Binance has announced the upcoming release of “Moonbix,” a new play-to-earn (P2E) game on Telegram’s Mini App, according to a Sept. 17 post on X.

Moonbix is a Binance crypto-themed game that lets players explore galaxies, collect items, and boost their scores. In videos shared on X, users can be seen controlling a spaceship equipped with a claw-like tool that allows them to collect items like yellow stones and gifts scattered across the galaxy.

These items hold in-game value, and collecting them helps players climb the leaderboard. Based on their progress, top performers earn crypto rewards.

Binance stated that the game leaked ahead of schedule as the application was still being fine-tuned to deliver the best possible experience upon the official launch. It added:

“We apologize for any inconvenience, and we’re reviewing individual cases for users affected. We truly appreciate your patience, and the official release will be announced soon!”

The exchange also urged users to remain cautious of impersonation accounts and advised them to rely on official Binance channels for updates.

As of press time, Binance had released the Terms and Conditions for its Telegram Mini App.

Telegram Mini Apps

Telegram Mini Apps (TMAs) are web-based applications running within Telegram, introduced in 2023. Since then, TMAs have seen huge success, with 500 million of Telegram’s 950 million users engaging with them monthly.

Popular apps like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat have contributed to this surge. Hamster Kombat, in particular, snowballed, gaining over 300 million users since its launch in March 2024.

The rise of these apps has further supported crypto adoption, aided by Telegram’s integration with The Open Network (TON), one of the top-performing blockchains this year.

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Decentralised AI platform Synnax has launched mini-game SynQuest on Telegram. In conjunction with the launch, it’s also kickstarted an airdrop campaign, allowing users to earn points by answering trivia questions. The accumulated points will later be converted into SYNAI tokens. 

As opposed to tapping, in SynQuest users answer a series of trivia and simple questions about crypto and finance, by choosing from multiple-choice answers. This also unlocks access to additional mini-games and rewards.

One of Synnax’s purposes of launching the game is to convert player sentiment into actionable data. By playing, users contribute to a real-time sentiment stream, which Synnax eventually plans to monetize. The data will be used to enhance Synnax’s decentralized machine learning models (LLMs), which predict the financial outlook of public and private companies.

Synnax hopes to generate additional revenue by offering partners the opportunity to include sponsored questions, with its inaugural sponsor being RWA marketplace Polytrade. This revenue will be shared with players through a staking mechanism when the SYNAI token launches.

As for the company, Synnax is using decentralized AI models to predict financial outcomes with greater accuracy. It aims to offer deeper insights into both public and private companies, making it a useful tool for both investors and businesses. 

“The player sentiment data gathered through SynQuest will play a pivotal role in enhancing our decentralized machine learning models, giving us a real-time pulse on user behaviours, preferences, and market trends. This data-driven approach not only strengthens SynQuest but also feeds into the broader AI ecosystem,” said Synnax co-founder and CEO Robert Alcorn.

“What truly sets SynQuest apart is its unique monetization model. By converting engagement into SYNAI tokens, we’re creating a bridge between gameplay and real-world value.”

Find out more about Synnax via its website.

Addictive mobile game Flappy Bird has returned, a decade since its original creator removed it from app stores, reportedly because it was ‘too addictive’.

The tappy game is now live as a Telegram mini-game, which is being published by Notcoin, the IP having being acquired by the Flappy Bird Foundation Group.

The game has now launched with season one of its Flap-a-TON event highlighting the game’s crypto credentials as part of Telegram’s TON blockchain.

No wallet is required to play, although activity during the event will allow players to participate in a free minting event for the game’s FLAPPY token.

“Telegram is becoming an important field for app and game developers to create a new level of communication with users. Well-known brands and IPs like Flappy Bird are important to make this journey more recognisable and exciting for users. IP market is a significant part of modern culture; we’re glad to make this first step. And we’re welcoming IPs to work with Telegram and TON via Notcoin,” commented Notcoin founder Sasha Plotvinov.

“Launching on Telegram is the perfect runway for the return of the game, with the platform now recognized as the premier destination for web3 gaming. With the support of Telegram, our community, and the 200 million gamers already on the platform, Flappy Bird’s takeoff into web3 looks more than promising,” commented Michael Roberts, one of figures behind the new version.

As part of the IP acquisition, the Flappy Bird Foundation Group also got rights to the Piou Piou vs. Cactus game, which inspired Flappy Bird, and its creator Kek has been working on the Telegram version.

