7 November 2025 | Weekly news roundup

Axie Infinity tweaked its rewards and lost 45% DAUWs, MapleStory N has banned 640,000 bots, and Forkast moved to Arbitrum. [0:35] Axie Infinity's DAUWs have dropped 45% following to a change in its AXS reward system.[3:10] In April 2024, it launched its first Bounty Board, which more than doubled its audience. [4:45] There were further giveaways, which further boosted DAUWs to more than 100,000.[6:29] Now, the rewards system has been streamlined, with a paid battle pass added.[8:34] Over time, these reward systems become increasing complex to understand.[10:06] Not directly related but the AXS token is down from $7 to $1 since April 2024.[15:00] The good news is web3 games are now more focused on profit and sustainability.[17:54] Nexpace has banned 640,000 accounts from MapleStory N for botting and macros. [21:20] It's also forced 28,000 KYCed accounts to be reregistered. Only 155 succeeded. [25:10] The Forkast prediction market has moved from Ronin to Arbritrum. [32:55] Jon is enjoying playing EVE Frontier but likely won't be part of its Winter PVP tournament.

Animoca's Nasdaq listing plan, Spider Tanks reborn, Moonfrost goes web2 and IMX is fully liquid. [0:24] Animoca Brands has announced a reverse merger to get a Nasdaq listing. [4:25] It's started the process to merge with tiny Nasdaq listed company Currenc.[6:03] Currenc shareholders will get 5% of the new company. Animoca's 95%.[7:58] There's no official valuation for Animoca, but it's likely somewhere between $3-4 billion.[11:30] But the entire process will take 9-12 months, so Animoca won't be listed until late 2026.[14:16] Moonfrost has gone pure web2 but is also launching web3 degen platform Frost Arcade.[22:30] Immutable's IMX is the first major gaming token to become 100% circulating.[25:18] The Sandbox has committed to be majority UGC-focused in 2026.[30:45] Spider Tanks is being rebooted on Immutable, with early access from 8th December.

Jon talks to Pixels CEO Luke Barwikowski about how he still believes play-to-earn rewards are a viable marketing mechanic. [2:09] 'This is probably the worst market sentiment I've seen in the space.'[5:40] 'Without speculation, you have to build something that's fundamentally sound. That's hard.'[7:50] 'In early 2024, Pixels was loved. People were making money. But we weren't making money.'[8:39] '1% of our players were taking 50% of the rewards.'[9:51] After recent changes, Pixels has generated a Return On Reward Spend greater than 1.[12:25] 'I think over time, Play-to-Earn becomes more of a loyalty or a cash-back system.'[14:00] 'We've noticed crypto is very off-putting for normal users. Robux or V-Bucks are more [20:45] The spend-only vPIXEL token has been surprisingly effective when used correctly.[23:45] Pixels Chapter 3 introduces Unions, which are factions for competitive gameplay.[27:13] 'The issue with web3 gaming isn't fidelity, it's figuring out the economics.'[27:53] 'We did $20 million in revenue in 2024. 2025 will be less but it's more sustainable.'[29:41] Why Pixels has launched new social tamagotchi app Chubkins. (Currently only US.)[30:05] 'We're not going to emphasis crypto, but we will emphasis rewards, including crypto cash-out.'[33:50] Pixels also plans to launch a standalone rewards app in 2026.

Wemade launched Legend of Ymir, Mythical integrated World Chain, Pixels launched Chapter 3 and Yuga's Otherside goes live on 12th November. [0:30] Wemade has launched its latest web3-enabled MMORPG Legend of Ymir on PC and mobile.[2:10] Wemade previously tried to add blockchain to casual mobile games. It didn't work.[3:24] Legend of Ymir is the result of Wemade's experience over its previous web3 games.[4:50] Ten game servers have been auctioned to be run by guilds etc.[5:50] It's more combat-focused than Night Crows, but still with a lot of idle gameplay.[8:09] Wemade as become more nuaunced in how it's combining web2 and web3 elements.[10:07] Cambria has raised $2 million from Bitkraft, Sky Mavis and various angels.[16:03] The Mythos blockchain is integrating World via the launch of an L3 on World Chain.[19:38] One advantage is this gives the Polkadot parachain EVM compatibility for the first time.[23:34] Yuga Labs' Otherside will finally go live on 12th November with the Koda Nexus hub.[31:13] Pixels has launched Chapter 3 including an new lightweight social competition layer.

Jon's been asking What's Working For Web3 Gaming? at Zebu Live conference. [0:27] It's been London Blockchain Week and Jon has been at Zebu Live 2025.[2:06] He moderated a panel about What's Working In Web3 Gaming?[4:08] Panellists including Koko from Mighty Bear Games and Russell from Metacade.[5:58] We've moved from blockchain games to crypto games, with the emphasis on "crypto gainz".[7:00] ICP-based MMORPG Dragginz has gone into "hiberation".[12:30] YGG Play's LOL Land has now done $5.5 million in revenue. [12:59] The key issue for most blockchain game companies is doing what you need to make money. [14:10] The comparison is EVE Frontier, MapleStory Universe etc - big onchain gaming ecosystems.[16:51] Wildcard has launched into early access on Steam: it's a web2 game with a web3 ecosystem.[22:56] Jon's been enjoying playing RavenIdle.

Discussing Mythical Games integrating Worldcoin, MapleStory going multichain, Legend of Ymir's launch plus Sorare and EVE Frontier changing chains. [0:18] Mythical Games is about to close a new funding round, including from Worldcoin.[1:37] The reason we know this is happening is from a press release from DAT outfit Eightco.[4:44] Eightco has raised $270 million to buy Worldcoin tokens, also investing in Mythical Games.[7:40] MapleStory Universe is going multichain thanks to Chainlink integration.[10:50] Projects focused on UGC want to be as open and accessible as [11:26] Wemix's PC/mobile MMORPG Legend of Ymir goes live on 28th October.[14:38] One interesting web3 aspect of the game is the ability to own and run your own servers.[17:30] Wemix has successfully switched from a quantity to quality-led focus on blockchain games.[18:59] Moku saw $5 million allocated in a no-loss raffle pre-sale for its Grand Arena AI game. [23:02] Sorare has moved from StarkEx to Solana. [26:04] EVE Frontier is moving to the Sui blockchain.[27:10] It was using an EVM testnet but decided Sui's object-oriented structure was a better fit.[31:37] Does it matter which blockchain a game choses to build on?

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.