It's tough to keep tabs on the ever-changing crypto gaming space, thanks to the constant flow of news: everything from big game launches and fun degen experiments to token price swings and occasional project collapses. It's a lot to follow.
Luckily,we're plugged in at Decrypt's GG. We cover the biggest happenings throughout the week, and then this weekly roundup provides a quick way to catch up, as well as find a bunch of other little bits of news from throughout the week.
Top stories
MapleStory N now live: MapleStory N launched on the Avalanche blockchain, marking what's being hailed as one of the biggest crypto game releases to date. The game combines the familiar 2D MMORPG gameplay of the 22-year-old franchise with crypto tech, allowing players to own and trade in-game assets. The launch triggered a 549% spike in Avalanche active addresses and included the network's largest NFT mint ever—over 1.7 million free Scroll NFTs.
The ecosystem's token, Nexpace (NXPC), rose to a peak market cap above $600 million after launch Wednesday, and has settled a bit under $400 million as of Sunday. That makes it one of the biggest gaming tokens on the market right now.
Avalanche blockchain game MapleStory N launched on Thursday alongside a token and NFTs, in what some crypto gamers are hailing as one of the biggest rollouts to date in the industry.
It was so significant that Avalanche saw a 549% spike over the past seven days in active addresses, according to Nansen data, as it processed the biggest NFT mint the network has ever seen.
"This launch sets the stage for a broader, community-powered economy where players are not just consumers, but co-creators in t...
Nyan Heroes is done: Solana-based, cat-themed hero shooter Nyan Heroes is shutting down after failing to secure additional funding, 9 Lives Interactive announced Friday. Despite completing four play tests through the Epic Games Store, holding a NYAN token airdrop, and attracting over one million players, the Overwatch-style PC title couldn't overcome recent industry financial challenges.
9 Lives CEO Max Fu told Decrypt that acquisition discussions are ongoing, but could take time to produce results. The NYAN token plummeted 40% following the announcement, and is now trading almost 99% below its May 2024 peak. Other similar crypto game shutdown announcements include The Mystery Society and The Walking Dead: Empires.
Solana cat-themed hero shooter game Nyan Heroes is shutting down, 9 Lives Interactive announced Friday, with the developer citing an inability to secure the necessary funding to finish the game.
The free-to-play hero shooter recently completed its fourth play test via the Epic Games Store, which included its largest play-to-earn airdrop of the NYAN token on Solana. A full game launch was planned for next winter.
The Overwatch-style PC game launched its first pre-alpha test in March 2024 and ult...
Pixelmon adopts AVAX: Pokémon-inspired crypto gaming franchise Pixelmon will launch its flagship mobile RPG Warden's Ascent on Avalanche in the second half of 2025, along with several other upcoming titles. While Pixelmon's core assets remain on Ethereum and its existing "Monster Tycoon" game will stay on Immutable zkEVM, all future projects will deploy on Avalanche.
Pokémon inspired crypto IP Pixelmon is set to launch its role-playing adventure mobile game Warden’s Ascent as well as a future idle game on Avalanche, after signing an exclusive partnership deal with the network. This is despite its core assets remaining on Ethereum and its already released battle arena game Monster Tycoon being built on the Immutable zkEVM blockchain.
Giulio Xiloyannis, CEO of Pixelmon, told Decrypt that the move is motivated by needing a “partner aligned with our ambition to...
Pixelmon CEO Giulio Xiloyannis cited Avalanche's ability to onboard millions of gamers and the potential for a dedicated Pixelmon L1 (aka subnet) as key factors in the decision. This partnership represents a strategic shift for Pixelmon, which has transformed from a ridiculed NFT project in 2022 to a multi-game franchise with a mobile-first strategy.
ICYMI
- Week-long crypto game experiment DX Terminal kicked off, tasking 36,000 tokenized AI agents with battling to amass faux meme coins. Early on, the traders are into hot dog-themed coins.
Right this moment, thousands of AI agents trained on billions of Solana transactions are acting as meme coin traders, competing to rack up as many tokens as they can while fighting through simulated economic disasters and pump-and-dump schemes—just like real traders.
And so far, they really seem to be into hot dogs.
It’s all part of a crypto game called DX Terminal, with AI agents that were minted as NFTs on Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network Base. They’re all competing as part of a one-week ex...
- A Slither.io clone called Noodle.gg went viral last week, letting players eat each others' snakes to steal their crypto. An associated Solana meme coin got hot as a result.
- Ethereum game Pixels now has a flirting challenge with an AI agent, resulting in what some players are calling a "rizz-to-earn" mini-game with token rewards and a potential future airdrop, as well.
Ethereum farming game Pixels is currently offering players the opportunity to earn a token airdrop by flirting with an AI-powered non-player character (NPC)—yes, really.
Players have jokingly branded the experience as a “rizz-to-earn” mini-game, in the wake of the popular but fleeting play-to-earn and tap-to-earn game models.
Players must load up Pixels and head over to Terra Villa before entering AiVeronica’s castle to purchase a key for 100 PIXEL tokens ($5). You can also buy one from the AiVe...
- Immutable-based crypto game Blast Royale is shutting down. The developers plan to open-source the game for the community to tinker with.
- Sugartown sold through its 7,777-item Cores NFT drop on Ethereum layer-2 network Abstract.
- Popular metaverse app VRChat is launching its own avatar marketplace. No, it doesn't use NFTs.
- Off the Grid is gradually adding more players to its Avalanche L1 mainnet, enabling on-chain trading of in-game items.
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