plans to consolidate Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM into a singular network known as “Immutable.” This unification, expected in late 2025, aims to streamline the Web3 gaming experience on one platform. Assets held by Immutable X users will be automatically transferred to Immutable zkEVM wallets, eliminating the need for manual migration. However, users opting out of the transition will have the choice to withdraw their assets back to Ethereum before the merger. Developers on Immutable X will need to adapt their applications to fit zkEVM’s framework, which includes updating deprecated APIs and adopting new RPC calls.
Ecosystem Growth
Q1 2025 marked a period of continued growth for the Immutable ecosystem, now supporting over 500 games. Several key titles reached significant development milestones during this quarter.
RavenQuest Key Developments
RavenQuest, an MMORPG built on Immutable zkEVM, launched globally in March 2025. Within just two weeks, the game attracted over 1.60 million unique viewers and more than 9,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch, ranking as the fourth most streamed MMORPG and the leading Web3 game on the platform. The QUEST token, which powers RavenQuest, was launched on April 3, 2025, with distribution tied to gameplay activities, including bounties and leaderboard rankings. Players can use QUEST for in-game purchases and can convert it into Silver, the game’s primary currency.
Immortal Rising 2 Key Developments
March 2025 saw the introduction of the IMT token for Immortal Rising 2, allowing players to unlock exclusive in-game items, participate in governance, and earn staking rewards. The game also launched the IMT-Starlight Swap bridge, enabling conversions between IMT and Starlight, the currency earned through gameplay. Additionally, the Immortal Statue NFT Collection debuted, featuring limited-edition NFTs with various tiers, each offering unique gameplay enhancements. The game also initiated an Ambassadors Program to incentivize community engagement, rewarding participants based on their contributions.
MARBLEX Key Developments
MARBLEX, the Web3 gaming division of Netmarble, unveiled its roadmap for 2025, outlining seven new Web3 games set to launch on Immutable zkEVM. These titles include a variety of genres, from business simulations to fantasy RPGs, and are designed to integrate seamlessly with the Web3 ecosystem through Immutable’s technologies, enhancing gameplay with dynamic NFTs.
MetaGravity Partnership
In January 2025, Immutable formed a strategic alliance with MetaGravity to integrate the Edge of Chaos gaming franchise into its ecosystem. This partnership will introduce two key titles—Edge of Chaos: Dungeons and Edge of Chaos: Apocalypse—serving as foundational experiences within a broader MMORPG universe. The collaboration aims to leverage MetaGravity’s technology alongside Immutable’s GameFi infrastructure to create a cohesive in-game economy featuring NFTs and digital assets.
Additional Key Developments
Several other games built on Immutable zkEVM made significant advancements in Q1 2025. Titles like Engines of Fury, Treeverse, REVENGE, BADMAD ROBOTS, and Chumbi Valley all introduced new features, gameplay elements, and partnerships to enhance player experience and engagement.
Beta Version of Perpetual Rewards
Immutable launched the beta version of its Perpetual Rewards program in Q1 2025, enabling players to earn rewards through various in-game activities. This initiative encourages player retention and engagement by allowing users to earn “gems” which can be redeemed for IMX tokens, NFTs, and other rewards.
Growth of the Inevitable Games Fund
The Inevitable Games Fund, a collaboration between King River Capital, Immutable, and Polygon Labs, saw substantial growth, with assets under management increasing by 180% to reach $280 million by March 2025. This growth reflects a rising confidence among investors in the Web3 gaming sector and the fund’s ability to support promising projects across diverse gaming genres.
Conferences and Events
In March 2025, Immutable showcased its advancements in decentralized gaming at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) alongside partners like RavenQuest and Polygon Labs. The company highlighted its ecosystem growth and hosted the Immutable Saloon, a side event featuring interactive gaming experiences and networking opportunities.
SEC Closes Investigation
In March 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded its investigation into Immutable without pursuing enforcement actions, officially closing a Wells Notice issued in November 2024. Immutable’s co-founder and president, Robbie Ferguson, described this resolution as a significant milestone for both the company and the wider Web3 gaming industry, allowing Immutable to focus on enhancing digital ownership infrastructure.
Closing Summary
The first quarter of 2025 represented a phase of strategic consolidation and continued progress for Immutable, despite facing broader industry challenges. Immutable zkEVM showed resilience with a 5.7% increase in daily transactions, while NFT trading volumes slightly declined. The ecosystem now boasts over 500 gaming titles and has achieved notable milestones including the global launch of RavenQuest and the introduction of Immortal Rising 2’s IMT token. The conclusion of the SEC investigation without enforcement action marks an important regulatory achievement, allowing Immutable to focus on advancing its GameFi infrastructure as it solidifies its position within the evolving Web3 gaming landscape.
