Sky Mavis is preparing to hand over the future development of its original game Axie Classic to its community. The game’s newly launched Competitive Season 16 will be the last season under its current structure.
Season 16 went live on 12th August and runs until 2nd September, with more than 36,000 bAXS available across its various competitions.
The top 30 guilds will share 14,500 bAXS, while the top 100 Arena players will compete for 4,500 bAXS. Other rewards include 3,000 bAXS for the Season Championship, Guild Milestone rewards and daily Mini Tournaments.
More important than the rewards, however, is what happens once the season is finished.
Sky Mavis says that after Season 16 and its Mini Tournaments conclude, it will pause both regular competitive seasons and active development of Axie Classic. Classic quests will also be removed from Axie’s Bounty Board when the current program wraps on 10th September.
Rather than shutting Classic down, Sky Mavis says it is working towards handing responsibility for the game’s future development and direction to the Axie community.
“The details aren’t settled yet,” the company cautions, meaning there is currently no confirmed structure for how community control will work. Sky Mavis says it will help get the handover started before leaving the community to determine where Classic goes next.
The announcement does not say that Axie Classic will be open-sourced, nor does it set out a new governance structure, development team or funding mechanism. It simply confirms Sky Mavis’ intention to stop actively developing the game itself and transfer its future direction to the community.
Axie Classic occupies an unusual position within the wider Axie ecosystem. It is the original card-battling version of Axie Infinity and remains closely associated with the game’s early growth, even as Sky Mavis has subsequently shifted its development attention towards newer experiences.
The company has nevertheless continued to support Classic through tournaments, guild competition and seasonal play, something Sky Mavis explicitly acknowledged in announcing the change.
Season 16 therefore operates as the end of an era. Two players will earn the final qualifying places for the Classic Champions Invitational, while the season’s leaderboard and Mini Tournaments provide one last competitive cycle before Sky Mavis steps back.
The wider significance will depend on what the eventual handover looks like. Blockchain games have long argued that player ownership should allow communities to preserve games and economies beyond the involvement of their original developers. Axie Classic could now become a significant test of that proposition.
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