Rising Telegram game X Empire, formerly known as Musk Empire, has announced first details on the criteria that will dictate how players are allocated tokens for its airdrop on The Open Network (TON). This comes ahead of the game’s mining phase ending on September 30, with the airdrop apparently just around the corner.

The announcement details three criteria for players to consider: wallet connection, profit-per-hour, and inviting friends.

Primarily, players must have a TON wallet connected to the game—otherwise there will be nowhere for tokens to be airdropped to. The post also highlights that in-game profit-per-hour is a key metric that the game is using for airdrop allocation. Players can boost their passive income by upgrading their Elon Musk-like avatar and his business enterprises.

Finally, inviting friends has been a key gameplay mechanic and will be considered in the airdrop, especially if you onboarded “quality” players of the game. While the post doesn’t clearly describe what makes for “quality” friends, it likely has to do with their level of engagement.

The announcement adds that there are “a few other” criteria that will dictate the size of a player’s airdrop, but these factors will not be publicly disclosed to avoid bot activity.

“You don't need to worry about them. If you're a genuine user, this won't affect you,” the announcement says. “We are committed to fair win-win relationships.”

The Musk-themed Telegram tap-to-earn game uses the same mechanics as many of its spiritual predecessors, such as Hamster Kombat. You tap an image to earn in-game currency and then spend it to earn passive income, gradually boosting your earnings over time. This simple premise led to the game boasting some 25 million total players as of August 31.

X Empire will be ending its mining phase on September 30, which means that after that date, any in-game progression will not be accounted for in the token airdrop.

The game has been teasing a token airdrop for the end of September or early October. Recently, the project began burning in-game coins for accounts that hadn’t played for 30 days or longer, in preparation for the event. As such, active players will earn a larger share of the token supply with lapsed players given fewer tokens (or perhaps none at all).

Many tap-to-earn Telegram games with upcoming airdrops, like Rocky Rabbit and MemeFi, have yet to reveal exactly how they plan to allocate tokens to players. Meanwhile, the viral Hamster Kombat disclosed that profit-per-hour is the key factor for its September 26 airdrop, along with other factors.

Edited by Andrew Hayward