However, Flappy Bird’s creator Dong Nguyen has been more critical, saying he’s not involved, nor does he “support crypto”.

As well as launching on Telegram, the new version of Flappy Bird will also go live via mobile app stores and on browser in 2025, including with new game modes, cosmetics and progression systems.

In the meantime, however, the only way to play and collect rewards now is on Telegram.

As part of crypto trading platform Bitget’s broader strategy to engage traders looking for early deals, its pre-market platform offers early access to tokens before their official listing. Now the exchange has announced the pre-market listing of web3 game network Gamee’s WAT token ahead of the TGE on 23rd September.

Developed by Animoca Brands-owned mobile game studio Gamee, the Wat project is a social reward program designed to enable community members to earn WatPoints via completing daily tasks in the Telegram-based WatBird app, something since expanded to mini-game WatBird Racer. 

In addition, users can earn points by staking GMEE tokens and various NFTs including Mocaverse and Pudgy Penguins on Ethereum.

In terms of distribution, at the official token launch 12.5% of the total supply of WAT – estimated to be worth around $6 million – will be airdropped. A total of 1,500 stakers of GMEE and other participants across 5 million accounts will be eligible. 

Each wallet is set to receive around $1.2 worth of tokens, with top users airdropped tokens to a value of around $10.

Claiming to have around 1 million daily active users, the Wat Protocol has quickly gained traction since launching on Telegram. Recently, Gamee announced it’s received backing from Pantera Capital, as well as TON Ventures $40 million fund.

We recently spoke to Gamee chairman Bozena Rezab about the initiative.

Toncoin, a digital asset tied to Telegram, stood out in a declining market after the app’s founder, Pavel Durov, broke his silence following his arrest in France.

CryptoSlate data shows that Toncoin rose by over 4% in the past 24 hours, reaching $5 before settling around $4.77 at press time. Meanwhile, top assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, and Solana saw more than 2% losses during the same period.

Despite Toncoin’s gains, IntoTheBlock data reveals that most holders are down. Around 80% of the 43 million addresses are “out of the money,” while only 9.3% of holders, or 5 million addresses, are “in the money.”

Durov’s statement

On Sept. 5, Durov addressed his arrest through his Telegram channel, expressing surprise at the actions of French authorities. He noted that Telegram has a designated representative in the EU for regulatory and legal matters.

Durov pointed out that French authorities had other ways to contact him and mentioned his regular visits to the French Consulate in Dubai.

He emphasized that Telegram is prepared to exit regions that oppose its free speech principles, stating:

“If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself. Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach.

Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.”

FAQ update

After Durov’s statement, Telegram updated its FAQ page, reflecting a shift in its content moderation policies.

Previously, the platform maintained that all chats were private and did not process content-related requests. However, the updated language now promotes using Telegram’s “report” button to flag illegal content.

Notably, Durov had hinted at further improvements on the messaging application, stating:

“I [have] made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard. We’ve already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon.”

Mentioned in this article

The Open Network (TON), the blockchain network associated with Telegram, has surpassed 1 billion transactions, according to data from TON API and aggregated by CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn.

This achievement comes less than a week after the network experienced two major outages caused by the airdrop of the DOGS memecoin.

1 billion transaction

TON’s transaction volume has now exceeded 1.02 billion, emphasizing its critical role in the broader blockchain ecosystem. Remarkably, half of these transactions occurred within the last three months, highlighting the platform’s rapid growth and increasing user engagement.

TON has grown substantially in recent months thanks to its strategic partnership with Telegram, the popular messaging app with almost one billion users globally.

The network has heavily capitalized on this integration to reach approximately 280,000 daily active users and process an average of 800,000 daily transactions, making it one of the most heavily adopted blockchain networks.

In a recent report, crypto exchange Bybit stated that Telegram’s TON integration has the potential to replicate WeChat’s success and become the world’s next SuperApp with the novel addition of Web3 capabilities.

How DOGs caused TON outages

CryptoSlate, using CryptoQuant data, observed that the two recent outages on the TON network were caused by the huge demand generated by the DOGS token airdrop. This surge led to a massive increase in transaction volume, with TON processing an astonishing 20 million transactions between Aug. 27 and 29.

During this period, DOGS transactions accounted for over 30% of the network’s total transactions. The memecoin also drove the average transaction fee on the network to a six-month high, according to Tonstat data.

Ian Wittkopp, head of TON Ventures, noted that the DOGS memecoin token airdrop likely resulted in TON’s highest day of active users.

