Web3 Game Backed by YZI Labs Crashes and Burns After $7.5M Funding—Another Crypto ’Sure Thing’ Goes Poof
Another day, another vaporware project in the blockchain gaming space. YZI Labs’ much-hyped Web3 title—bankrolled by $7.5 million in investor cash—has officially been axed. No beta, no gameplay, just another line item on some VC’s write-off sheet.
Where’d the money go? The usual suspects: ’development costs,’ lavish conference appearances, and those inevitable ’strategic pivots’ that somehow never pivot fast enough to save the project. Meanwhile, retail bagholders are left checking their wallets for dust.
Lesson learned? In crypto gaming, the house always wins—especially when the house is a venture fund playing with other people’s money.
Web3 Game Tatsumeeko’s Development Ends
When Tatsumeeko first began development, it attracted a lot of interest with its blockchain-based community gaming concept. Early sponsors included Binance Labs (now an independent firm, YZi Labs), Animoca, DeFinance Capital, and major angel investors like the co-founder of Twitch.
Today, however, one announcement confirmed the project’s cancellation.
Embracing What’s Next For Tatsu
Today, we’d like to share a difficult decision. The Tatsu team has discontinued the development of Tatsumeeko.
However, we’re still here.
With sharper focus and hard-won lessons, we’re working on Project: Wander, a new experience designed… pic.twitter.com/f5esIasfdt
The team was surprisingly vague about why it ended Tatsumeeko’s development. Instead, it mostly claimed that the next project will begin immediately. This game will be called Project: Wander, and its community integration will focus on Discord.
Few other details are available; it isn’t even clear if Ronin, a blockchain GameFi protocol, will continue powering the next game.
When the announcement first hit social media, community responses were fairly vitriolic. Several fan accounts even accused the team of conducting a rug pull scam. However, Tatsumeeko’s developers were fairly active in responding to aggrieved supporters.
Apparently, a recurring problem in Tatsumeeko’s development was setting overambitious goals. The community aspect was always Discord-focused, but side projects also explored Telegram’s GameFi potential.
This parallel development on wholly different platforms was a stated reason that the main game got abandoned.
Several supporters also expressed concern about the resources already invested in Tatsumeeko’s development. In addition to seed funding, supporters participated in daily quests and other typical GameFi interactions in the hopes of earning future rewards.
The announcement claimed that these users WOULD see their “assets transition into new forms of utility and value” in the next project.
Despite these assurances, it’s easy to see why the game’s fans might remain skeptical. Despite beginning development with high enthusiasm in 2022, Tatsumeeko’s activity gradually tapered off. Before today’s cancellation announcement, the firm’s last social media post was nearly two months ago.
Still, the studio isn’t fully dead. Existing investors can theoretically look forward to this next game, in the event that it has better success. For the moment, tensions remain high.
