Catizen’s path to its upcoming token launch on September 20 has been rocky, with players complaining about a previous delay and other moves. But now some players are up in arms again after the airdrop allocations were revealed, with developer Pluto Studio admitting to criteria changes that weren’t disclosed ahead of time.

Pluto revealed to players Saturday how many tokens they are set to receive when the Telegram game’s CATI token launches on The Open Network. The token isn’t yet live and players don’t know how much each token will be worth when it hits the market on September 20.

However, many players have expressed disappointment on Twitter (aka X) that their share of rewards was lower than expected. CATI will have a total supply of 1 billion tokens, with 305 million tokens circulating at launch—and some players who say they were grinding hard in the Telegram puzzle game thought they’d get a larger share of the pie.

“Rank 6,054 out of 36 million players but got only 39 CATI,” one player claimed. “How can someone call this fair distribution? We need transparency about the token allocation.”

Other players similarly complained of single-digit or double-digital CATI allocations in viral tweets, despite claiming to have played extensive amounts of the game. Quickly, the hashtag “#catizenscam” began trending across Twitter.

But the complaints aren’t only focused on the number of tokens allocated to players. They also came following changes to the token distribution model and allocation criteria that were not previously communicated.

Pluto had previously announced that 43% of the token supply would be given to the community—but Friday’s announcement that only about 30% of the supply would be circulating at launch raised plenty of questions among players.

Over the weekend, the developers clarified that 43% of the supply will be allocated to “airdrop and ecosystem,” but that the total includes the 90 million tokens (9% of total supply) being offered to Binance customers who stake coins via a Launchpool rewards campaign. That promotion was just announced on Friday.

Just 15% of the total supply (or 150 million tokens) will be used for the initial airdrop to players, with more granted as play-to-earn rewards in quarterly in-game seasons.

There’s a further change drawing scorn from some players. Previously, Catizen’s team said that players’ in-game vKitty earning rate—which is boosted by playing the cat-matching puzzle game—would be the primary determinant in airdrop allocations.

But early Sunday, after the airdrop allocations had been revealed to players, Pluto said that it had actually changed the design of the airdrop after discovering that some players had used means to artificially boost their earnings.

“During the data review for this CATI airdrop, we discovered that numerous bot accounts exploited this public rule by using scripts to boost their vKitty profit speed, attempting to gain a disproportionate amount of CATI tokens,” it wrote. “In this situation, following the original airdrop criterion would significantly undermine the benefits of genuine players and community supporters!”

As such, the airdrop criteria was shifted to minimize the vKitty profit speed, and instead focus on “factors that more accurately reflect genuine player activities, such as: on-chain interactions, task completions, and fish coin purchases and consumption.”

Because some of those criteria are based around spending money in the game—and Pluto had recently boasted of earning some $27 million from paying players—used unhappy with their airdrop allocations complained that Catizens team had executed a bait-and-switch at the expense of those who had invested time rather than money.

Decrypt reached out to Pluto Studio for comment on the complaints and changes, including why it did not instead ban players who had cheated rather than alter the criteria for all users—but did not receive an immediate response.

Many Telegram-based games have shot to popularity this year with the promise of in-game progression resulting in a share of a future crypto token airdrop. For some of those games, the time to launch a token is upon us, with dates set and gamers itching for their share of the pie.

From crypto exchange-building tap-to-earn game Hamster Kombat to combat-centric clicker Rocky Rabbit and others alongside, these Telegram mini apps have made waves through the industry. But now it’s time for these projects’ respective tokens to start a new wave.

Will these games stay relevant after their tokens launch? Some may reinvent themselves as Notcoin did after the largest gaming token launch of the year, while others may well fade into obscurity. But for now, these are the most-hyped Telegram gaming token launches on the horizon, listed in date order.

Catizen

Date: September 20

The Catizen token, CATI, will officially launch on September 20 and be listed on exchanges including Bybit and Bitget. The announcement came on September 5, following a delay from the original target of July.

Developer Pluto Studio began the airdrop process on September 14, revealing the airdrop allocations to players, as well as letting them transfer those allocations to certain centralized exchanges ahead of the token generation event (TGE). Those tokens will then become tradable on the 20th, plus players who opt to take their airdrops directly to a wallet can do so at that time. Catizen is also allowing players to instead stake their earned tokens for future rewards.

Rocky Rabbit

Date: September 23

Rocky Rabbit has attracted over 25 million players that are clicking their screens, collecting coins so they can train up their furry fighter. And the airdrop is fast approaching: On September 23, the project will launch its RabBitcoin (RBTC) token on The Open Network (TON), with the token reportedly hitting major exchanges on that date.

In a Telegram update on September 14, the developers noted that allocations will be distributed to players on September 22 ahead of trading opening up on the 23rd. All players will be eligible for the airdrop, but the game is asking players to complete three tasks by the 19th: Connect a wallet, make a transaction of 0.5 TON (about $2.80 worth as of this writing), and subscribe to the official game channel.

The developers say that they will cover all network fees and credit them to players’ wallets. “Users who finish the tasks earliest will be prioritized when the airdrop launches,” it adds.

