In a surprising move, US developer Proof of Play has announced it will be shutting down its fully onchain RPG Pirate Nation, as well as its Apex and Boss L3 blockchains, which run on Ethereum-based L2 Arbitrum.
The browser-based game has been live since 2023 and was used to launch the PIRATE token in June 2024 via a play-to-earn season. Players have been able to earn PIRATE allocations through subsequent events with Proof of Play also operating a points program for people who have been staking their PIRATE tokens.
However, with the game’s audience declining from over 100,000 DAUWs during peak periods to around 10,000, Proof of Play says that it’s no longer economically viable to run its blockchains and the game, hence the decision to shut down Pirate Nation.
“While diehard community supporters have been with us every step of the way, the game has not attracted enough of an audience to justify continued investment and operation,” it tweeted.
But some elements will continue to live on in the company’s new Proof of Play Arcade, which is currently live on the Abstract blockchain with a version of Pirate Nation’s PVE battle mode.
Proof of Play also states that other modes may also go live on Abstract in Proof of Play Arcade and perhaps on other chains too.
Regarding the company’s future plans, it says it will work on projects that can generate revenue, including its vRNG infrastructure.
“We’re streamlining the Proof of Play ecosystem and turning a laser focus on revenue streams for the company. We want our products to be fun, profitable, and so broadly accessible that the end user would never know they’re interacting with crypto if the application didn’t say “Powered by Proof of Play”.”
Pirate Nation itself will run for the next 30 days, including a final two-week event in which players will be able to burn their in-game items for Plunder Certificates that will be eligible for future rewards.
Holders of the game’s 10,000 PFP NFTs will also receive a final allocation of PIRATE tokens, which will be Proof of Play’s main crypto focus in future.
“We’ve expressed publicly that we value $PIRATE, and these changes help solidify our messaging that the best way to align with the Proof of Play ecosystem is by holding $PIRATE”, it ends.
Check out Proof of Play Arcade here.
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