Celebrating 5 Years of Hive: Why Splinterlands is My Favorite Hive Project

As Hive celebrates its five-year anniversary, I find myself reflecting on my journey with the blockchain and, more specifically, the project that brought me here: Splinterlands. For those who might not know, Splinterlands is the largest game built on the Hive blockchain, and its impact on the Hive ecosystem over the years has been nothing short of extraordinary.

The Golden Era: When Splinterlands Onboarded Thousands to Hive

In its prime, Splinterlands was onboarding upwards of 20,000 accounts per day onto Hive. That’s not a typo. These weren’t just empty accounts either — many of them were actually powering up their HIVE tokens and actively participating in the ecosystem. The peak of this onboarding frenzy happened in October 2021, when Splinterlands-related accounts powered up a total of 140,000 HP in that month alone. Over the entire period, this number climbed to 340,000 HP.

But here’s the kicker — the Splinterlands in-game account powered up a staggering 1.1 million HIVE during that same period. That’s three times higher than the combined power-ups from individual accounts. When we add it all together, Splinterlands-related accounts powered up around 1.5 million HIVE in that short window.

If you’re a data geek like me, I highly recommend checking out the detailed historical charts from 2021 compiled by @dalz. His work gives a crystal-clear view of just how much Splinterlands contributed to Hive's growth during that period. Here’s the link to his post.

Did Splinterlands Drive the HIVE Price Surge?

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room — the price of HIVE. During this period, HIVE's token price soared to just over $3.40 in November 2021, which came shortly after the record-breaking onboarding month of October. Coincidence? I don’t think so!

Splinterlands brought not just new users but also new liquidity and activity to Hive. More users meant more demand for HIVE, which naturally drove the price higher. Interestingly, SPS (Splintershards), the governance token for Splinterlands, followed a similar pattern. SPS launched in July 2021 and quickly reached $1 per token on the hype of a new token launch. After a quick retracement to the $0.20 range, SPS surged again in September/October 2021, peaking once more around $1 per SPS token, coinciding with the release of the Chaos Legion card set.

The Decline: Where Are All the Players Now?

Fast forward to today, and the landscape looks quite different. We’re no longer seeing the 450,000 daily active players that Splinterlands boasted in 2021 and early 2022. Today, the number of daily active players hovers around 4,000.

Of course, we now know that a significant chunk of that half a million DAUs were likely bot accounts, but even if we strip those away, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had at least 50,000 genuine daily active players during that time.

I was one of those players who initially came for the game. Like many, I had no idea about the Hive blockchain or its capabilities until I dug deeper. It was Splinterlands that introduced me to Hive, and over time, I became invested not just in the game but in the entire Hive ecosystem.

The Need for Another Splinterlands?

Looking ahead, it’s clear that Hive could use another “Splinterlands moment” — a project capable of attracting waves of new users to the ecosystem. While I’d love to see @holozing that is led by @acidyo become the next big thing on Hive, Splinterlands itself shouldn’t be counted out just yet.

The team at Splinterlands has been hard at work and is gearing up for another major card set release: Conclave Arcana. On top of that, less than a month ago, Splinterlands launched its SPS Validators — a system similar to Hive Witnesses but built on the SPS blockchain, which is a Layer 2 solution built on Hive. I’m proud to say that I’m one of those SPS Validator Node operators, and if you’re part of the Splinterlands community and have some staked SPS, I’d greatly appreciate your vote for my SPS Validator Node!

SPS and DEC: Signs of Life in a Down Crypto Market

Despite the broader mini-bear market that has kept most crypto prices subdued, SPS and DEC have shown impressive action lately. DEC has climbed from around $0.64 to $0.847 recently and well on the way to reach it's peg value of one dollar, while SPS has bounced back from its lows of around half a cent to $0.0068 today. These upward movements, even in tough market conditions, are evidence of the strength of the Splinterlands ecosystem and the belief the community has in its future.

Splinterlands Community Still Holds a Significant Amount of HIVE

Even after the major decline in daily active players and the overall crypto market downturn, the Splinterlands community continues to hold a significant amount of HIVE and other assets within the Hive ecosystem. Thanks to a fantastic tool developed by @beaker007 in collaboration with @azircon, we now have a clearer picture of just how much the top 2000 Splinterlands players who also stake SPS are holding:

1,075,386.44 HIVE in liquid form

349,412.01 HBD in liquid form

469,016.03 HBD stored in HBD Savings, earning a solid 15% APR

10,685,885.06 Hive Power staked on the Hive blockchain

This data highlights that even though Splinterlands' daily active player count has decreased from its peak, the most dedicated and influential members of the community remain deeply invested in the Hive ecosystem.

Why This Matters
Strong Support for Hive – These holdings show that the top Splinterlands players aren’t just here for the game — they’re committed to the success of Hive as a blockchain.

Hive Power Means Governance – With over 10.6 million HP, these players have a voice when it comes to Hive proposals and decision-making through voting power.

HBD Stability – The large amount of HBD in Savings not only provides stability but also showcases trust in Hive's economic model.

With Splinterlands preparing for another major card set launch, Conclave Arcana, and a renewed marketing push under new COO Dave McCoy, this strong base of Hive holdings could be a catalyst for another wave of excitement and growth on Hive.

The Splinterlands community is still all-in on Hive, and that’s a bullish sign for the future.

A New Era Under Dave McCoy

There’s another reason for optimism: Dave McCoy. Dave just joined Splinterlands as the new COO about 20 days ago, and his credentials are impressive. With a distinguished career spanning 40 years in the financial services industry, Dave brings a deep understanding of financial matters and the proven leadership skills needed to deliver results at the executive level.

But perhaps more importantly, Dave is one of us. He’s been a passionate and supportive member of the Splinterlands community since the early days of the game’s launch nearly seven years ago. His number one goal is to bring new players to Splinterlands, and he’s completely aligned with the rest of the Splinterlands team, who are preparing for a major marketing push to coincide with the new card set release.

Could We See Another Splinterlands Bull Run?

All signs point to the potential for another Splinterlands bull summer this year. With a new major card set, increased marketing efforts thanks to the funding from Hive DHF, and a renewed focus on attracting new players, Splinterlands could once again bring a wave of activity to Hive. And if history has taught us anything, a thriving Splinterlands usually means a thriving Hive. This time we should try to educate the new Splinterlands players about Hive and that should help with retention of the new players in the Splinterlands / Hive ecosystem.

As I reflect on the past five years of Hive, I can’t help but feel grateful that Splinterlands was my gateway into this ecosystem. Whether you came for the game, the community, or the opportunity to be part of something bigger, one thing is clear — Splinterlands has left a significant mark on Hive, and its story is far from over.

Here’s to the next five years — may they be just as exciting, innovative, and transformative as the last!

Happy 5th Anniversary, Hive! 🎉

If you have some staked SPS please vote for my SPS Validator Node HERE

I have recently became a Hive Witness and would really appreciate your vote for me as a witness.

You can vote the following way:

• Via PeakD: Visit PeakD Witnesses, enter “seattlea” in the Name Search, or scroll down to my current position (98 / 94) and simply click the Vote button on the right.
• Via Hive Signer: Vote for seattlea