This Week in Crypto Games: 'FIFA Rivals' Announced, 'MemeFi' Airdrop, and 'Pac-Man' NFTs

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

FIFA Rivals: Mythical Games, a blockchain gaming studio, is teaming up with sports organization FIFA to create a new mobile arcade-style soccer game called FIFA Rivals. Set for launch in summer 2025 on iOS and Android, the free-to-play title will allow players to build and manage their own soccer clubs while competing against others in real-time matches. 

Mythical Games is the studio behind NFL Rivals, another licensed free-to-play mobile sports game that is built around optional NFTs. FIFA Rivals will similarly utilize the Mythos chain and let players collect and trade professional soccer stars, both past and present.

 NFT Revolution

‘FIFA Rivals’ Mobile NFT Game Coming From Makers of ‘NFL Rivals’

FIFA and game studio Mythical Games are teaming up to create a new mobile arcade-style soccer game called FIFA Rivals, the companies announced Friday. The free-to-play game, which will be available on iOS and Android devices, will allow players to build and manage their own soccer clubs while competing against others in real-time matches. It’s due out in summer 2025, according to a teaser trailer shared with Decrypt. Mythical Games is the studio behind NFL Rivals, another licensed free-to-play m...

MemeFi airdrop: Telegram tap-to-earn game MemeFi launched its token on Friday via the Sui network. Alongside the token launch, the project airdropped tokens to eligible players, both through centralized exchange OKX and on-chain claims with funds going directly into self-custodial wallets.

Like most Telegram game airdrops so far, the MEMEFI token is already down substantially from its opening price, with CoinGecko showing a nearly 50% dip at a current price of $0.0057. Whether it can rebound may depend on the future plans for the game and ecosystem.

Everything You Need to Know About the ‘MemeFi’ Telegram Game Airdrop

Telegram tap-to-earn game MemeFi is preparing for its token launch, after the fighting game attracted millions of players vying for a chunk of its future airdrop. On Friday, November 22 at 8am ET (1pm UTC), the MEMEFI token is set to launch on the Sui network. This comes after the project hopped to the network from Ethereum layer-2 Linea last month. The promised airdrop claim will take place once the token is generated. Airdrop token allocations were revealed last Saturday, with 2.5 million susp...

Pac-Man NFTs: Flickplay, an NFT interactive character platform, has teamed with Bandai Namco Entertainment—one of its investors—to launch a Pokémon Go-style scavenger hunt to celebrate the 45th anniversary of classic arcade game, Pac-Man.

Set to debut in February 2025, the partnership will begin with the release of two series of exclusive Pac-Man digital collectible “toys.” The first of which will only be available to those within Shibuya, the Japanese neighborhood where Pac-Man was first seen in the 1980s, in a Pokémon Go-style scavenger hunt. The second collection will be available globally via the Flickplay store.

Pac-Man NFTs to Fuel Pokémon Go-Like Scavenger Hunt in Tokyo

Flickplay, an NFT interactive character platform, has teamed with Bandai Namco Entertainment—one of its investors—to launch a Pokémon Go-style scavenger hunt to celebrate the 45th anniversary of classic arcade game, Pac-Man. Set to debut in February 2025, the partnership will begin with the release of two series of exclusive Pac-Man digital collectible “toys.” One series will only be available to those in the Japanese neighborhood where Pac-Man was first seen in 1980, Shibuya. Flickplay is a pla...

ICYMI

• Telegram game Notcoin launched a pixel art competition for with token rewards up for grabs.
• Ethereum game franchise Super Champs launched its Base token on Wednesday.
• Crypto trading card game Parallel released its Aftermath expansion.
• Tap-to-earn Telegram app Blum launched Memepad, a meme coin launchpad for The Open Network (TON).
• Sparkball, a game described as League of Legends meets Rocket League, launched "Season Zero" on Thursday.

• The Open Loot network announced that its OL token launch is around the corner, with an airdrop to boot.
• Axie Infinity debuted its Wings of the Nightmare expansion, introducing new collectible Axies and a reward system.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl launched last week on PC and Xbox, three years after canceling in-game NFT plans due to substantial backlash.
• Wayfinder, an AI agent platform from the developers of Parallel, will launch its PROMPT token in Q1 2025 after a DAO vote.
• Telegram's latest app update makes it possible to run mini apps, including games, in a full-screen mode.

GG spotlight

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

YGG Unveils Onchain Guilds on Coinbase’s Base, Expands Blockchain Ecosystem in the Philippines

Each and every story begins with a memorable scene or a unique setting. For Web3 gaming in the Philippines, that scene played out in countless Filipino homes during the pandemic: students and workers, confined by lockdowns, discovered they could earn and build value together. What started as a curious blend of gaming and crypto would later explode into a cultural phenomenon. But this was just the proverbial testing ground. Fast forward to late 2024, the scene has matured far beyond those early p...

‘Super Doginals’: Drop Everything and Play This Goofy Brawler on Dogecoin

Got a few minutes? There’s an original Doge-themed beat-’em-up game inscribed on Dogecoin via the Doginals protocol. It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s the perfect game to play as DOGE buzz is back in full swing amid a surge to a three-year price high price. Super Doginals is a retro-style brawler in the vein of classics like Streets of Rage and Fatal Fury, as you control one of three characters—including two anthropomorphic Shiba Inu dogs—and stroll through side-scrolling environments, pummeling foe...

Edited by Andrew Hayward