This week's blockchain gaming news is @Sorare funding, @animocabrands listing pause and @EVE_Frontier Cycle 7. 00:25 Animoca has called off its reverse Nasdaq listing via a merger with Currenc Group. 02:00 Its situation is particularly complex as Animoca was previously listed in Australia. 03:51 Animoca still plans to list on a major exchange at some point in the future. 04:46 One key issue appears to be the time taken to audit Animoca's past accounts. 05:24 Dealing with crypto within standard accountancy rules is always very complex. 07:05 It was taking so long, it made little sense for either company to keep this deal in place. 08:26 Animoca is now an AI and stablecoin company, so this also changes its positioning. 11:06 Sorare has raised another investment round - an undisclosed eight-figure sum. 12:00 Sorare raised a lot of money in 2021, but most of it was spent on securing sports licenses. 13:21 Some of Sorare's original investors continue to have confidence in the company. 13:49 Sorare's new Arcade has been successful, with +$15 million revenue projected for 2026. 14:48 Sorare now expects to be profitable by the end of 2027. 18:00 Prior to TGE, Cambria has hit $40 million of volume for its Genesis event. 21:10 EVE Frontier is launching Cycle 7 on 29th September. 22:15 The big change is full freedom controls for the space ships, requiring player skill. 24:00 This is different compared to EVE Online's simple control method - spreadsheets in space!

Can degens do persistence? There are many factors you could use to create a blockchain gaming taxonomy. At present, however, it seems that when you consider the most active blockchain games, the key axes are: the level of financial intensity, and the persistence of the gameplay. With the days of play-to-earn long gone, most blockchain games require some sort of spending, at least if you want to do anything beyond the entry-level experience. Notably, Gigaverse and EVE Frontier are gated by upfront payments — $10 and at least $30, respectively — while MapleStory Universe requires a small purchase of its NXPC token to verify users' wallets as an anti-sybil measure. As for Cambria, you have to buy keys to enter its dungeons. A previous incarnation required a $50 NFT. However, financial intensity isn’t just about paying the entry fee. It’s about how integral spending money and cashing out winnings are to the game. As high-risk, high-reward experiences, financial gain has been a key selling point for Cambria and Gigaverse. Not for nothing are these self-defined degen games. So how does persistence fit? It’s a particularly important attribute at present for both Cambria and Gigaverse, which are moving from ephemeral seasonal deployments to become persistent MMORPGs — Cambria Genesis and Gigaverse Online. These changes aren’t without risks, though. For the past years, the games have built their communities around on-off sessions of win-lose financialized gameplay. Now, they will have to balance this against a different set of rewards, which require sustained play and spending to acquire in-game kudos — a quality that can’t be easily cashed out. Of course, such notoriety is something Fenris Creations has enabled in EVE Online over the past two decades, and — moving the other way — it’s something it’s hoping to combine with blockchain-based financialization in EVE Frontier. Like Cambria and Gigaverse, the game is operating on a seasonal basis, with each of its three-month cycles ending in a full content wipe. But, even within such a context, relationships and rivalries honed over years in EVE Online are already re-emerging. This has been demonstrated in the surprise destruction of one alliance’s battleships via the clever use of blockchain data by another alliance, which had reformed just to see if EVE Frontier was any good. Now that’s real persistence.

Time to welcome back an old friend as we tackle a week of blockchain gaming, including @playcambria @playgigaverse @Pixelmon ☠️ and general discussion of @MaplestoryU and @EVE_Frontier 01:20 Pixelmon has halted all game development. 02:02 The original Pixelmon NFT mint was peak 2022-era degen disaster. 02:32 Green goggle-eyed zombie Kevin became a wider crypto gaming meme. 04:09 A new team attempted a reboot, launching various games but to no avail. 07:50 There are currently two models for making blockchain games. 08:05 MapleStory Universe and EVE Frontier are $100 million-scale projects. 09:10 They are from experienced teams who know what they are building and for whom. 14:52 When it comes to indie games, the examples are Cambria and Gigaverse. 18:20 Cambria is moving from a seasonal approach to a persistent degen game. 19:22 This transition will also see the launch of the RSGP token. 22:20 Long-term success likely only comes with a focus on in-game status, not rewards. 23:40 Gigaverse is less regen but also moving towards persistence with Gigaverse Online. 27:14 Also worth noting, MapleStory Universe and Axie both have AI hackathons ongoing.

