This Week in Crypto Games
Biggest News
- TikTok Airdrop: Sonic SVM, a layer-2 gaming chain built on top of Solana, launched its SONIC token on Tuesday. The token peaked at a $443 million market cap but has since fallen to $277 million. With this, players of the project’s TikTok tap-to-earn game Sonic X were able to claim their token allocations, with the claim period ending on January 30.
- Call of Duty Meme Coin: 360noscope420blazeit (MLG) skyrocketed 5,200% over just six days thanks to Call of Duty-themed nostalgia. The Solana meme coin hearkens back to the perceived golden era of Call of Duty, before "omnimovement" and overly complex killstreaks, or the flood of microtransactions and goofy skins. It’s not just vibes either: They’ve launched custom online servers for classic Call of Duty games to draw in a community of crypto gamers.
This approach quickly attracted a cult-like following, but when members of iconic esports team FaZe Clan started shilling the token, it went parabolic. Richard "FaZe Banks" Bengtson believed in the token so much that he even got a tattoo of the original MLG logo, that is, Major League Gaming, an organization that was at the heart of the Call of Duty esports scene.
The MLG token isn’t an official offering of that Activision-owned tournament organizer, of course, but that hasn’t stopped it from posting monster gains. MLG has peaked at a price of nearly $0.178 as of this writing, putting it at peak market cap of about $177 million on Saturday. It’s down almost 30% since then.
The Machines Arena on Steam and PS5: Ethereum hero shooter The Machines Arena, which runs on gaming network Ronin, is coming to new platforms, and will release on leading PC marketplace Steam as well as the PlayStation 5 console. However, due to both platforms having restrictive crypto policies, those versions of the game will have zero or potentially limited crypto features.
On Steam, there will be absolutely no crypto features. However, for the PlayStation 5 release, Directive Games Design Manager David Gracia told Decrypt the company is still in discussions with Sony about how crypto elements could be implemented. This is something to keep an eye on, as we’ve yet to see a game successfully implement live crypto features on PlayStation (Off the Grid, in early access, has a testnet blockchain on the back end but no current player-facing on-chain features).
ICYMI
- Telegram game Trump’s Empire claimed to have surpassed 4 million total players.
- A Pudgy Penguins game is in development by Playember, set to launch on Abstract.
- Transak went live on Ethereum gaming network Ronin with its fiat-to-crypto infrastructure.
- An AI agent called Jaihoz—based on Axie Infinity co-founder Jeff "Jihoz" Zirlin—launched on Ronin thanks to the Virtuals Protocol.
- PIXEL, the token tied to social farming game Pixels, is set to receive staking soon.
GG Spotlight
Here are a few of our original stories from this past week that we think are well worth a weekend read:
Conclusion
This week has been a wild ride for the crypto gaming space, with a slew of new developments and announcements that have left us all excited for what’s to come. From the launch of Sonic SVM’s SONIC token to the meteoric rise of 360noscope420blazeit, it’s clear that the space is heating up. And with the likes of The Machines Arena and Pudgy Penguins on the horizon, we can’t wait to see what the future holds.
FAQs
Q: What is Sonic SVM and what is its SONIC token?
A: Sonic SVM is a layer-2 gaming chain built on top of Solana, and its SONIC token is a cryptocurrency that was launched on Tuesday.
Q: What is 360noscope420blazeit and why is it so popular?
A: 360noscope420blazeit is a Solana meme coin that has skyrocketed in value thanks to its Call of Duty-themed nostalgia and the support of members of iconic esports team FaZe Clan.
Q: What is The Machines Arena and when will it be released?
A: The Machines Arena is an Ethereum hero shooter that will be released on Steam and the PlayStation 5 console. The exact release date has not been announced.
Q: What is Pudgy Penguins and when will it be released?
A: Pudgy Penguins is a game in development by Playember, set to launch on Abstract. The exact release date has not been announced.
