The initial excitement around the project has so far proven to be temporary.
By Mayowa Adebajo
Edited by Julia Sakovich
Updated
3 mins read
It appears that the tap-to-earn Telegram game Hamster Kombat is fast losing its steam and the popularity it once enjoyed. At least, its current number of active players suggests this.
Barely three months ago, the game was arguably one of the world’s biggest, boasting over 300 million user base at the time. As of today, however, a lot has changed and Hamster Kombat’s active players have dwindled to around 41 million. According to a post by crypto media outlet Protos, this marks an 86% drop in such a short period.
When Hamster Kombat launched, it did so with such high hopes to bridge the gap between traditional gaming and blockchain technology. Its unique approach to gaming and its integration with Telegram, which already had millions of users, meant that its growth was fast. Maybe even faster than expected.
As Telegram CEO described it earlier this year, Hamster was probably “the fastest-growing digital service in the world” and a symbol of how blockchain could reach the mainstream.
The initial excitement around the project has so far proven to be temporary. However, there appear to be a number of factors that have led to Hamster’s declining popularity and number of users.
First, the game’s token economy, which was expected to reward players significantly, did not live up to expectations. This left players feeling betrayed and used after investing so much of their time and effort.
Reports also emerged that some users were disqualified or banned due to Hamster Kombat’s strict anti-cheat policies, with around 2.3 million accounts suspended and a staggering 6.8 billion Hamster Kombat’s in-game token, HMSTR HMSTR $0.00438 24h volatility: 1.9% Market cap: $281.00 M Vol. 24h: $71.90 M tokens seized. For people in this category, many of them also felt unfairly treated. This may have caused the mass exit from the gaming platform.
That is not to mention that Hamster Kombat also attracted negative attention from some governments. Officials from Iran and Russia, for example, expressed concern about its impact on their young generation. Iran saw the game as a distraction from voting exercises, while a Russian lawmaker thought it could be a potential scam and called for a ban.
As of publication, Hamster Kombat’s in-game token HMSTR has dropped by over 76% in value since its peak in September. That is from a high of $0.009993 to $0.002347. So now, the platform, as a whole, continues to be less appealing for players hoping to earn money.
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Mayowa is a crypto enthusiast/writer whose conversational character is quite evident in his style of writing. He strongly believes in the potential of digital assets and takes every opportunity to reiterate this. He's a reader, a researcher, an astute speaker, and also a budding entrepreneur. Away from crypto however, Mayowa's fancied distractions include soccer or discussing world politics.
