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

FIFA Rivals: Mythical Games, a blockchain gaming studio, is teaming up with sports organization FIFA to create a new mobile arcade-style soccer game called FIFA Rivals. Set for launch in summer 2025 on iOS and Android, the free-to-play title will allow players to build and manage their own soccer clubs while competing against others in real-time matches. 

Mythical Games is the studio behind NFL Rivals, another licensed free-to-play mobile sports game that is built around optional NFTs. FIFA Rivals will similarly utilize the Mythos chain and let players collect and trade professional soccer stars, both past and present.

MemeFi airdrop: Telegram tap-to-earn game MemeFi launched its token on Friday via the Sui network. Alongside the token launch, the project airdropped tokens to eligible players, both through centralized exchange OKX and on-chain claims with funds going directly into self-custodial wallets.

Like most Telegram game airdrops so far, the MEMEFI token is already down substantially from its opening price, with CoinGecko showing a nearly 50% dip at a current price of $0.0057. Whether it can rebound may depend on the future plans for the game and ecosystem.

Pac-Man NFTs: Flickplay, an NFT interactive character platform, has teamed with Bandai Namco Entertainment—one of its investors—to launch a Pokémon Go-style scavenger hunt to celebrate the 45th anniversary of classic arcade game, Pac-Man.

Set to debut in February 2025, the partnership will begin with the release of two series of exclusive Pac-Man digital collectible “toys.” The first of which will only be available to those within Shibuya, the Japanese neighborhood where Pac-Man was first seen in the 1980s, in a Pokémon Go-style scavenger hunt. The second collection will be available globally via the Flickplay store.

ICYMI

• Telegram game Notcoin launched a pixel art competition for with token rewards up for grabs.
• Ethereum game franchise Super Champs launched its Base token on Wednesday.
• Crypto trading card game Parallel released its Aftermath expansion.
• Tap-to-earn Telegram app Blum launched Memepad, a meme coin launchpad for The Open Network (TON).
• Sparkball, a game described as League of Legends meets Rocket League, launched "Season Zero" on Thursday.

• The Open Loot network announced that its OL token launch is around the corner, with an airdrop to boot.
• Axie Infinity debuted its Wings of the Nightmare expansion, introducing new collectible Axies and a reward system.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl launched last week on PC and Xbox, three years after canceling in-game NFT plans due to substantial backlash.
• Wayfinder, an AI agent platform from the developers of Parallel, will launch its PROMPT token in Q1 2025 after a DAO vote.
• Telegram's latest app update makes it possible to run mini apps, including games, in a full-screen mode.

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