Gala Games to shut down The Walking Dead NFT game after July 31

Gala Games has announced plans to shut down The Walking Dead NFT game by July 31. According to the publisher, the role-playing NFT game, dubbed after the popular TV show, will be shuttered and users will no longer be able to play it after the date.

The Walking Dead: Empires is a multiplayer survival game that was built around Ethereum NFTs. The game was opened to players in its beta version last year after the developers initially announced its creation in 2021.

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to sunset The Walking Dead: Empires, with the last playable date set for July 31, 2025,” wrote Gala Games in a statement this week.

Gala Games to halt The Walking Dead NFT game

The Walking Dead NFT game was available for playtests in early 2023, with the game mandating players to craft weapons, build bases, and fight for survival. The players were charged to keep a safe distance from the zombies or “walkers.” To enhance the gaming experience, users were allowed to buy NFTs in the form of supplies, weapons, or deeds to build a safe base.

Unlike some in-game items that disappear from a player’s inventory, The Walking Dead: Empires made sure that their NFT-based items were indestructible. While prices have dropped drastically from the bull market period, some in-game items saw their price shoot up over the last few years. According to data from the OpenSea marketplace, legendary land deed claims, for example, sold for as much as $67,000 in 2021.

In 2023, when the game was still available for playtests, users were still asking for top dollars on some items. For example, the NFT-based handgun sold for about $30,000 at the time, with some lower-level items also costing around $1,000.

Now, most of these items are being rendered useless after the developers announced plans to shut things down.

Users show displeasure at the development

As compensation to the players, Gala Games has plans to distribute other NFTs from its gaming ecosystem to users. The platform says it will provide those with “equal functionality” to their existing The Walking Dead: Empires NFT holdings.

“While the game’s journey is coming to an end, we remain committed to ensuring that these NFTs continue to have utility,” its statement reads. “As part of the sunset process, we will be distributing new NFTs of equal functionality in other Gala Games products to TWD:E NFT holders.”

As expected, users showed mixed feelings towards the news, with the majority of them not taking the news in good faith. “The Walking Dead: Empires officially rugs on Gala,” said crypto gaming personality Jesus Martinez on X (formerly known as Twitter). “People paid upwards of $10K+ for lands and are now getting $2 mystery boxes.”

Other players also followed in the same opinion, with a user saying, “Gala mastered the art of frontend extraction and backend non-delivery. Beyond blatant at this point. Add this to the list of money grabs with no intention to fulfill.”

The platform has also mentioned that holders of The Walking Dead: Empires NFTs, as of the snapshot that took place on April 29, will receive boxes containing items depending on the type and rarity of their Walking Dead NFTs.

The Walking Dead IP also featured in NFTs on the Eluvio blockchain in addition to a collaboration with the Ethereum metaverse game, The Sandbox. The NFT game was modeled after the post-apocalyptic zombie show, which was based on a popular comic book, and ran across 11 seasons and 177 episodes, with multiple shows spinning off the original.

Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now