Ethereum’s ‘Ember Sword’ shuts down, leaving investors in disarray

Developers of the Ethereum blockchain-based video game Ember Sword announced its closure early Thursday, weeks after news of another title, The Walking Dead: Empires, revealed it will be shut down at the end of July. Both titles had attracted millions in funding but are now winding down operations due to a combination of poor user feedback and financial constraints.

Ember Sword, a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) built on the Ethereum blockchain, will shut down after failing to obtain the funding necessary to continue operations. The announcement comes four years after the game raised more than $203 million from virtual land NFT sales.

“We were ultimately unable to secure the funding needed to continue,” the official Ember Sword website message read. “We explored every possible way forward. But in today’s market—where even some of the most promising projects are shutting down—we couldn’t find a path to keep building.”

Successful investment rounds not enough to sustain game operations 

Developed by Denmark-based Bright Star Studios, Ember Sword was introduced in 2018 by the studio under its original name, So Couch Studios. It promised a decentralized MMORPG experience where players could buy and trade in-game assets through NFTs.

Ember Sword has officially announced its shutdown, marking the final chapter in a project which $EMBER has been in decline since launch. Despite being part of their content creator program and sensing trouble ahead, I never expected to end like this.

Instead of transparency,… pic.twitter.com/ICKQufkL4J

— Valvestine (@Valvestine) May 21, 2025

In 2020, Bright Star Studios secured $700,000 in a pre-seed investment round led by Play Ventures and Galaxy Interactive. 

A year later, the studio raised an additional $2 million from a group of high-profile investors, including YouTube personality Dr Disrespect, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, and Rob Pardo, the former chief creative officer at Blizzard Entertainment and lead designer of World of Warcraft.

In mid-2021, Bright Star conducted a large-scale NFTs land sale that caught the eye of approximately 35,000 applicants and generated over $203 million in revenue. The company said the sale was a major success, and at one point called it the “leading metaverse-based MMORPG.” 

The studio recruited gaming veterans such as Dennis “Thresh” Fong, a retired esports professional, to serve as advisors.

Users say shutdown was ‘inevitable’ after history of failed beta tests

Between 2021 and 2024, Ember Sword held several closed play-tests that users were less than pleased with. The initial reactions when it launched a closed beta in July 2024 were negative, with players bashing the game’s visuals and mechanics.

Was so sad seeing a lot of games shutting down and getting rugged. I really like Ember Sword since the moment the gameplay video was released. Liked that kind of vibe. Oh well gotta move on and be strong! Just hoping there would be worthy games to be released. Fight!

— Rhehnh (@RenGamingCrypto) May 22, 2025

One reviewer stated that the game “still had a long way to go in nearly every facet of its gameplay.”

“It was kinda inevitable after they showed their first beta two years ago,” said a user on social media platform X, reacting to the Ember Sword shutdown news.

Meanwhile, the project’s native EMBER token has seen its value collapse by over 2% in the last 24 hours. It now holds a market cap of just $82,000, more than 99% below its peak valuation.

“This isn’t the ending any of us wanted,” the game’s website noted. “But we wanted to sincerely thank you for being here, for believing in this vision, and for helping make the Ember Sword something we’ll never forget.”

At the start of May, Cryptopolitan reported that blockchain gaming publisher Gala Games will shut down The Walking Dead: Empires, another Ethereum-based multiplayer game. The game, based on the AMC television series The Walking Dead, will no longer be playable after July 31, 2025.

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