Major ‘Off the Grid’ Update, GameStop’s $5 Billion Bitcoin Proposal

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

Off the Grid update: Popular Avalanche shooter Off the Grid has released what it is branding as its “biggest update yet” by unlocking a region of the map, adding a new cyberlimb into the game along with a fresh “street event.”

Midtown Harbour, described as an “industrial hell hole,” has been unlocked as a playable region on Teardrop Island—the first step in unlocking the remaining 80% of the map. Inside this region, players can fight it out with the Mexican gang called Nuestros Diablos in an attempt to steal a hex from them—which can then be extracted in exchange for weapons, cyberlimbs, or skins.

On top of this, the game’s first side mission has been added which will see players attempt to dominate the area surrounding a DJ booth to earn loot and experience points. Plus, the MaxiGun cyberlimb has been added to the game, letting you don what’s essentially a mini gatling gun as an arm.

GameStop CEO Bitcoin response: Ryan Cohen, the CEO of GameStop, acknowledged a proposal from Strive Asset Management recommending that the video game retailer convert $5 million from its cash reverses into Bitcoin. This move, Strive claims, would turn GameStop into the “premier Bitcoin treasury company in the gaming sector.”

The letter argues that Bitcoin is a superior alternative to holding cash, which it describes as a “shrinking asset” due to inflation. It points to recent accounting rule changes allowing companies to recognize unrealized Bitcoin gains as profit, making it a more attractive corporate treasury asset.

On Tuesday, Cohen posted on X, “Letter received”—but did not elaborate further. GameStop did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment. The retailer had a previous dalliance with the crypto world with its short-lived NFT marketplace, plus Cohen recently posted a photo of himself with Michael Saylor of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy)—the leading Bitcoin reserve company with nearly $47 billion worth of the coin.

Hamster Kombat layer-2: Telegram crypto game Hamster Kombat now has its own layer-2 network, called The Hamster Network, which launched on The Open Network (TON) last Tuesday.

The new network claims to offer fast and scalable infrastructure for games and other crypto apps, with a “negligible cost per transaction.” Created in collaboration with TON, the Hamster Network looks to help bring more of Telegram’s nearly one billion users into the crypto world via interactive mini apps and games.

This comes after the recent launch of the HamsterVerse, which will span multiple games built around Hamster Kombat.

ICYMI

• The Trump Organization filed a trademark to create a metaverse and NFT trading platform.
• Elon Musk said online that a game fully created by AI was cool causing the servers to fill with thousands of people—pocketing the developer a few bucks in the process.
• Yuga Labs’ metaverse game Otherside broke the Guinness World Record for most players in an FPS battle with 2,197 in total.

• Iconic battle royale Fortnite added a fake crypto token into the game… so degens turned it into a real Solana meme coin.
• Casual crypto game The Mystery Society suspended development after its developer struggled to find funding.
• Pandemic simulation game Infected.fun launched on Ethereum layer-2 network Base.
• Overwatch-style shooter Nyan Heroes set a date for its Epic Games Store return, announcing a new hero, map, and game mode.

• Ronin “cockfighting game“ Sabong Saga started its mint for cards that will secure access to the game.
• Anthropic said that its AI model Claude 3.7 Sonnet can play Pokémon with some success.
• Activision admitted that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was built using generative AI.
• Xai Play, a crypto rewards service for Web2 games, will start in March.

• Avalanche-based game Haunted Space is coming to PlayStation and Xbox, but it’s still unclear how crypto elements will be implemented on consoles—a notoriously hard task.
• NBA legend Scottie Pippen’s meme coin BALL launched a Telegram game, with plans to expand to Fortnite next.
• Layer-3 gaming app network Nums landed on building on Ethereum layer-2 network Starknet.
• Mobile battle royale game Blast Royale launched its third season on Tuesday.
• Telegram game Zoo held its airdrop last week to a fair number of bad reviews.
• Ronin MMO Ragnarok Landverse: Genesis finished its closed beta test.

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