Illuvium Founder Warns AI Could Create ‘Meme Games’ in Days, Stir Speculation
Summary
- AI is lowering the time and cost of developing blockchain games, raising the possibility of a sharp increase in meme games aimed at short-term profits.
- Warwick warned that as many as 100,000 meme games could emerge over a year, with some generating huge profits while many others could be wiped out.
- Warwick and Yung said sustainable models are high-quality games built around asset ownership, and that meme games are unlikely to last because retaining users is difficult.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Artificial intelligence is reducing the time and cost of building blockchain games, fueling expectations that “meme games” aimed at short-term profits could proliferate. Industry participants are warning of a speculative frenzy similar to the meme-coin boom, even as lower development barriers could expand users’ choices.
Kieran Warwick, co-founder of Illuvium, said AI tools could create speculative games such as Wolf Game and Fishing Frenzy in a matter of days for about $1,000, Cointelegraph reported on October 22. The same work previously took months.
Warwick said as many as 100,000 meme games could emerge over the next year. Developers may start mass-producing games the way meme-token issuers churn out coins. Some people will make huge profits, while many others could be wiped out. He was warning that many of these games may operate for only a few days, with creators focused on securing short-term gains.
He pointed to the meme-coin market as a comparison. According to CoinGecko, the sector’s total market capitalization rose to $150.6 billion in December 2024 before dropping about 69% to $47.2 billion in November 2025. Warwick said the sustainable model is high-quality games built around asset ownership.
Animoca Brands Chief Executive Officer Robby Yung also said user retention will be the key test. Meme games are unlikely to become a sustainable category. Games that are easy to make are unlikely to meet the core requirement of retaining users. Corey Wilton, co-founder and CEO of Mirai Labs, said that after launching multiple games, he concluded demand within the Web3 space itself is not strong enough.
Still, Yung also offered a positive view of the spread of AI development tools. He said similar concerns surfaced in the early days of mobile gaming in 2010, when many feared a flood of low-quality titles. Instead, games across a broader range of quality entered the market and widened user choice. In the Blockchain Game Alliance’s 2025 survey, 32.8% of respondents said they were using or experimenting with AI for game design and content creation.