So, the intense network activity left several validators struggling to clean outdated transaction data from the database, leading to a loss of consensus among validators. This inability to maintain synchronized records inadvertently disrupted the processing of new transactions, bricking the blockchain network.

Meanwhile, crypto analyst Maartun noted another spike in activity on Aug. 29, when the network faced a heavy load. During this period, an average of 100 transactions were processed per block within seconds, with DOGS transactions comprising around 35% of all transactions in some blocks.

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The Open Network (TON), the blockchain network linked to Telegram, has resumed operations following a significant outage that lasted nearly six hours due to a spike in network traffic.

In an Aug. 28 post on X, TON confirmed it was back online and producing blocks as usual.

What caused the outage?

Some community members speculated that the outage might be linked to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov‘s recent arrest in France.

On Aug. 21, Durov was arrested in Paris and was charged with facilitating illegal transactions, refusing to cooperate with law enforcement, and allowing various unlawful activities to occur on the social messaging application.

However, the head of TON Ventures, Ian Wittkopp, clarified that the outage was caused by the high volume of transactions from airdropping over $550 million in value to the community through the DOGS memecoin token issuance. He added that this might have been TON’s highest day of active users.

DOGS is a memecoin associated with the Telegram community. The project, launched on Aug. 26, attracted significant attention due to its unique airdrop approach. On Aug. 27, blockchain explorer Tonscan reported that the memecoin had generated substantial traffic, which caused some “central services” to be temporarily suspended.

TON corroborated this and explained that the network had seen abnormal load activity, which overwhelmed several validators and prevented them from clearing old transactions. This resulted in a loss of consensus.

On Telegram, TON stated:

“Due to high recent activity (>20m transactions in recent 2 days), garbage collection overloaded many of validators for enough time for them to lost consensus with each other.”

In blockchain networks, validators verify transactions within blocks. When block production stops, transactions go unconfirmed, causing service disruptions.

TON stages recovery

Despite the significant outage, the TON’s network token price defied the broader market trend, losing a mild 1.3% over the past 24 hours while other major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped by an average of 6% during the same period.

Meanwhile, some crypto community members saw the outage as a positive sign for TON, likening it to previous outages on other significant blockchains like Solana and Avalanche. They argued that such disruptions on layer-1 networks often signal high adoption.

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Most crypto bettors on Polymarket, a decentralized prediction marketplace, do not expect the detained Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov, to be released this month.

Data from Polymarket indicates only a 39% chance of Durov’s release in August, with shares trading at 39 cents at press time. However, bettors are more optimistic about a release before October, assigning a 78% probability.

According to Polymarket’s data, these bets had gathered over $600,000 worth of positions as of press time.

Prediction markets allow users in different locations to pool insights on future events. Since participants have a financial stake, prediction markets often offer less biased predictions. These markets have gained popularity in the past year, especially with the upcoming US elections.

Legal challenges

Durov was arrested on Aug. 24, 2024, at Le Bourget airport near Paris and remains detained as part of a broad investigation.

The investigation covers serious charges, including facilitating illegal transactions, refusing to cooperate with law enforcement, involvement in child pornography and narcotics distribution, organized fraud, money laundering, and the unlawful provision of cryptographic tools.

French President Emmanuel Macron commented on the arrest, emphasizing that it was a legal matter, free from political influence. He said:

“The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”

At the same time, reports have emerged that his application for Telegram is being scrutinized in India. However, there is no immediate threat of a ban.

Reports stated that India’s cybercrime wing is investigating Telegram for its potential misuse in criminal activities, which could lead to a ban if deemed necessary.

Support for Durov

Meanwhile, Durov’s arrest has sparked significant attention within legal and crypto communities. Critics, including whistleblower Edward Snowden and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, have condemned the arrest as an attack on free speech.

Similarly, crypto stakeholders like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun have spoken against the arrest.

Furthermore, the UAE has also stepped in and requested consular services for Durov.

Durov holds citizenship in several countries, including the UAE, France, Russia, St. Kitts and Nevis.

Mentioned in this article

TRON founder Justin Sun has pledged to donate $1 million to any Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) formed to advocate for the release of Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov.

On Aug. 25, Sun tweeted:

“We should show the cryptocurrency industry’s unity by organizing a #FreePavel DAO to help Telegram founder Pavel Durov legally gain freedom. I’ll donate $1 million if it’s created in a decentralized way with enough community support.”

Sun’s statement highlights the widespread support Durov has received since his arrest in France on Aug. 23.

