This Week in Crypto Games: Dr. Disrespect Dumped, Pixelverse and Catizen Tokens, Notcoin 'Fresh Start'

The crypto and NFT gaming space is busier than ever lately, what with prominent games starting to release, token airdrops piling up, and a seemingly constant array of other things happening at all times. It’s a lot to take in!

Luckily, Decrypt’s GG is all over it. And if you need a quick way to get caught up on the latest moves around crypto video games, we’re happy to present This Week in Crypto Games.

Our weekend roundup serves up the biggest news from the past week, along with a few other tidbits you might have missed. We also showcase a few of our original stories from the week.

Biggest news

Dr. Disrespect: Midnight Society, the studio building the first-person shooter game Deadrop, announced Monday that it dropped co-founder and popular streamer Dr. Disrespect (aka Guy Beahm) following tweeted allegations over why he had been banned from streaming platform Twitch. Beahm later admitted to having conversations with a minor that “leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate,” although he claimed that “nothing illegal happened.” 

The studio's move led fans to speculate over the future of Midnight Society and Deadrop. Some immediately suggested that the game was now “dead in the water,” while others believe the game can survive if it continues to focus on expanding and upgrading the core game loop. Speculation continues to grow with little word from the Midnight Society camp.

 NFT Revolution

What Happens to 'Deadrop' and Midnight Society With Dr. Disrespect Booted?

Popular video game streamer Dr. Disrespect (aka Guy Beahm) was dropped by Midnight Society—the studio building the first-person shooter Deadrop—this week after Beahm was alleged to have inappropriately chatted with a minor. As the streamer’s position as a co-founder and a prominent personality played a key role in bringing eyes to the game studio and its debut title—which was funded in part by a sale of NFT access passes—what happens to Midnight Society and its game now that he’s gone? On Monday...

More Telegram tokens: Telegram-based games are the biggest thing happening in crypto gaming right now, and two more notable games made their token plans clearer last week. Pixelverse, a cyberpunk-themed gaming ecosystem that has a rising Telegram combat game called PixelTap, announced Friday that it will launch its token on The Open Network (TON)—the same network as Notcoin and the upcoming Hamster Kombat token.

Meanwhile, another hot Telegram game called Catizen—a puzzle matching game with cartoon cats—announced over the weekend that its TON token drop is planned for July. That's right around the corner!

Pixelverse Launching Token on TON as Telegram Game 'PixelTap' Takes Off

Cyberpunk-themed crypto gaming ecosystem Pixelverse is launching a token on The Open Network (TON) as its Telegram-based game PixelTap player base grows. PixelTap is a clicker-meets-combat game that lets you earn in-game coins to upgrade your robots that you take into battle. When fighting, you’ll frantically tap parts of the screen to attack your opponent’s bot, as well as craft special attacks and try to defend yourself. But Pixelverse is more than just its Telegram game—it also offers a web b...

Notcoin fresh start: Viral Telegram game Notcoin has teased a “fresh start” amid a campaign that will see approximately $8 million worth of NOT tokens either burned or given out to the community. On Tuesday, $3 million worth of unclaimed NOT tokens were burned, with an additional $5 million to be distributed as “bonuses” to the community.

Soon after, some type of new beginning was teased in the official Notcoin Telegram channel. While everything is still unclear, it appears to relate to TON NFT collection Lost Dogs Co, after following breadcrumbs left by the Notcoin team. This may have something to do with Notcoin’s goal of becoming “the Netflix of social, viral games.”

Telegram Game Notcoin Teases 'Fresh Start' as It Gives Out Millions in NOT

Viral Telegram game Notcoin has teased a “fresh start” amid a campaign that will see approximately $8 million worth of NOT tokens either burned or given out to the community. The tap-to-earn game captured the attention of over 35 million players who furiously tapped their screens to collect digital tokens earlier this year. These coins were later converted to NOT tokens in the largest crypto gaming token launch of 2024 so far. Notcoin’s success was largely tied to the looming possibility of an a...

MetalCore token: Studio369, the developer behind the sci-fi mech shooter MetalCore, launched its Ethereum token this week alongside the third phase of its closed beta, introducing new gameplay modes and economic features to the blockchain-based game.

