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

Hamster Kombat + Trump: Viral clicker game Hamster Kombat served up a reference to last weekend’s failed assassination attempt against Donald Trump. The game’s new “Fight fight fight” special card reimagines the iconic photo of a bloodied Trump defiantly raising his fist, albeit with smiling cartoon hamsters.

It’s a recreation of the immediately iconic shot captured by Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci at Trump’s Philadelphia rally. The Trump stand-in is still bleeding from the ear and raising his fist, the Secret Service protectors are clutching him, and the American flag has been replaced with one showing the game's logo.

Pixelverse token + airdrop: On Thursday, crypto gaming franchise Pixelverse launched its PIXFI token on Ethereum, though a future launch on The Open Network (TON) is also expected. The crypto gaming project, which has rapidly gained prominence in part due to the success of its PixelTap game on Telegram, revealed plans for rewarding players with an airdrop.

PixelTap players and users of the Pixelverse dashboard will receive "common" to "legendary" NFTs based on their engagement levels. Then, holders of rare NFTs and above will receive tokens via the airdrop. Those who choose to immediately withdraw their PIXFI tokens will only receive 10% of the total allotment, with 90% being recycled into the ecosystem. Continued play and engagement, meanwhile, will boost players' claim amount.

Notcoin perks: The game that ignited the Telegram crypto gaming craze, Notcoin (NOT), is now teaming up with rising games in the scene that it created—and Notcoin players who have reached a certain account level can get exclusive benefits.

Pixelverse’s PixelTap and the Elon Musk-themed Musk Empire both announced team-ups with Notcoin on Wednesday. Pixelverse will offer staking rewards for NOT token holders, along with Pixelverse-themed quests. Meanwhile, Musk Empire is offering special missions for Notcoin players, particularly those with Gold or Platinum levels.

Ubisoft free mint: Ubisoft, the storied video game publisher behind the Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance franchises, rolled out a free NFT mint last week for its first original blockchain-based game, Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles.

Launched on Oasys, a gaming-centric network, the mint let players collect a total of 75,000 in-game champion figurines. The collection minted out amid anticipation for the upcoming game launch.

ICYMI

• Dr. Disrespect’s former game studio gave the first update to its shooter Deadrop since the streamer was booted from the company.
• The makers of mobile game Land Before War announced plans to migrate from Ethereum scaling network Polygon to Xai.
• Mocaverse revealed a Mario Kart-inspired racing game, Cosmic Royale, to launch this year.
• A Pudgy Penguins character was added to PixelTap as a fighter.
• Pluto Studio, the developer behind Telegram game Catizen, secured investment from The Open Platform (TOP) as Catizen hits 25 million players.

• Planet Mojo is now building on Coinbase’s Base network.
• Zeebit announced that it is launching a “degen playground” on Solana (via the Sonic layer-2) with casino classics and PVP games.
• Competitive shooter Splitgate 2 was announced last week, but no word yet on whether it will support Bitcoin earnings, like the original did via an update in late 2023.

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