Why are so many crypto games closed? Experts weigh

Crypto -Gaming has a disturbing trend of Close projects Or leave after years of hype, token sale and chaos. Experts say that it is not really a surprise, given how challenging game development is, and pointed to Gamingtokens as a poor system that exerts too much pressure on projects in their infancy.

It is easy to say that we all saw it coming, but in reality many of the recently ended titles were once promoting blockchain experiences.

Deadfor example, was once led by popular streamer Dr. lack of respect And had a substantial hype before the studio crumbled in January after the removal of the content maker due to alleged misconduct. Solana Cat-Mech Shooter Nyan Heroes was added to more than 250,000 wish lists in stores, but Close in May When the financing ran dry.

That is not to forget Raini: The Lords of Light“ Metalcore” Blast Royale” Mojo Melee” Open season” Rijken of AluryaAnd more, with The Walking Dead: Empires and Symbiogenesis that will both close in the coming weeks. It has not looked good for crypto -gaming lately.

“Even in the traditional game world, 90% of the games failed,” is John Linden, co-founder and CEO of Mythical gamestold Decrypt. “That is a kind of what we see on the web3 side – 90% will fail. I think the problem is that it is simply more public, because on the traditional game side you do not have the players who invest and be part of that game design before it fails. You see that after it comes out.”

When traditional games come out and they are a big flop, the industry is in a stir – and in some cases players get their money back, such as when CD Projekt Red players allowed repayment Cyberpunk 2077 After his disastrous launch in 2020. But more often than not, traditional games will fail before the public can spend money on it – is the last of us: factions, a multiplayer spin – off it was canceled in 2023.

That is not the standard in the crypto industry. Games issue routine tokens and NFTs Before the full game is ready, it is often when it is little more than a team with an idea, and repayments to this assets an extreme rarity. In the case of Deadrop, players were forced, for example Claim refunds through their bank and credit card providers After the game studio was silent. However, not everyone was successful because it was good from financial institutions.

However, the crypto gaming landscape is changing and investment money becomes more difficult to protect.

“Three or four years ago you had your random blockchain games with tokens and NFTs – it was much easier for you to get financing from different VCs and also to get traction of users,” Keith Kim, head of the strategy at Maplestory N Developer Nexpacetold Decrypt. Because people were not too good at home […] In the aspects of sustainability, income and all these things. “

“It was a bit like: hey, take my money. I am pretty sure that it will go to 10 times or 100x,” he added.

Nowadays that hype has been broken down after countless examples of crypto games that bust or do not meet expectations. Recently, not protecting extra financing has been the main cause of the closing of blockchain games, cited in many of the above examples.

The Linden of Mythical -whose studio blockchain games such as FIFA rivals and NFL rivals has launched -has managed this sentiment and claimed that he believes that web3 is not aimed at the ‘Fundamentals’, and instead is fixed on ‘hype and speculation’.

“There has just not been the right game that is some kind of quality vanguard” Decrypt.

Smedley added that he believes that too many crypto games close the door for traditional gamers, a public notoriously hostile to blockchain integrations. He said that by ignoring this group of gamers, they considerably limit their potential audiences.

That is why his crypto shooter to be launched soon Reaper actually“ will include a marketplace that works for both traditional and crypto gamers, where in-game items are offered as NFTs or traditional in-game purchases via PC marketplaces.

Likewise, one of the most successful blockchain titles in recent years, off the grid, can also be played on the game on non-crypto-friendly platforms such as steamPlayStation and Xbox to broaden its potential audience.

It is also worth noting that both titles that were launched after the years of production that were usually performed behind the scenes – gets rid of the schedule for which Alfa Testers must sign strict NDAs. That is a stark contrast with some of the now-shuttered titles that were announced and then started releasing Tokenized Activa before the game was somewhere around.

“It takes a while to make games,” Linden explained. “One of my good friends was one of the original makers of the Grand Theft Auto -Franchise, anyway? His new game is just coming out, and he has been working since we started mythical … We have been around since 2018.”

To put that in perspective, Deadrop allowed people to play the game in one pre-alpha podium As long as they have one Founders pass NFT for $ 50. It was almost two years in production before it was finally closed, still for seven years shy of the production time tapped by Linden’s GTA Co-Creator for his latest project.

Krypticrooks, the pseudonymous co-founder of Crypto Game Studio Fractional Uprising, said Decrypt that having a crypto -token exert enormous pressure during the production of Crypto Battle Royale Shooter open season.

He explained that he would work 18 hours a day because he was forced to juggle the game developing the token, because investors fiddling that the price did not increase quickly enough. Now the game has stopped development in the midst of a lack of financing, where the makers continue to a simpler game without token integration.

“We had so many expectations for us to do things with the token of the community. People are like:” Pump the Token, “this or that, and all they gave was the price,” said Krypticrooks. “Adding a token is just a damn nightmare, actually.”

In a sense, Linden agrees, despite the fact that mythical games Myth -Token in front Mythos Blockchain -ecosystem.

He explained that tokens that are bound by small projects are simply not logical because of the demand for specific video metabites that fluctuate over time. Linden said that the question will eventually shift from a game, making it impossible to maintain a token for it. As such, mythical games do not give “single-game tokens,” he said or all the assets, in fact, before a game is ready to come out.

Conversely, Krypticrooks thinks more Tokens are the way forward and pointed to Launchpad’s rise last year Pump.fun If the moment everything changed.

“People do not pay attention to individual tokens when you are released 18,000 tokens, spreading liquidity every day,” he explained. “They opened Pandora’s box.”

Pump.Fun is the popular Solana Meme Coin Launchpad with which everyone can make a token for free in minutes. Since the creation of January 2024, according to Die dataIt has been responsible for creating more than 11.8 million tokens and even produced Rival launch plates They help launch more coins every day.

Some traders have responded negatively and pushed back against the flood of meme coins that enter the market through Submitting the oversaturation is negative for the industry. Yet the trend continues to exist and has not shown signs of stopping.

Krypticrooks said the launchpad trend the trenches more than overaturated; It has also shortened the attention span of investors – such as Tiktok, but for crypto -thirties. As a result, Gamingtokens bleed out, as illustrated with no gaming -that in the Top 100 cryptocurrencies per market capital.

“Attention [have] There is even shorter because people try to catch market cycles that are now 10-15 minutes, “he said.” I think the web3 gaming has fucked hard. “