Hamster Kombat, the Telegram tap-to-earn mini-game that had over 300 million registered users in July, has experienced a continuous decline since its launch. The project has lost 260 million active users, and the monthly player count is now below 50 million.
The tap-to-earn game based on Telegram, Hamster Kombat, has seen a decline in appeal after the much-anticipated airdrop campaign failed to meet player expectations. The project once boasted 300 million registered accounts but has since lost about 260 million active players.
HMSTR Down 76% As User Numbers Decline
A chart shared by Protos shows the game had 300 million monthly active users in July, and since August, that number has dropped below 100 million players. The monthly active player count of the game is 41 million at the time of this publication. HMSTR, the game's native token, has fallen about 76% from its peak of $0.009993 at launch to $0.002392 today.
Game developers have achieved such numbers by focusing on community engagement and rewarding users with new referrals in the ecosystem. In July, the growing popularity of the game prompted a comment from Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram.
Durov wrote on his Telegram channel that a new era is opening. He cited Hamster Kombat's daily user count as 5 million and the total user count as 239 million at that time. Durov called the game the fastest-growing digital service in the world.
“…A new wave of mini-apps on Telegram is coming, and Hamster Kombat is currently leading. Its incredible growth shows the viral potential of the Telegram mini-app platform.”
Pavel Durov
However, controversies began to arise around the project as the launch date approached. On September 23, just days before the launch, Hamster Kombat announced it had banned 2.3 million users and revoked 6.8 billion HMSTR tokens.
Hamster Kombat airdrop disappoints players
The CEOs of Hamster accused the project of banning legitimate players who have worked hard to earn rewards. One user expressed their concern and disappointment by stating that they had played the game for three consecutive months but were then declared fraudulent.
Other users criticized the game for its lack of utility. Some critics argued that the project is using its follower count to generate revenue on YouTube by posting videos about news events.
Many players feel disappointed with the Hamster Kombat airdrop after the project launched. The CEOs of Hamster promised to achieve financial freedom by playing the game and introducing new users, but they can only sell the earnings gained over months from playing the game at single-digit prices.
The game's popularity has also attracted the attention of governments worldwide. For example, the chairman of the State Duma Committee in Russia proposed banning the game, calling it a scam. In Iran, a military deputy commander stated that the game is a major distraction designed by the West to divert Iranians from their country's elections.
Despite poor performance, the anonymous team behind the project's development continues to release news videos. The latest news file was launched on October 31. The project has also recently distanced itself from Gotbit and stated that they have never worked with the previous marking market.
U.S. regulators accuse Gotbit of manipulating the prices of certain tokens, such as Bonk and Neiro, to inflate their value and deceive investors. The CEO of Gotbit has been arrested in Portugal.
