Solana Game Pass, ‘Ponzi’ Games Pop, SEC and CyberKongz

The crypto gaming space is ever expanding, and with prominent games releasing, token airdrops piling up, and the constant shifting of the markets around them all, it’s a lot to take in.

Luckily, we’re all over it here at Decrypt‘s GG. And if you’re looking to keep tabs on the latest happenings around crypto video games, this weekly roundup gives you a quick overview of the biggest stories we covered over the past week, along with a smattering of other interesting tidbits from around the space.

Top stories

Solana Game Pass: A free Solana Game Pass NFT mint launched on Magic Eden last week, designed to help boost the Solana gaming ecosystem via rewards, collaborations, and early access to upcoming games. The program’s initial “Season 0” spans four weeks with 30 partnered games, including Star Atlas, Nyan Heroes, Stepn, and BR1: Infinite.

Pass holders can complete quests on GAM3S.GG to win raffle tickets toward a $10,000+ prize pool of SOL, NFTs, and other assets. Over 33,000 passes have been minted as of this writing, with the mint remaining open throughout the four-week campaign. Future seasons promise enhanced features including in-game quests and an improved progression system.

“Ponzi” games pop: Crypto game Bigcoin recently surged in popularity before its token crashed 83%, creating a surprising reaction: players embraced its purported “Ponzinomics” and actively sought similar experiences. Bigcoin’s simple mining simulation lets players earn BIG tokens on Ethereum’s Abstract network, with transparent reward calculations that many found refreshing compared to vague and oft-disappointing play-to-airdrop models.

The phenomenon appeared to attract crypto traders beyond typical gamers, with some seeing these self-described “Ponzi games” as more transparent alternatives to insider-dominated projects. Since BIG crashed, similar games like Minereum and Dungeons of Fortune have briefly gained attention… with similar results.

SEC drops CyberKongz case: The SEC has concluded its investigation into Ethereum NFT and gaming project CyberKongz without findings or enforcement, the project’s team said last week, adding to the list of numerous recent closed crypto investigations under the Trump administration. CyberKongz had received a Wells notice in December after two years of SEC scrutiny regarding its BANANA token, game elements, and Genesis Kongz contract migration.

Project leaders celebrated the decision as a victory after facing “unjust allegations” and “crippling legal fees,” noting that they “elected to fight this battle for the betterment of Web3.” CyberKongz joins other NFT-related companies like Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs and marketplace OpenSea that recently saw their SEC investigations closed.

ICYMI

• Ethereum’s Wolf Game expanded to Solana last week, but the creators quickly halted the game and pulled token liquidity after backlash. They’re currently weighing next steps.
• AI models are getting smarter, but they still struggle to play Doom and other classic games.
• Minecraft clone Chunked launched on the Somnia network testnet, putting every single in-game action on-chain as an experimental test of the network’s capabilities.

• Ethereum game Treeverse launched its first in-game season of rewards on Immutable zkEVM.
• Metaverse firm Futureverse acquired NFT startup Candy Digital, which has licenses from Major League Baseball, DC Comics, and Netflix.
• Fortune reports that an official Donald Trump-themed crypto game inspired by Monopoly is in the works.
• Entrepreneur Adam Weitsman said last week that he purchased an additional 1,402 Otherdeed in-game land NFTs for Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape-themed Otherside metaverse game.

• Dapper Labs has teased the launch of “Meowcoins” for players of Telegram game CryptoKitties: All the Zen.
• LOL Land, a digital crypto board game from Yield Guild Games, will launch on Abstract on May 2.
• Ethereum NFT project Creepz launched a “spin-to-win” gacha rewards game.
• Crypto card game Gods Unchained is migrating from Immutable X to Immutable zkEVM as part of a broader effort to combine the Ethereum gaming networks.

• Battle royale shooter Off the Grid rolled out its new “ChemTech” battle pass with in-game items and rewards.
• Minecraft-like game Hytopia has launched public testing for its iOS and Android versions.
• Realms of Alurya migrated over to Ethereum gaming network Ronin, leaving the Treasure ecosytem.
• Bigcoin creator “Satoshi Bigmoto” shared future roadmap plans for the so-called Ponzi game.
• Immutable’s IMX token jumped back into the top 100 coins by market cap after recently falling out.

GG spotlight

Here are a few of our original stories from this past week that we think are well worth a weekend read: