In a move that most saw coming after the announcement that the “Mobile version is the true representation of Blankos” nonsense the Mythical team posited back in September, the PC version of Blankos Block Party will shut down on December 18th, 2023.
In a move that we certainly saw coming, the Blankos-verse is getting smaller, as the team shuts down their PC version in favor of their yet-to-be-released Mobile version. This is a move that certainly won’t look good for Mythical games and Web3 as a whole, as the blockchain-based development of Web3 has struggled to find its footing in the gaming world.
Blankos Block Party was one shining example of a way to integrate blockchain that wasn’t entirely scammy. That was, until, the announcement of Blankos Mobile that led to the shutdown of Blankos PC which users poured their hearts and souls into, building out a platform for players to come in, enjoy, and earn new Blankos along the way.
It’s sad to see such disregard for the work that was put into building out many of the encounters the community built. This was especially important after their senior level designer left the company, putting the majority of new content on the backs of the players. Still, Blankos will reportedly live in on Mobile platforms. NFTs owned by current players will be transferred to a new marketplace, as they also sunset the Blankos Marketplace, a place where players routinely sold their Blankos and accessories. There is no word on whether players will actually get to use those assets in Blankos mobile, but in the least, they will once again be tradeable.
Most importantly this signals a major disruption in the premise that Web3 is the ultimate answer for the “ownership” of assets, especially after a game shuts down. It’s true, players will still “own” the tokens of the characters they earned or purchased, but the usage of those assets are under question, which means that the utility of the digital asset – which presumably defines its worth in online games – effectively falls to zero as you no longer have a game to use your asset in.
This is especially a kick in the pants for players that spent hundreds of dollars on the collectible Blankos as part of a collaboration with companies such as Burberry and popular artists such as Deadmau5. These limited assets ran players 350 dollars or more in some cases, with the premise that their limited mint would maintain the asset price. However, now Sharky B. one of the popular Burberry Assets that sold out in 30 seconds, at a price of 299.99 is selling for 100 dollars on the current Mythical Marketplace, and will likely go lower, as players resign themselves to the new losses they’ll take if they believed that these assets would appreciate in value.
While there are some fantastic uses for blockchain where gaming is concerned, such as the ability to build a “serverless game”, it still appears that there will be a huge uphill battle if Web3 wants to broaden its appeal to the gaming population at large. It’s important to note here, in full disclosure that I do own a few Blankos myself. Some were provided by the team during their beta phase, while other blankos or accessories were bought or earned. It’s important to disclose this information due to the nature of blockchain games, and their propensity for market manipulation to value or devalue of tokens and assets.
Blankos Block Party will somehow live on in Blankos Mobile but I’m unsure if the game itself will be able to realistically survive such a poorly received decision of shutting down their PC version. There are still plenty of questions that remain related to what will happen if and when the game releases on Mobile. Until then, we’ll keep you informed as the story of Blankos Block Party unfolds.
