$𝗫 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗢𝗡: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀.
A recent example of this darker side is X Empire, a Telegram mini app game built on The Open Network (TON), which has left millions of users feeling deceived and betrayed.
𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞: 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐀𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬
X Empire promised exclusive airdrops—free distributions of cryptocurrency tokens—to users who participated in the game. The catch? Players had to pay a fee upfront to claim these airdrops.
𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭: 𝐍𝐨 𝐅𝐞𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲
The game suddenly announced that fees were no longer required to claim airdrops. This unexpected shift immediately raised suspicion among early investors, who had already paid the initial fee. Why had the rules changed?
𝟑. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥: 𝐀𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧-𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲
X Empire once again changed its airdrop policy. This time, they declared that airdrops would only be given to players who reached certain in-game milestones. The move effectively locked the majority of users out of receiving the promised rewards, unless they were willing to invest more time—or more money—into the game.
𝟒. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐭
X Empire were left with nothing but frustration, and their experience serves as a cautionary tale for others in the blockchain gaming space.
𝟓. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The rise and fall of X Empire highlights the risks of blockchain-based gaming in its current state. The promise of decentralization and play-to-earn models is exciting.
