Online chess platform Immortal Game is no longer working on NFTs or play-to-earn crypto elements for its game because such elements “encourage heavy cheating” on the platform, the team announced in a Discord post last week.
Immortal Game, which is built on the Ethereum scaling network Immutable will no longer accept its Checkmate token CMT, will abandon its NFT marketplace, remove all references to crypto on its website, and will no longer reward tournament winners with crypto prizes. According to the report, the changes took effect on Monday.
“After careful consideration, we have decided to discontinue development of play-and-earn and NFT collectibles-related features on Immortal Game,” the pseudonymous Immortal developer known as “Luxo” wrote on the community’s Discord server . The announcement was also posted on the game’s website.
Despite $12 million raised last year from blockchain investors like TCG Crypto and Kraken Ventures, Immortal ditched crypto. The platform has raised a total of $15.5 million in funding.
The price of CMT is drop of more than 73% this year, with a large portion of the losses coming from this quarter, according to data from CryptoRank. Players could previously earn CMT by winning games on the platform. Immortal Chess Piece NFTs can still be used in the game, but only in ‘Immortal Mode’.
The Immortal representative explained that the team initially created crypto elements for its platform out of a desire to reward the community, but found that cheaters exploiting the platform for money ruined the fun.
“We found that by offering large amounts of cash with no limit on access, we were encouraging heavy cheating on the platform and degrading the user experience for our legitimate player base who want a fair and safe place to play chess online,” says the Immortal developer. shared.
Players will now have to go to Immutable’s marketplace and website to manage or trade their Immortal Game NFTs, and all users with custodial wallets will have to transfer their assets to a self-custodial crypto wallet.
“The unintended consequence of offering money to players has increased the unfair practices, and we have decided that we cannot allow this deception to continue,” Luxo added. “While we will still explore Web3 and decentralized technologies, especially for anti-cheat measures and community engagement, our primary drive is to advance our chess platform and ensure a fair and enjoyable environment for all players.”
Cheating is a major problem in almost all competitive games, but financial rewards can increase the incentive for players looking for a quick buck to cheat or install exploits that manipulate the outcome of a game in their favor.
However, Immortal is not the first studio to abandon its crypto plans. A Game7 report shows that this is almost the case 50 blockchain games have halted development this year. Other Web3 games that initially foregrounded their NFT elements have since taken a step back and offered crypto-free game versions to comply with the Steam Store Restrictions.
Back in July, Neopets abandoned its NFT-powered gaming plans after securing funding from crypto investors, with the CEO previously sharing this Declutter that is community as a whole doesn’t care about crypto. And in October the fantasy MMORPG Gran Saga: Unlimited also halted development of its NFT-powered game entirely.
The Immortal team did not immediately respond Declutter‘s request for further comment.
Edited by Andrew Hayward