GameFi tokens are rallying, with the sector’s market capitalization surging more than 7% in the past 24 hours.

Axie Infinity (AXS) is leading the charge with a weekly gain of 28%, while its in-game currency, Smooth Love Potion (SLP), rocketed an impressive 62% for the week.

GALA also enjoyed a 47.5% weekly push, while STEPN is up 18% in 24 hours.

Many other top web3 games and gaming infrastructure projects posted double-digit gains for the week, including The Sandbox with 16%, Illuvium and Enjin with 22%, and ImmutableX with 12%.

Axie’s resurgence follows the launch of Season 6 of Axie Infinity Origins on Oct. 4, with users competing for a share of 112,000 AXS ($650,000) in prizes. The new season introduced updated in-game mechanics and reduced onboarding friction.

15M AXS Unlocked

However, AXS posted a new 2023 low of $4.09 on Oct. 19, two days before 15.13M AXS or 11.5% of the token’s supply was unlocked and distributed to large investors. While such a large volume of tokens entering supply typically precedes bearish price action, the unlock curiously coincides with when the recent AXS rally began.

Axie Infinity put blockchain gaming on the map during the bull run of 2021, with AXS soaring to a market capitalization north of $10B in November 2021. It was credited with helping many in the Philippines weather the pandemic through its play-to-earn mechanics.

In the two years since then, Axie has been attempting to reinvent itself after a $600M exploit of its Ronin bridge battered the ecosystem in May 2022.

According to CryptoQuant, the number of active AXS addresses also jumped from 173 on Oct. 15 to a three-month high of 445 on Oct. 24. Data from DappRadar also shows a 22% increase in weekly Axie Infinity players from 13,000 on Oct. 18.

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