Long-Awaited ‘Illuvium’ Ethereum Games Launch on Epic Store

The developer of the Illuvium blockchain gaming franchise released three interconnected sci-fi fantasy games onto the Epic Games Store on Thursday. After a series of betas, Illuvium is branding this as the “official game launch,” following a play-to-airdrop campaign.

Built on Ethereum scaling network Immutable X, the three titles—Illuvium: Overworld, Arena, and Zero—span distinctly different genres but feed into each other, and the developer encourages players to get immersed within all three games.

Illuvium: Overworld, for example, is an open-world survival game where players gather vital resources to repair a stranded ship. In this world, you will encounter Illuvials—mythical creatures native to the Illuvium universe that you can hunt and capture. We went-hands on with the Overworld beta last year and came away impressed by the visuals and scale of the world.

Once you successfully hunt and capture these Illuvials, you can then bring them into Illuvium: Arena—the franchise’s second title. Arena is a strategic auto-battler, akin to Teamfight Tactics, where your Illuvials face off against AI opponents or other online players.

The final game is a city-builder called Illuvium: Zero, which is available on mobile as well as PC and Mac. You’re tasked with developing the land, extracting valuable resources, and stimulating the economy in an attempt to reconnect with the wrecked ship in Overworld. This game integrates into the broader Illuvium economy established by the aforementioned titles.

Illuvium’s official launch comes following a play-to-airdrop campaign in recent months, which incentivized crypto-inclined players to check out the beta tests. Players were later able to earn airdrop points by participating in a public beta test, with some rewards being given out in June, but it appears that airdrops will continue over the next five months.

Illuvium has been on the horizon for years and first started raising funds in Q4 2020, according to its official roadmap. That’s when the team created an initial prototype and transitioned to the Unreal Engine platform within the same quarter. In 2021, its Ethereum token ILV was launched, soon rising to an all-time high of $1,900.

Like many crypto tokens that launched in the frothy bull market of 2021, ILV took a dramatic fall from those heights, starting 2023 at $39. But when the game was listed on the Epic Games Store ahead of its third beta test, ILV’s price surged—and hit a 2024 peak of nearly $150 back in March. At the time of writing, ILV is trading at $67.

Edited by Andrew Hayward