Web3 game studio Valeria Games has made the shock announcement that they have ran out of funds, immediately suspending development on their mobile TCG.
This news comes two weeks after the conclusion of Season 1 of Valeria: Land Before the War, which signalled a halt in communications from the Valeria Games team. Regardless, news of this development pause has come as a shock to many, with many in the community reeling from the abrupt announcement.
Valeria Games have confirmed that they are “[searching] search for investors or potential buyers”, and although the game currently remains online, the planned TGE for their $LOV ecosystem token is now on indefinite hold.
What is Valeria Games Studio?
Valeria Games is a Web3 games studio developing the eponymous Valeria titles, built on XAI, and available on PC and mobile.
Founded in 2022, their free-to-play game saw players collect, train, evolve and battle creatures known as Valerians. These creatures would be used in Clash Royale meets trading-card game play, across player-versus-player and player-versus-environment matchups.
We interviewed Sharif Mohammad, CEO of Valeria Games, at NFT.NYC 2023. He stated his hopes for Valeria Games to be “one of the companies to break through that mobile NFT barrier”. Valeria Games put a lot of effort into progressing the case for Web3 games on mobile stores, becoming one of the first titles to see wide release.
The premier asset in the Valeria ecosystem are their Valeria Games Genesis Lands – a 10,000-piece Ethereum-based NFT collection that debuted in May 2023.
What has been the reaction of Valeria’s community?
Reaction from the community has been a mixture of sadness and outrage.
Figures such as @LucBerkefeld, @xdereklau and @yellowpantherx expressed their sorrow in comments to the announcement on X – whilst others were less sympathetic.
Prominent WolvesDAO member @100xCesar noted that he was “genuinely confused”, stating that “You don’t find out you run out of funds out of nowhere. This is something the team must have known ahead of time.” Other leading figures chimed in, with @GaspodeWD noting it was a “really strange situation”, @mizzysworld stating “something always felt off”, and @Hantao simply remarking “damn”.
Many questions were raised on the ethics of continuing with a play-to-airdrop campaign for $LOV amidst a declining financial situation, though no official response has yet to be made by the Valeria team.
News of the development suspension saw the floor price for Genesis Lands fall from 0.02 ETH to 0.01 ETH – representing one of the largest falls in price for an NFT collection in the last 7 days.
What happens now for Valeria Games?
In their announcement on X, Valeria Games stated that they will “be keeping the game live a little longer”.
This is to give the team time to “search for investors or potential buyers” and “find the right partner” – though no timeline has been shared for how long they intend to do this, or how long the game can be expected to remain playable should a buyer not be found.
In terms of their upcoming ecosystem token, “plans for the $LOV TGE are on hold indefinitely” – and should Valeria fail to find continuing financial support, it could be the case that this token, as well as Valeria itself, may fail to see the light of day.
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