I am increasingly frustrated about the state of conversation about AI in the UK. It feels like we are in never ending cycles of deluded thinking. Under current trends, Britain will be defenceless against the transformative effects of AI and have no leverage over development at the frontier. We are the most exposed economy to AI in the world. We have very little data centre capacity and few credible plans to expand – and our high energy costs mean we would struggle to even if we tried. I am publishing a paper today on what the UK should do to build that leverage, let the economy capture value from AI and prepare the state to adapt, however AI develops. The three strategies are as follows: 1. Build the infrastructure that gives us leverage. Fix the grid, fix planning, make Britain a place frontier AI can run. 2. Let the economy capture the value of AI. Reform the regulatory, labour and talent barriers that stop British firms adopting AI. 3. Build a state that can adapt to a changing world. Build a tax base that survives the labour market changing, public services that use AI to deliver better, and capacity to weather the upcoming geopolitical storms. Two years ago, we published a similar report on AI - many recommendations of which ended up in the action plan. I remember feeling hopeful, but sadly the fundamental problems facing the country on AI have not shifted. I truly hope that this week of momentum culminates in action. There’s still a narrow path for the UK, but everyday that path is narrowing.

"It’s the first example of how the blockchain tech underlying everything is more than a way to create modded units; it's a tool in your tool belt for waging information warfare." - @MMORPGcom Read how Rooks & Kings turned on-chain data into a weapon in EVE Frontier: mmorpg.com/features/eve-fron…

This week's blockchain gaming news comes from @MaplestoryU @OthersideMeta @ParallelColony @hellominds_ @AxieInfinity 00:15 MapleStory Universe has announced its H1 2026 financials. 02:22 Q1 saw revenue of 14.4 M NXPC vs 13.2M NXPC given away in rewards. (RoRS>1) 03:55 Q2 was 16.6M in revenue vs 14.9M in rewards. 04:11 However, the NXPC price continues to drop; down 69% in the past 12 months. 04:38 Total H1 2026 revenue for MapleStory Universe was $9.9M. 05:00 Trading volume on the NFT marketplace was $10.4M. 05:36 MapleStory also burned $2M of NXPC as part of its quarterly burn process. 09:08 Yuga Labs has announced more details of Otherside's resource economy - 74 onchain resources! 12:28 Parallel Studios has launched 4X strategy game Colony: Survival via app stores. 14:01 Animoca/Minds and AWS' Agentic Football Cup is now live. 16:03 Axie Infinity’s Vibeathon is live and submissions close on 21st September. 16:35 Axie and Onchain Heroes launch degen dungeon crawler Den of Mysteries 2.0.

I say hackathon, you say vibeathon. Let's call the whole thing AI ... @skymavis announces Axie Vibeathon, @hellominds_ announces Agentic Football Cup. 00:43 Sky Mavis announces Axie Vibeathon - using AI to make Axie Core games. 01:54 Registration is available until Monday 7th September. Submissions close by 21st. 03:10 You have to provide your own AI. 04:42 Sky Mavis provides a Builder Resource Kit that includes art assets and APIs. 05:35 The best 8 projects will get $250 of AI to build further, ending on 31st October. 07:08 Total prize pool is 20,000 bAXS, with the winner getting 9,000 bAXS ($8,500). 09:56 Animoca and AWS are launching Agentic Football Cup - Virtual League. 12:08 The 10 winners of the competition go to the AWS Re:invent conference in Las Vegas. 12:45 It's free to enter. You build/prompt a five-player AI football team. 14:08 There's also the ability to give live instructions during matches. 15:05 From 11th September, you play 10 games each weekend for 7 weeks. 16:05 All blockchain games should be running this type of AI hackathon. 17:12 Blockchain games are particularly suited for this sort of AI creation.

An interesting collab from AWS and @hellominds_ starts on 11th Sept. Agentic Football Cup – Virtual League is a free seven-week competition where you prompt and train 5 agentic footballers over 7 weekends. Winners get paid to go to Las Vegas for @AWSreInvent. Sign up now! blockchaingamer.biz/news/428…

What makes a blockchain game? 🤔

The blockchain gaming news this week from @WemixNetwork @pixels_online @TheSandboxGame @playcambria 00:27 Wemix has opened pre-registrations for mobile roguelike Hellsquad Rrrush!: Stone Rush. 02:30 Pixels open-sources its frontend, backend and launches its community hub. 04:35 Pixels has also added community voting, which is now live. 05:47 Cambria is approaching its RSGP token launch; likely in September. 07:36 The TGE event has generated $27 million in volume; c.$500k in revenue for the dev. 08:20 But from a small user base - 2,427 wallets in the past week. 09:08 Talking to CEO Robby Yung about the AI vision for The Sandbox. 10:13 Sandbox Studio adds AI for pro developers to publish games across multiple platforms. 11:14 The vision is to be able to use multiple platforms as a revenue multipler for a single title.

