Hyped as a future blue chip, the play-to-earn (P2E) game Pixelmon has been drawing mockery ever since its non-fungible tokens (NFT) were revealed. With a few exceptions, the artistic quality of the revealed works borders on nothing. But in the midst of this fiasco, a Pixelmon named Kevin has managed to attract the attention of collectors. Particularly ugly, it has become a meme on social networks, and even inspires new collections of NFTs.
The disastrous unveiling of the Pixelmon
By raising over $70 million from the sale of its collection of 7,750 non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the play-to-earn (P2E) game Pixelmon was particularly eagerly anticipated.
But the unveiling of the famous creatures did not go quite as planned… The poor quality of the Pixelmon revealed has caused a lot of mockery on social networks. Some even called it a scam.
Welp, @Pixelmon just made over $70 million dollars and when reveal happened, this is what everyone got. pic.twitter.com/3v6euOIdkT
— Hustler (@0xHustler) February 26, 2022
The phenomenon has become so widespread that the creator of the Pixelmon project, known under the pseudonym “Syber”, was keen to explain himself in a thread published on Twitter. He said that the funds raised from the initial sale would be used to improve the project.
The Pixelmon reveal was unacceptable. This is what our Pixelmon look like in-game. Our NFT art failed to reflect this.
Despite the fud I will not go anywhere. The goal hasn't changed. The funds will still be used to build our game. I will see this project through. pic.twitter.com/ViFzyKhbqL
— Syber | Pixelmon (@Syberer) February 26, 2022
A star named Kevin
Despite the outcry, one of Pixelmon’s creatures has become a star in the NFT ecosystem.
With his deformed body and pronounced squint, Kevin the turtle is a perfect symbol of the Pixelmon fiasco, as well as the excesses that are regularly seen on the non-fungible token market. And that’s probably why he has become an unavoidable meme on social networks.
In just a few days, many collections of NFTs inspired by Kevin have been created. We have a soft spot for those that merge Kevin’s characteristics with well-known projects like Doodles or CryptoPunks. By the way, for the record, Kevin Punks have surpassed Pixelmon in terms of “floor price”
Congratulations my Kevins! I love you all. The flipping is happening & this is just the start, I myself am a victim of the Pixelmon scam and am so happy to be part of the #KevinPunks THEY HAD A FREE MINT AND ARE PUTTING @Pixelmon to shame! @muratpak @fvckrender @kevinpunksnft pic.twitter.com/hbbmpnjm45
— KevBae | Kevin455 #OpenRelationship (@dloGiccuG) March 1, 2022
Even the famous artist Murat Pak played along, clearly amused by Pixelmon’s completely failed reveal. He even went as far as changing his profile picture on Twitter to pay homage to Kevin
— Pak (@muratpak) March 2, 2022
At the time of writing, it costs a minimum of 5 ETH to buy a Pixelmon Kevin on OpenSea. And if its price is very volatile, some collectors have not hesitated to drop more than 8 ETH to buy this NFT which will remain in the history !
