When it was released, Pixelmon’s game was mocked and disbelieved by the crypto community. But the company has come a long way, and will soon be offering 4 games based on its creatures. What’s next?
Pixelmon, a historic fiasco of a blockchain game
In February 2022, Pixelmon finally unveiled its game. Modeled on Pokémon, it offered users creatures to collect. On the contrary: the cryptosphere scoffed at the non-fungible tokens (NFT) on offer, for which buyers had paid up to $9,000.
Pixelmon reveal is the biggest rug pull in NFT history. This ‘Web3 gaming’ project raked in $70 million! Investors paid up to $9k for one of these abominations and got absolutely rekt. It’s a fiasco that’ll have repercussions for the entire space. pic.twitter.com/phUlS77pg8
– John Jmz (@johnj1138) February 26, 2022
Pixelmon’s creator came out of anonymity at the time, and promised to make amends, notably by allocating $2 million to redo the visuals. Since then, the “crypto-winter” had slowed down the NFT market, and Pixelmon had not been heard from again.
Pixelmon returns with 4 games
But now that the markets are showing signs of life, Pixelmon is making another comeback. With its new visuals, it had already launched a side game: Kevin the Adventurer, which is based on the one who was considered the ugliest of the NFTs.
And the brand has no intention of stopping there. It has just completed an $8 million financing round. Interested parties include Animoca Brands (publisher of Axie Infinity), Delphi Ventures and Foresight Ventures.
Pixelmon CEO Giulio Xiloyannis, who co-founded LiquidX, also confirmed to The Block that 4 games are in the pipeline at Pixelmon. They will all be based on the eponymous creatures. The idea is that owners of an NFT will be able to use it in several games seamlessly. The concept is called “decentralized IP”.
Will this be enough to bring Pixelmon back into the spotlight, and in a better way? That remains to be seen, in a blockchain gaming market that sometimes struggles to find its audience. Kevin may have to come to the rescue again.
