The crypto and NFT gaming space is busier than ever lately, what with prominent games starting to release, token airdrops piling up, and a seemingly constant array of other things happening at all times. It’s a lot to take in!

Luckily, Decrypt’s GG is all over it. And if you need a quick way to get caught up on the latest moves around crypto video games, we’re happy to present This Week in Crypto Games.

Our weekend roundup serves up the biggest news from the past week, along with a few other tidbits you might have missed. We also showcase a few of our original stories from the week.

Biggest news

Ubisoft launches NFT game: Ubisoft, the gaming giant behind classic franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance, launched its first original NFT game called Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles on Wednesday.

Built around optional NFTs minted on blockchain gaming network Oasys, Champions Tactics is a free-to-play PC game available through the Ubisoft Connect platform. The tactical strategy game challenges players to select teams of fantasy-themed digital figures and then enter battle against other online opponents in turn-based combat.

The gaming giant has been playing in the blockchain space for a number of years now, releasing small experimental projects while supporting a number of blockchain ecosystems and Web3 startups. But Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles is the publisher’s first original, full-fledged NFT game.

‘X Empire’ airdrop: Telegram tap-to-earn game X Empire completed its token launch on The Open Network (TON) and subsequent airdrop on Thursday. The Elon Musk-themed game allocated 70% of its token supply to those who played its original cycle, with an additional 5% for those who tapped along during its 15-day “Chill Phase.”

Only about 6 million players out of a total of 50 million received a share of the airdrop, and some even moaned to Elon Musk about it, despite no actual connection to the game. He didn’t appear to respond to anyone.

When the token launched on Thursday, that disappointment was compounded as the token traded for significantly less than pre-market trading had predicted. At its lowest X traded for $0.000052 and at its best $0.00013, while pre-market traders predicted an average price of $0.0002. Just another example of why pre-market trading can be especially risky.

Next up for Telegram tap-to-earn players is the Tomarket token launch and airdrop, set for this Thursday, October 31. Stay tuned for more coverage of that impending launch in the coming days.

And after that, the next big one looks to be MemeFi, which announced late last week that it will launch via the Sui network rather than Ethereum layer-2 network Linea. The MemeFi token launch is now set for November 12.

MetalCore on Solana: Mech shooter MetalCore originally launched on Ethereum scaling network Immutable zkEVM, but on Thursday, the developer announced that it will soon switch to Solana. This is set to happen alongside the launch of the game’s second season sometime in November.

Studio 369, the developer of MetalCore, named Solana’s “exceptional” ability to process a large number of transactions and growing ecosystem as to why it’s making the move. When Decrypt asked about the team’s experience on the Ethereum scaling network, Studio 369 declined to comment.

ICYMI

GG spotlight

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

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Gaming and engagement platform Major has become one of the biggest mini apps on Telegram, tasking players with racking up stars in various ways—including by playing simple games. And one of them is inspired by Telegram’s co-creator.

Puzzle Durov is a daily challenge featuring cartoonish faces based on Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov, and it’s simple enough: Just pick out the right combination of different Durov faces in the correct order, and you’ll earn 5,000 stars. Easy as that!

It’s similar in vibe to the Tomarket combo, and it’s an easy way to rack up more stars ahead of the upcoming MAJOR token launch and airdrop on The Open Network (TON), which is currently set for sometime in November.

If you’re looking for the daily Puzzle Durov solution, you’ll find it right here in our daily-updated guide. Keep reading for today’s solution.

Daily Puzzle Durov solution

Puzzle Durov is located in the Major mini app on Telegram. Simply click the Games button at the bottom of the screen, and you’ll see Puzzle Durov at the time of the resulting list.

Simply tap the faces in the correct order, as shown below, and tap the “Check” button to claim your reward. You only get one try, so tap carefully. The daily puzzle is updated at 8pm ET each night.

Here is the Puzzle Durov solution updated on Monday, October 21:

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on October 17, 2024 and will be updated daily.

The Open Network blockchain has recorded a significant decline in daily active users, according to on-chain data from IntoTheBlock.

According to a chart shared on X by the on-chain metrics and analytics provider, the TON network has seen its daily active users drop sharply in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Toncoin, the native token of the Telegram-supported decentralized layer-1 blockchain, has struggled for upward momentum during this period.

TON’s daily active users drops

A report DappRadar showed that TON’s active daily users surged in early September as the crypto gaming space saw a rise in activity.

For TON, the blockchain gaming metric tracked users across Telegram-based decentralized applications, with Catizen and Yescoin among those driving user growth.

However, after exceeding 5 million on Sept. 27, the daily active address count on the TON network fell sharply to just 1.58 million as of Oct. 21.

This major decline, from a peak of 5.16 million active users to current levels, coincided with market turbulence and reduced network activity. New addresses and zero-balance addresses also declined, with metrics falling from 2.58 million and 346,000 to under 650,000 and 68,000, respectively.

IntoTheBlock analysts noted that TON has a history of active user spikes during major events and hype cycles. Active user counts have notably dropped amid a broader market slowdown.

Telegram’s recent troubles, including the impact of founder Pavel Durov’s arrest and other developments look to have coincided with the dip. Major airdrops on the TON network, including Dogs, saw a surge. Network events such the Alchemy Pay integration may yet see the active user count on TON rise.