In brief
- Pixelmon has signed an exclusive partnership with Avalanche blockchain for its upcoming flagship mobile game “Warden’s Ascent” and future titles, while maintaining existing games on other networks.
- The company is shifting to a “mobile-first publishing strategy” with Warden’s Ascent (a turn-based RPG featuring over 100 unique monsters) targeted for full public launch in late 2025.
- Despite a controversial start in 2022 with poorly-received NFT artwork, Pixelmon has transformed under new leadership to develop multiple games and raise millions in funding.
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 grow beyond the current Web3 user base.” Warden’s Ascent is slated for a full public launch in the second half of 2025, with Pixelmon now branding the game as its flagship title.
“In Pixelmon’s earlier exploratory phase, we published three hyper casual games across Mantle, Base, and Immutable X—each with limited scope, designed to test mechanics and user behavior,” he said. “Avalanche makes sense for us as it is the right fit for the scale, ambition, and audience of our games.”
Pixelmon held discussions with “multiple leading blockchains” before signing a strategic partnership with Ava Labs, the developers of Avalanche. This exclusive deal will see all Pixelmon projects launch on the network going forward. The ability to launch a dedicated layer-1 for Pixelmon and Avalanche’s proven gaming track record were enough to seal the deal.
On top of Warden’s Ascent being released on Avalanche, a Pixelmon representative told Decrypt, the franchise will be rolling out two to three other titles on the network. This will include idle role-playing mobile game Nova Thera Chronicles and real-time battler Warriors of Nova Thera.
Monster Tycoon, the previously released battle arena game, will not migrate from Immutable, as it went live per an agreement with the network. Pixelmon says it to maintain the game’s servers and player services but will not be rolling out any expansions.
The now-beloved crypto franchise had a rocky start, to say the least. In 2022, collectors shelled out $70 million for artwork that was so bad its creator called it “a horrible mistake”—becoming the laughing stock of Web3. But, now three years and a leadership change later, the IP has launched a number of games, raised millions of dollars, and dropped a token.
Pixelmon has also been developing PC-based monster battler Warriors of Nova Thera but this project has been de-prioritised as the franchise shifts its focus to a “mobile-first publishing strategy.” As a result, Warden’s Ascent and Nova Thera Chronicles will be the center of Pixelmon’s attention for now.
In the turn-based role-playing adventure game Warden’s Ascent, players will discover, hatch, and evolve more than 100 unique monsters in order to fight through the campaign. It is expected to be the IP’s biggest swing yet and hopes to expand the franchise beyond the borders of Web3.
“Starting on the [Avalanche] C-Chain allows Pixelmon to go to market quickly, while laying the groundwork to seamlessly transition into a dedicated Avalanche-based Layer 1 as scale grows,” Xiloyannis explained. “This future move unlocks full control over performance, fees, [user experience], and governance, crucial for a mobile-first title aimed at onboarding millions of players globally.”
“Avalanche has demonstrated real gaming traction at scale—and that matters a lot,” he added. “It has proved its ability to onboard multi-platform games and millions of gamers.”
Namely, watching the successful launch of shooter Off the Grid and MMORPG MapleStory Universe convinced the team that Avalanche was the right move. Off the Grid has been slowly transitioning from testnet to mainnet since early May. Over this period the dedicated Avalanche-based layer-1 has processed more than 700,000 transactions, according to the GUNZ block explorer, with a number of in-game items selling for big bucks.
“Just as importantly, Avalanche stands out not only for its tech, but also for its marketing and brand execution,” Xiloyannis said. “That’s exactly the kind of foundation we need to build ambitious, player-first titles like Warden’s Ascent.”
Currently, there is an early access version of the mobile game available to download in the Play Store. Over the coming months, Pixelmon is expected to roll out pre-launch campaigns to build anticipation as well as campaigns aimed at onboarding new users.
Then, once the game goes fully live in the second half of the year, the developers are expected to continue providing season updates and long-term content.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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