Feline-themed Telegram game Catizen has partnered with the HashKey Group, in a collaboration it says will lead to an airdrop for players.

Catizen, which competes with other tap-to-earn Telegram games such as Hamster Kombat and Notcoin, is built on The Open Network (TON). Catizen’s developer, Pluto Studio, claims the game has 26 million users.

In an announcement, HashKey Group, a digital assets firm based in Hong Kong, says the collaboration will use the TON ecosystem to “provide unique Web3 gaming experiences for global players and digital asset users”.

The group said the collaboration will lead to “gamified experiences in digital finance, a joint HSK airdrop campaign, animal protection, and social responsibility initiatives.”

The statement did not indicate when the airdrop would take place, or what the terms and conditions would be.

CATI airdrop delayed

The news comes after Pluto Studio delayed its original plans to launch its own CATI token in late July.

In a tweet, the developer put the decision down to a variety of challenges including “ensuring sufficient liquidity, providing trading options, and determining the listing price,” as well as “compliance and market sentiment.”.

“Unfortunately, while we can focus on elements that are within our control, there are aspects that are not entirely under our control,” it added.

At present, Catizen users are unable to receive crypto for the credits they earn in the game by upgrading their collection of virtual cats. Many of tap-to-earn’s largest games, including Hamster Komat, are also dealing with delayed airdrops of their own.

The partnership with Catizen builds on HashKey’s previous shows of support for the TON ecosystem.

In April, the HashKey group partnered with the TON Foundation to provide accessibility to on-and-off ramp services in APAC and to “explore new ways to support early-stage TON ecosystem projects”.

It’s also not the first time that Pluto Studio has attracted major institutional support. It announced strategic funding, of an undisclosed amount from Binance Labs in July.

TON is up 3.2% following the announcement to $6.80, per CoinGecko. Its upward price action is at odds with the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, which has dropped by 3.3% over the same period.