WatBird

Date: September 23

WatBird, a game developed by Animoca Brands’ GAMEE ecosystem, will launch its WatCoin (WAT) token via TON on September 23 and offer an airdrop claim to players. The mining period ends on September 15, which means there’s little time left to hop in and start earning towards the upcoming drop.

Hamster Kombat

Date: September 26

Hamster Kombat sees players furiously tapping their screens as they attempt to build their own crypto exchange empire… as a fuzzy rodent. The game has been a raging success, garnering over 300 million players and the largest Telegram channel in the world.

With this, fans are excited for the launch and airdrop of its HMSTR token taking place on September 26. This comes after the token launch was delayed in July as the team required additional preparation time. The token will be launched on TON, the same blockchain that Notcoin’s successful launch took place on.

Hamster Kombat will allow players to have their airdrops sent directly to several centralized exchanges, aiming to take some of the pressure off of on-chain claims, though it will also be possible to simply claim tokens to a self-custody wallet. The developers are also holding a Launchpool rewards campaign with Binance, offering 3 billion tokens (out of a supply of 100 billion tokens) to Binance customers who stake BNB or FDUSD.

The game’s team has shared details on the factors that will play into each player’s airdrop allocation, including how much passive in-game income you’ve generated, how many other players you’ve invited into the game, and more. Click here for more details on the airdrop and allocation factors.

X Empire

Date: September/October 2024

X Empire, formerly known as Musk Empire, announced that its mining phase will end on September 30. The end of its mining phase will be one of the final major steps before the airdrop, echoing a similar move from Notcoin, meaning that the token can’t be too far away.

The Elon Musk-themed Telegram crypto game has been teasing a token airdrop for the end of September or early October. Recently the project said it had started burning the in-game coins of players that hadn’t played for 30 days or more, to ensure that dedicated players get a larger share—and surely to motivate any lapsed players, too.

Ahead of the airdrop, X Empire briefly allowed players to mint pre-market trading voucher NFTs, once more echoing a move from Notcoin before it. Each voucher is worth 69,000 X tokens, out of a total supply of 690 billion tokens, but the game still has not revealed how each player’s allocation is being determined.

MemeFi

Date: October 9

MemeFi is a tap-to-earn combat game that finds players beating up giant bosses inspired by the likes of Pepe and the Doge. Unlike the other games on this list, MemeFi is being built on Ethereum scaling network Linea rather than TON.

The airdrop will take place on October 9, which is when the development team says the MEMEFI token will be listed on “several top tier” exchanges. How players’ token allocations will be determined has not been decided yet, but a “public airdrop checker” will be available prior to the event.

TapSwap

Date: Q3 2024

TapSwap is yet another clicker game that racked up tens of millions of players in recent months. In a recent move, the game added a new city builder mode called Tappy Town that lets you upgrade and enhance numerous buildings to unlock additional rewards.

The project’s token launch and airdrop on TON have been confirmed, with the team eyeing up a Q3 rollout as it shapes the tokenomics and has conversations with “tier 1 exchanges.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor’s note: This story was originally posted on September 3, 2024 and last updated with new details on September 14.

Mech shooter MetalCore is set to enter open beta on the Epic Games Store on September 12 with its first in-game season of content, “MetalPunk Rhapsody.” This milestone will see the Ethereum-based game, which is built on layer-2 scaling network Immutable zkEVM, upgraded to Unreal Engine 5 with a handful of new features added.

The shooter, which gave off a Titanfall-meets-Destiny vibe when we first played a preview build last year, has spent the last six months in various closed beta phases. Studio369, the developer behind the game, is now opening its doors for anyone to test the game out.

Alongside the open beta launch, the Ethereum shooter has upgraded to Unreal Engine 5, the latest version a powerful game engine that is widely used across the industry, including by some of the largest AAA studios. Previously running on Unreal Engine 4, MetalCore will reportedly run smoother thanks to the jump to the latest version.

MetalPunk Rhapsody will introduce the game’s new season format, with each expected to last about four weeks. In turn, seasonal rewards will be granted to players with limited-time prizes for those who climb the ranks.

In an attempt to bring MetalCore’s lore to the forefront of player’s experience, each season plans to focus on a different faction within the game’s universe. In the first season, the MetalPunk faction will be spotlighted through themed content, skins, and storylines. 

As for new in-game features, players will be able to try out new player-vs-environment (PvE) raids where up to 10 players from the same faction join forces to take down a deadly alien species to secure resources. This new game mode aims to test players’ teamwork within their factions.

Also, vehicles and mechs will benefit from new rarity and strength variables, while the game’s mission system has also received what the team describes as a “significant update.” Introductory missions have been improved for first-time players alongside fresh content for those who have already been playing MetalCore.

The open beta move comes after MetalCore’s native token MCG launched in June alongside a previous closed beta test. Players needed an Epic Games Store key or had to purchase one of five levels of Founders Packs in order to play the closed beta. But for the open beta starting September 12, anyone can download the game and hop in.

Edited by Andrew Hayward