202 | Can Pixels finally make play-to-earn work?

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.

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.