19 September 2025 | Weekly news roundup

Talking SANDchain, Pudgy Party hits 1 million installs, KGeN raises $13.5M and Proof of Play. [0:25] The big announcement is SANDchain; a Patreon-type rewards platform for creators.[1:25] It's more to do with providing extra utility for SAND token than for The Sandbox platform itself.[5:10] Verified creators can use SANDchain to take a loan to invest in their business.[7:01] Some creators will also be able to launch their own memecoins.[8:05] It feels like a smorgasbord of current blockchain trends. But will anyone actually use it?[9:44] Pudgy Party has hit 1 million mobile downloads and Mythos chain has also hit an ATH.[13:03] But the MYTH token is at a (near) ATL.[14:58] Web3 rewards platform KGeN has raised $13.5 million taking total funding to $43.5 million.[15:56] It started out as an Indian guild but is now a global platform with 66 million MAUs.[17:32] It verifies all its users across 5 categories, giving them an overall reputation score.[22:07] One thing to be aware of is KGeN's current users are being incentivized by a future airdrop.[24:29] South Korean web2/3 game item marketplace Overtake has launched its beta on Sui.[28:01] The continuing fall out from Pirate Nation's shutdown and the $50 burn price for its NFTs.33:10 Proof of Play is now working on a new mobile game.[34:53] It's also generated $500,000 in two months from its Proof of Play Arcade on Abstract.

News including Axie Infinity: Atia's Legacy, Craft World era 3.1 and Off The Grid's mainnet tmigration. [1:00] Axie Infinity: Atia's Legacy has launched its first 7-day playtest.[2:10] It's an MMOG that in part builds on the Axie Infinity: Homeland farming/trading game.[3:33] Jon thought the initial plans laid out for the game were a little sketchy.[8:16] Comparing the iterative approach of Pixels to whether Atia's Legacy needs a stronger direction.[10:12] Atia's Legacy probably won't be properly released until 2027. It's a big project.[11:10] Jon thinks it's likely that blockchain games need to be more onchain and collaborative.[15:42] Resource idle game Craft World announced its Era 3.1 roadmap.[18:15] Its challenge is building longterm interest from a simple idle mechanic.[19:30] Additions include new land requiring new assets and blueprints, and new base assets.[21:55] RavenQuest's idle game RavenIdle launches on 11th October.[28:05] Gunzilla has started the mainnet migration for EU-based PC players of Off The Grid.[32:06] Jon guestimates Off The Grid's active playerbase.[34:03] Gunzilla's official numbers are 300,000 accounts migrated to mainnet.[36:03] Immutable's (part) pivot from a gaming blockchain into a general games marketing channel.[37:34] All this week's drama around Pirate Nation and its $50 NFT burn offer.[39:05] Blockchain games' fundamental issue - divorcing real value assets from speculation.[42:18] Despite all the complains, Pirate Nation NFTs were free and holders got +$1,000 of tokens.[48:08] Jon's confession - he burnt his Pirate Nation NFT by mistake and so had to buy another one.techn

Jon Jordan and Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:44] This week, we asked our Mavens group about the rise of sustainable degen games.[2:00] Originally, this type of game was more about crypto than blockchain.[3:25] YGG is now calling this genre "casual degen" games.[4:40] These experiences start with a thin layer of gaming and a lot of high risk-high reward features.[7:30] You can often get 1,000 players into these games but how do you keep them [10:05] A lot of these games are launching on the Abstract blockchain.[13:00] Degen isn't a negative terms, at least not all the time.[13:25] Gigaverse has been going for 200 days, generating $5.5 million in revenue.[16:30] It's also building out its ecosystem with third party devs in the Gigaverse Hub.[19:39] YGG Play is publishing Gigachadbat on Abstract. [24:00] The Sandbox has announced Alpha 6 Season with Cirque du Soleil on 24th September.[27:45] The problem is The Sandbox hasn't got product-market-fit, esp. compared to Roblox.[29:55] It now needs to focus on creators, probably including the ability to launch tokens.[31:32] Off The Grid is starting to migrating EU-based PC players to the Gunz' mainnet.

Jon Jordan and Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[1:05] There's a wider focus on general crypto with ETFs, treasury companies etc. Not gaming.[3:51] Web2 game Wildcard and its Thousand web3 ecosystem is gearing up for its October launch.[5:10] Wildcard has just surpassed 75,000 wishlists on Steam. [9:04] Details about ownership of in-game character cards has been released, including rev share. [11:05] The WC token has been released but it's airlocked into wallets so it's hard to get a price for it.[12:40] People will also be able to buy game arenas, but they would be very expensive.[16:10] Jon's theory of blockchain games operating in a battle royale-style shrinking area.[18:10] Pudgy Party has done 500,000 downloads within 2 weeks.[19:57] The Pudgy Party Power Pudgy NFT skin now has a floor price of $3,300.[21:27] Adam Weitsman has acquired the HV-MTL NFT collection from Faraway Games.

Jon Jordan and Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[1:18] Looking at the most popular blockchain games, we can start to see some trends for 2025. [1:42] Axie Infinity and Aliens Worlds have been very stable throughout 2025.[4:17] Games such as Pixels and Nine Chronicles have decline sharply as they rethink their vision.[6:00] MapleStory Universe is the big growth story of the year so far - c. 70,000 DAUWs.[8:41] Craft World has launched its first mainnet collab with Ronkeverse.[15:16] Gigaverse has raised $2.3 million to build out open world gameplay.[16:55] We're seeing a rise of degen-focused onchain games. Niche but generating revenue.[20:42] LOL Land is a good example. It's basically an onchain lottery but generated $1.5 million.[22:15] Similar are RWA platforms for Pokemon cards like Courtyard. $125 million of trading in August.[27:10] Animoca has announced MocaPortfolio, which will be rewarding $20 million to stakers.[28:43] This is part of a wider narrative for Animoca to boost the MOCA token around a possible IPO.[32:33] Stakers will burn their staked points to get various free tokens. The first is Magic Eden's ME. [34:01] How is Mythical Games doing with its three mobile games now live?[35:06] This is in contrast to the trend towards more niche, onchain degen-focused games.

