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
Off the Grid token launch: Gunzilla Games, the creator of crypto battle royale game Off the Grid, launched its Avalanche L1-based GUNZ gaming network on Monday, rolling out its GUN token in the process. In the hours following the token’s launch, it sank 24% and has continued to tumble throughout the week.
The token launch received some criticism from market participants due to an apparent last-minute change to the tokenomics that removed an unlock for seed and strategic investors. One source familiar with the matter told Decrypt that this decision was made a couple of weeks ago and was approved by investors. On top of this, the previously scheduled unlock would have only released up to 5% of the investors’ total allocation—a likely insignificant amount to most involved.
Despite the blockchain hitting mainnet, Off the Grid itself remains on testnet. This means that in-game items can only be traded for testnet GUN tokens, which hold no real-world value. When the game transitions from testnet to mainnet, players will keep their skins and items but their GUN balances will be wiped. As a result, skin collectors have told Decrypt that prices for items have spiked as players look to shift their testnet tokens and keep a hold of their items.
The game’s transition to mainnet is expected to come over the “next few weeks.”
Logan Paul CryptoZoo lawsuit continues: The lawsuit brought against YouTube detective Coffeezilla by influencer Logan Paul is moving forward, after a U.S. judge denied the sleuth’s request to dismiss Paul’s claims with prejudice.
This comes after Coffeezilla (whose real name is Stephen Findeisen) made a series of videos and social media posts calling out Paul’s CryptoZoo NFT game, which never launched despite people investing a substantial amount of crypto into it.
Coffeezilla’s lawyers filed in February to dismiss the case, claiming that the alleged libelous statements were not capable of defaming Paul. But a Texas magistrate judge disagreed, pointing to Findeisen’s use of the word “scam” as meeting the defamatory definition, highlighting his role as a crypto investigator as another key factor.
Vibe coding competition: Minecraft-esque crypto voxelverse and world-building game Hytopia is asking creators to build web-based mini-games with its development kit—and help from AI. Hytopia is offering $5,000 in total prizes across the best three vibe coders in a new AI “vibe coding” competition. Judges will take a week to evaluate the created games after the 14-day competition comes to a close.
Vibe coding is a rising term for coding through conversations with AI assistants, allowing users of all skill levels to simply “vibe” on thoughts and ideas and not stress about lines of intricate code, leaving the AI to handle the specifics.
ICYMI
- The makers of crypto first-person shooter Shrapnel partnered with the Chinese government to become the first licensed Web3 game built on the nation’s official RWA Trusted Copyright Chain.
- …but Blockworks reports that Shrapnel maker Neon Machine is running out of cash, and that the China play was made to keep the studio going.
- Crypto game Infected is moving from Base to Solana over “demand” issues, which Base builders pushed back on.
- Solana idle role-playing game Defi Dungeons launched on Wednesday.
GG spotlight
Here are a few of our original stories from this past week that we think are well worth a weekend read:
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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