Ember Sword, the Crypto MMORPG, Cancels Development Due to Lack of Funding
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Ember Sword, a highly anticipated crypto MMORPG that was in development, has announced its cancellation. The team behind the game cited the inability to secure additional funding as the primary reason for this decision.
Initially, Ember Sword utilized the Polygon blockchain before transitioning to the Immutable X chain and then Mantle. This resulted in early NFT buyers being required to migrate their assets from chain to chain over the course of the game’s development.
In a message posted on what remains of their website, the team expressed their regret, stating, “In today’s market, we couldn’t find a path to keep building. Our journey, and the servers, will go offline.”
The exact amount of funding that Ember Sword had received remains unclear. Bright Star Studios, the development team, raised $700,000 in 2020 and an additional $2 million in 2021 through publicly disclosed funding rounds. Prior to being known as Bright Star Studios, the team operated under the name So Couch Studios.
During the peak of the NFT craze in 2021, prospective players of Ember Sword pledged a staggering $203 million in NFT land sales for the game, which had yet to be released.
Reports from VentureBeat in 2023 indicated that the game had accumulated over $18 million in funding from investors and land sales, excluding the proceeds from the 2023 “Alpha land sale.”
Despite the significant financial backing, Ember Sword had been in development for over seven years, with full early access only becoming available in December 2024. The game had undergone multiple playtesting phases within the community since at least 2023.
The game’s native token, EMBER, was introduced in mid-2024 but has since experienced a drastic decline of over 99% from its peak value.
Ember Sword faced challenges throughout its development process, including the decision to abandon Unity in favor of creating a proprietary game engine. The studio experimented with five different engines before settling on a final choice, although specific details regarding this process have been removed from their website.
According to an archived webpage from January 2023, the studio had developed and worked on a total of five engines to support the game’s development.
As the fate of Ember Sword demonstrates, navigating the complexities of financing and development in the crypto gaming industry can be precarious. Despite the enthusiasm and financial support from the community, unforeseen challenges can ultimately derail even the most ambitious projects.