The chain games of the last cycle are迎来集体死亡.

Written by: Deep Tide TechFlow

As the Meme Launchpads of the version are in full swing, some projects are becoming the abandoned children of the version.

For example, the once-popular blockchain gaming projects from the last cycle have recently faced a wave of shutdowns.

On May 16, the once star game project of the Solana ecosystem, Nyan Heroes, announced its official shutdown due to “funding shortages.” The developer, 9 Lives Interactive, released a statement on the X platform, admitting that they “cannot secure more funding to complete the game.”

In just one day, the NYAN token dropped by as much as 37.2%, and subsequently the FDV fell to around 5M, evaporating nearly 99% from its historical high.

The more lonely you are in the valley, the more glorious you will be at the peak.

Remember, this game once attracted 1 million test players and had 250,000 on Steam wishlists; yet its current market value might even be less than that of a Meme Shitcoin.

However, the downfall of Nyan Heroes is not an isolated case. Recently, several blockchain game projects have announced suspension or halt of development, with previous funding amounts ranging from millions to tens of millions of dollars, all inevitably heading towards termination.

The cyclical nature of the cryptocurrency industry is vividly reflected in blockchain games. During favorable winds, high financing, launching assets first before developing products; during unfavorable winds, gradually lying flat or even going to zero…

There are community comments joking that the decline of blockchain games is a form of “natural selection.”

The Portrait of Decline after Prosperity

Coincidentally, in 2025, multiple blockchain game projects such as Blast Royale, The Walking Dead: Empires, and The Mystery Society announced the suspension of operations or paused development.

These projects once attracted countless attention with high financing and the P2E (Play-to-Earn) model, but within just a few years, they have gone from being at their peak to fading into obscurity.

Nyan Heroes: The Bubble Burst of Cat Heroes

This was indeed a star project in the Solana ecosystem, leveraging the creativity of a cat-themed hero shooter game, with a total funding of $13 million, including $2.5 million in a seed round in November 2021, $7.5 million in Series A in May 2022 (valued at $100 million), and an additional $3 million round in March 2024.

Game testing once attracted 1 million players (official data), with 250,000 wishlists on Steam and Epic Games Store, and the launch of the NYAN token in May 2024 further boosted market enthusiasm. However, on May 16, 2025, the developer 9 Lives Interactive announced that they would stop development due to “inability to secure more funding.”

Blast Royale: The Dismal Exit of the Battle King

Blast Royale is a mobile battle royale (survival battle) game based on Polygon, featuring fast-paced 6-minute matches and a P2E mechanism. In April 2022, the project raised $5 million through an ICO, with investors including Dragonfly Capital and Mechanism Capital.

The game attracted early players with its lightweight gameplay but has never achieved a large-scale breakthrough. In May 2025, the developer First Light Games announced that it would terminate development due to “internal review” and plans to officially cease operations on June 30.

The Walking Dead: Empires: The IP halo is not useful either.

Developed by Ember Entertainment and published by Gala Games, this survival MMORPG is based on the famous TV series “The Walking Dead” IP, integrating an NFT ownership mechanism.

Although the project has not disclosed the specific amount of financing, it has relied on the funding support and IP advantages of Gala Games, and after more than a year of open testing, it has attracted fans to build bases and participate in battles. However, in May 2025, Gala Games announced that it would terminate the project on July 31 due to “comprehensive considerations.”

The Mystery Society: A Flash in the Pan of a Detective Game

Created by the former Disney and Club Penguin team, focusing on Web3 social deduction gameplay, it secured $3 million in seed funding in September 2024, with Shima Capital as the lead investor. The project received praise for its community-driven and innovative mechanisms, attracting active players to participate in early testing. However, on February 25, 2025, the developer Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow announced a suspension of development due to “industry challenges and insufficient funds.”

We also created a table summarizing the above-mentioned blockchain games that have announced the cessation of operations or development.

It can be seen that these games have basically raised a decent amount of funding in the last cycle, and they all happened to use NFTs and token assets combined with mechanisms in the game for consumption.

Famous VCs cluster to invest, yet still face the harsh reality of failure.

Beneath the surface, player attrition, an imbalance in the P2E model, and the misalignment of asset and development priorities are the real driving forces. They boast high financing and grand visions, yet rarely deliver playable products.

Some things also represent an unspoken industry understanding: the product itself is not the focus, and no one really wants to play these games. In a competition that relies on creativity and content density, encountering those who are focused on stamina and the scent of money leads to predictable results.

Prosperity leads to decline; prosperity is in financing, while decline is in the gameplay.

Genes determine fate

You may have noticed that the more ironic part is the reason these blockchain game projects announced their shutdown - “lack of funds.”

The discontinued blockchain game projects almost always officially announce that the reason they are shutting down is due to insufficient funds, making it difficult to create a high-quality game.

Do these blockchain games really lack money? From the perspective of purely making games, perhaps they do not.

For example, the 13 million USD financing of Nyan Heros, let’s not discuss how the game is, what does 13 million USD mean?

Not to mention top-tier AAA titles, just take the pride of domestic products, the seventh installment of the top single-player game IP “The Legend of Sword and Fairy”, which has a reported development cost of 67 million yuan. This means that the financing funds for Nyan Heros could be fully used to make the game, easily producing a title on par with Sword and Fairy.

The cases overseas are even more astonishing.

The well-known farming simulation game “Stardew Valley” was developed by solo developer Eric Barone over four years with an investment of around $50,000. After its release in 2016, it sold over 30 million copies worldwide, becoming a legend in indie games.

The graphics of this game are not much different from some game projects that have raised over a million.

This also indicates that games are products that pay great attention to creative quality and content density. A single person with 50,000 dollars can also succeed through creativity and gameplay.

In contrast, the chain games are responding one after another that they are suspending development due to “insufficient funds,” which highlights a very obvious comparison — funds will always be insufficient at any time, especially when they do not want to use funds for game development.

The genes of blockchain games have determined that they cannot move towards the direction of high quality and meticulous craftsmanship of the traditional gaming industry; they are more like resource agencies and funding schemes, requiring the design of appropriate operational rhythms and investment rules to meet the needs of various primary and secondary investors.

First financing, then taking action has become the optimal solution in this field; whether it succeeds or not is another matter.

Looking at the success of traditional games, it is instead about doing the work first and then securing funding.

For example, in “Black Myth: Wukong”, only a few scenes were developed and designed in 2020. By releasing demo clips that amazed players with their quality, it proved its potential and subsequently secured more funding.

Games like “Genshin Impact” and “Honkai: Star Rail” among the new domestic second-tier gaming forces adopt a segmented development and gradual iteration approach. Each version attempts to present new storylines and characters, creating an immersive experience for players. As players feel immersed and pay for characters, they gradually accumulate funds to develop more versions and works.

These games focus on content, with plot, art, and mechanics being the main components, while financing is supportive rather than the goal. Web3 and traditional games are almost opposing, with a speculative gene running through them.

Players are investors, and games are Ponzi schemes—there is a fundamental incompatibility between the patience and craftsmanship required by games. The track itself is not hopeless, but the model of “financing first, gaming later” has become a dead end.

The rise and fall of chain games is actually an inevitable result of the mismatch between industry genetics and user demand. Capital and concepts can create a short-term hype, but cannot sustain a truly vibrant game ecosystem in the long run.

As more and more games are debunked, the process of filtering out the false after the wave of shutdowns is something to look forward to.