On Thursday, MetalCore’s Closed Beta 3 (CB3) started featuring session-based PvP esports competitions, including Domination, Capture the Flag, and High-Value Target modes. Then on Friday, Studio369 conducted the token generation event for its MCG token across Ethereum’s mainnet and Immutable zkEVM, the layer-2 scaling network that MetalCore is being built on.

 NFT Revolution

Mech Shooter 'MetalCore' Launching Ethereum Token Alongside Latest Beta

Studio369, the developer behind the sci-fi mech shooter MetalCore, announced that it will launch its Ethereum token this week alongside the third phase of its closed beta, introducing new gameplay modes and economic features to the blockchain-based game. Set to begin on June 27, MetalCore’s Closed Beta 3 (CB3) will feature session-based PvP esports competitions, including Domination, Capture the Flag, and High-Value Target modes. The update also introduces faction-based social hubs and the abili...

Worldwide Webb rebrands: Worldwide Webb, a retro-style Ethereum NFT game, announced last week that it is rebranding to Soulbound as it embraces a new sci-fi narrative path forward. Soulbound is a roguelite game that challenges players to clear dungeons full of enemies while trying different tactics and character builds.

At the same time, Soulbound announced that it's building the game to be playable within popular gaming chat app Discord, after winning in the Discord App Pitches 2024 competition.

"We see Discord as the future for gamers, so we needed a brand name that breaks away from the web and launches us into next-gen platform gaming," Soulbound founder and CEO Thomas Webb told Decrypt's GG. "This name gives us the freedom to build a universe around Soulbound without any preconceived notions. After years of brainstorming, we finally nailed it."

ICYMI

• Hamster Kombat was slammed by the Iranian government as the game purportedly topped 200 million players.
• Avalanche shooter BloodLoop launched its play-to-airdrop campaign via the Epic Games Store.
• Netmarble's Marblex crypto gaming ecosystem is migrating to Immutable zkEVM, and Marblex and Immutable are launching a joint $20 million dev fund.
• Metaverse infrastructure company Futureverse and crypto venture capital firm Animoca Brands formed a strategic partnership to invest in technology stack and token ecosystem.
• Web gaming ecosystem Game7 announced its partnership with Mantle, bringing a handful of Mantle’s top games to the Game7 portal.

• Kadokawa Corporation, the Japanese parent company behind hit game Elden Ring, was hit with a ransomware attack.
• Roblox opened its virtual IKEA store, with jobs attracting over 178,000 applications.
• Dr. Disrespect will be removed from NBA 2K24 in the next patch, following his admission.
• Solana-based cloud gaming network Shaga raised $1 million through an angel investment round.
• MMORPG Lumiterra is migrating to the Ronin network.

GG spotlight

Here are a few of our original stories from this past week that we think are well worth a weekend read:

What to Expect From Xai as It Aims to Become Ethereum Gaming's Valve

Key contributors to Xai, the Ethereum-based layer-3 gaming network, say they aim to build the next Valve, developing their ecosystem in a similar way to the video game titan behind the Steam marketplace and some of the best-loved games of all time. Tobias Batton, co-founder and CEO of Ex Populus—a game studio that works closely with the Xai Foundation as a “labs company” of sorts, he previously told Decrypt’s GG—explained that the Valve model is how they envision the future of the gaming network...

What Is 'Catizen'? The Telegram Crypto Game, CATI Token, and Airdrop Details

In a world full of tap-to-earn games such as Hamster Kombat and Notcoin, hearing that a Telegram game has a slightly different mechanic—no matter how simple—is kind of refreshing. Instead of making you tap endlessly on the screen, Catizen has you swipe to combine cats together to increase their level and value—which, while effectively as simple as tapping, does require a bit more of your attention.  Claiming over 34 million users, Catizen has found a major audience thanks to its cutesy vibe, sli...

'Catizen' Tips Guide: How to Earn the Most Coins in the Telegram Crypto Game

Catizen is the latest Telegram-based game that is taking off, with millions of players running cat cafés in the hopes of securing some valuable tokens when the airdrop rolls around. With no date for the next airdrop set, there’s still time to jump in and try to earn yourself the most coins possible.  But in order to do that, there are a few secrets in Catizen that you need to know, especially as a lack of clear instructions in the game can make some things confusing. Fortunately, we have all the...

Edited by Andrew Hayward