Jon Jordan and Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:38] What's going on at The Sandbox? Co-founders shifted? Job cuts? Memecoins?[0:52] Animoca's Robby Yung will be the new CEO as Animoca exerts more control over the project.[1:30] To a degree, the news is only "big" because its The Sandbox, which everyone knows.[3:25] Animoca is annoyed because it wanted to announce the restructure and new vision in the [4:10] Things have been going very slowly at The Sandbox. Change was needed.[7:19] Despite these changes, The Sandbox will still have nine offices globally.[10:40] From the outside, it looks like The Sandbox has suffered from a lack of strategy.[12:13] The Sandbox will be announcing a "big new project" a couple of months.[13:34] This project seems to be about expanding the scope of the SAND token.[17:51] Jon's wild rumor. A SAND treasury company? Fronted by Barron Trump? Stranger things...[19:12] Mobile game Pudgy Party is out today with a Steal a Brainrot collab.[22:10] It's a cute battle royale game with lots of customization and light combat options.[23:01] The concept is Mythical does the game, Pudgy Penguins brings the marketing. [28:42] The Axie Infinity Constitution has been revealed. You can vote from 1 September.

Jon Jordan and Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:35] Proof of Play is shutting down fully onchain game Pirate Nation.[3:08] As well as combat, it had a deep crafting system but never attracted enough players. [4:00] Its play-to-airdrop seasons artificially boosted audience but not revenues. [6:06] The main reason it shut was it cost $150,000 a month to run the underlying blockchains.[7:45] The PVE mode from the game is now available to play on the Abstract blockchain. [8:40] NFT holders will get a final airdrop of PIRATE tokens.[9:00] Proof of Play will continue to operate, focusing on "profitable business operations".[14:30] Ronin strategy game Wild Forest is rebooting, including a new PVE campaign. [18:45] The WF token is up 400% but still down 80% from its original launch.[21:26] South Korean game item marketplace Overtake has raised $7 million.[24:52] It's a web3 project based on existing web2 markets ItemBay and ItemMania. [25:33] Splinterlands has launched its cheeky $500,000 Crypto Game Recovery Fund.[27:35] It's giving assets to holders of NFTs from games which have shut down. [32:53] TGC Project O has been announced for Immutable.

Jon Jordan and Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:52] Jon's been talking to MMOG veteran John Smedley about new FPS Reaper Actual.[2:30] What's interesting about the project is how perceptions about web3 have shaped its vision.[4:31] Steam doesn't allow blockchain and some of the Steam community hates blockchain. [4:51] So the web3 version of Reaper Actual will only be available via its own website.[5:45] Splitting the game into web2 and web3 versions isn't strong from a marketing pov.[8:30] The problem is they'll have a web3 game with most players playing the web2 version.[11:57] Shrapnel has raised $19.5 million for its global launch in Q1 2026.[13:03] It's funny to see how all the Avalanche fanboys ignore Shrapnel now it's moved to Gala.[18:05] Fully onchain game Craft World now accounts for 50% of all transactions on Ronin. [21:40] Ubisoft's forthcoming TGC Might & Magic: Fates is doing a pre-sale on 3rd September.

In the latest episode of the Blockchain Gaming World podcast, editor-in-chief Jon Jordan talks to MMOG legend John Smedley about his new studio Distinct Possibility and its forthcoming persistent extraction shooter Reaper Actual, which will be released on Steam and Epic Games Store as a pure web2 game, with the web3 version only available via its own website.[2:33] Reaper Actual is a mix between a MMO and a FPS: an "open world persistent shooter".[4:18] It's like Escape from Tarkov in an open world and had a baby with Rainbow Six Siege.[6:00] How Reaper Actual is different to the likes of Delta Force and Arena Breakout.[9:20] The game's persistence is around bases but also a player affinity system.[11:40] How the game is using genAI ethically in terms of paying voice actors.[14:40] Why is it a blockchain game?[18:56] Why there will be a separate web2 version for Steam and EGS.[21:50] We are not a pay-to-win game. We never will be.[28:14] The game will sell bases, which in the web3 version of the game, will be NFTs.[33:07] Why Reaper Actual is building on Tezos' Etherlink EVM L2. [34:55] The first playable version will be released on Steam and web3 in late September.

Jon Jordan and Jenny Jordan talk through the week's news including:[0:50] Craft World launched on Ronin. One day late. [2:43] It also launched its DynoCoin, which is designed to be a purely transactional token.[4:53] DynoCoin was a fair launch, 100% for community. No allocation for team, investors or KOLs.[6:42] If you want to cash out from Craft World, you need to buy a $8 Pro Account. This stops bots.[12:48] Shrapnel has ditched Avalanche and is moving to GalaChain. [16:37] The project has had many issues, mainly with its initial investor, also a high burnrate. [18:46] It's now betting everything on being a success in China. [21:49] FIFA Rivals has done 1 million downloads from app stores in 7 weeks. [23:34] Jon thinks it's a really good game, even though it's still missing its career mode. [25:11] And with Pudgy Party releasing soon, Mythical is really gearing up for success.