In BCGW #213, I talk to CEO @viewfromhk about how AI reboots @TheSandboxGame 01:10 How Robby Yung sees the past 12 months in blockchain games. 03:30 How adoption of AI changes game development and distribution. 06:48 One problem for The Sandbox was that its original tools were too simple for pro developers. 08:22 How can The Sandbox employ AI to support professional creators? 10:01 Can you maintain The Sandbox's brand if you move away from its voxel art style? 11:21 Adding AI to The Sandbox has been ongoing for around 3 years. 13:05 In the future, game studios will be much smaller because of AI. 14:50 But will indie devs actually use AI tools? Many seem to hate AI. 17:02 The Sandbox's AI tools are designed to give developers absolute control. 20:30 Using AI, game devs will be more creative and publish across multiple platforms. 23:00 Does this level of AI portability undermine The Sandbox as a platform? 25:10 "We view the metaverse as the world and The Sandbox as a city." 28:14 The goal is not to automate game creation but to give creative people better tools. 29:02 Why The Sandbox is running game jams prior to Studio's planned October launch. 31:43 AI is amazing but only when it does what you ask it to do. You need granular control. 33:15 Sandbox Studio is designed for people who are already using Unity and Unreal.

Still haven't seen the official @playgigaverse client, but Codex has my back.

Data Centers already use HALF of the water from the Colorado River. HALF!!! We have to ban Data Centers now!!!! Oh no wait. That’s alfalfa for cows.

This week's blockchain gaming news is from @BootyPirates1 @AxieInfinity and @MaplestoryU 00:15 Pirate Nation's community is attempting a new risk-to-earn game called Booty Wars. 01:40 Booty Wars is not Pirate Nation 2.0. It doesn't use any of the old assets directly. 03:10 There will be a new mint of 6,969 Booty Pirate NFTs. Pirate Nation holders can get WL. 04:40 Booty Wars is inspired by the likes of degen games like Cambria and Gigaverse. 06:24 Axie Infinity is reviving Axie Origin Coins (AOC) to create up to 275 new Axie Origins NFTs. 09:04 This means up to 97 Mystic Axies could be minted (35% chance per roll). 10:59 MapleStory Universe has launched Vibe Camp 2, which runs until 15th September. 12:09 Vibe Camp 1 had 693 game submissions, generating 88,000 gameplays. 13:30 This time the prize pool is $15,000 NXPC tokens.

Pirates live again!

Here's how far Codex has gotten playing @playgigaverse Have to direct it towards collecting Hard Cores now, I guess.

I've started playing @playgigaverse but when I say "I", a mean GPT. gamestx.substack.com/p/1057-…

A week of blockchain gaming news including @TheSandboxGame @playgigaverse and @ProofOfPlay 😢 00:20 The Sandbox is rebooting functionality for its LAND NFTs. 01:03 The original vision for The Sandbox didn't work due to the friction of mini-game creation. 01:49 It's fixing this with its new Studio AI tools, which are in beta. 03:08 This means it can also make LAND more useful as an enhanced publishing primitive. 06:10 Obviously this may not solve the issue of getting enough players into The Sandbox. 07:32 Gigaverse has announced its move to persistent MMORPG Gigaverse Online. 11:40 Pirate Nation dev Proof of Play has shut down after open-sourcing code and IP. 15:10 MIR4 was released 5 years ago. It's hosted 40,000 character NFT trades. 20:32 Sunflower Land dev Thought Farm announces Pokemon-lite RPG Yakkamon for Ronin.

I just reserved my Cloudflare Wallet tag: gamestx.cloudflare.pay. Reserve yours now at cloudflare.pay

This week in blockchain gaming, @pixels_online went open source and @Ronin_Network revealed its Honor Score. 01:02 Pixels has open-sourced its frontend. 02:40 Why the concept of open source is back for blockchain gaming. 03:55 As well as Pixel, MapleStory Universe and EVE Frontier are also becoming more open. 05:30 How MapleStory's AI hackathon winners came up with their very novel ideas for games. 07:54 Open source is important for Pixels because the core game isn't super deep itself. 10:35 This also increases the opportunity for asset interoperability between Pixels-based games. 14:25 Open source doesn't guarantee success but gives communities creative freedom. 16:53 Ronin has announced a new reputation system for users, called Honor Score. 22:42 Ironically, blockchain gaming is only now becoming sustainable. 23:32 Will building around a game using AI become more important than actually playing the game?