Durov, a French-Russian citizen, was detained by the French Air Transport Gendarmerie (GTA) after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport. He was listed as a wanted person in France under a warrant that applied only if he was on French soil.

French authorities accuse Durov of complicity in crimes due to Telegram’s alleged failure to moderate content properly. He could face charges related to complicity in drug trafficking, child exploitation, and fraud.

#FreePavel

Over the weekend, prominent figures in the crypto industry—including Elon Musk, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Robert Kennedy Jr., and several others — voiced their support for Durov’s release using the #FreePavel hashtag.

Elon Musk was among the first to express support, tweeting the hashtag “#FreePavel.” True to his style, Musk later added a sarcastic comment referencing the increasing censorship in Europe. He wrote:

“POV: It’s 2030 in Europe, and you’re being executed for liking a meme.”

Similarly, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the arrest looks “very bad and worrying for the future of software and comms freedom in Europe.”

Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy, who recently exited the US presidential race to back former president Donald Trump, stressed the importance of protecting free speech. He tweeted:

“France just arrested Pavel Durov, founder & CEO of the encrypted, uncensored Telegram platform. The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent.”

In addition, renowned whistleblower Edward Snowden said Durov’s arrest was “an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association.” He added:

“I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world.”

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While much of the blockchain games industry is enduring a season of drought, there’s no lack of momentum for the TON network. Indeed, with 285 games currently listed on TON, the blockchain – originally founded by Telegram – is thriving. 

Recently, it announced it’s setting up a $40 million venture fund – TON Ventures – which will be helmed by ex-director of TON Accelerator Ian Wittkopp, and ex-gaming lead at TON Foundation Inal Kardan. Managed by a DAO, the venture has a mandate to invest in projects building on TON. 

Among the first projects announced to receive funding from TON Ventures is Animoca Brands subsidiary Gamee. The amount raised was not disclosed. As one of the original companies launching its mobile games on Telegram back in 2016, Gamee launched its meme-based WAT Protocol earlier in 2024.

Originally a simple point mining experience, it’s since built out more functionality, including the Watbird Racer, as well as the ability for holders of the GMEE token and various NFTs including Pudgy Penguins and Mocaverse to soft-stake them to also build up their Wat points, which will be converted into an allocation of the WAT token when it launches later in 2024.

Boosted by new funding, Gamee will expand its TON integration including tokens and NFTs, both part of Gamee’s mini app, in order to enhance user engagement. To-date Gamee claims over 4 million players have connected their TON wallets to the WatBird app.

Gamee co-founder Bozena Rezab commented, “We are thrilled to deepen our relationship with The Open Network (TON). We plan to enrich the gaming experience we have built for Telegram with new viral and community-focused mechanics centered around the meme character WatBird. This is another milestone in welcoming our community of 90 million Telegram gamers into the TON ecosystem.”

Find out more about Rezab’s vision of games on TON/Telegram in our recent interview.

Welcome to the August edition of BlockchainGamer.biz’s regular Mavens group. If you’d also like to join the discussion, please contact [email protected]

Do you think the current growth of games on TON is sustainable long-term?

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Mike Levine – Founder, Mystic Moose

It’s too early to determine if TON games will be sustainable in the long term, but early signs lead me to be skeptical.

Currently, the platform is booming with hypercasual games that promise tokens to players. However, it is widely understood the majority of these players are in fact bots. Platform supporters state that even if 90% of 100 million players are bots, there are still 10 million real players. Yet, they overlook the negative impact bots can have on the gaming ecosystem, the most obvious being taking rewards away from real players.

For TON games to become sustainable, developers need to create deeper, richer games with stronger engagement loops that attract players who enjoy the game for its own sake. As seen with Axie and other web3 games, economies based solely on earning cannot succeed long term. There must be a balance between players willing to pay for in-game items and those who are there just to earn.

By focusing on developing quality games that offer genuine enjoyment and robust player engagement, TON games have the potential to build a thriving and sustainable ecosystem. We will see what the bots think if that day ever comes.

Tony Pearce – Co-founder, Reality+

It will depend on developer interest and new funding for continued technical investment. TON seems to have a great community of gamers but as we’ve seen in the past these communities can move to the next big thing/chain very quickly so TON blockchain must continue to support developers and provide resources and incentives.

TON must also continue to innovate to differentiate itself from other blockchain platforms like Ethereum, Solana, Hedera or Polygon but having a shared connection through Telegram certainly helps.

Sam Barberie – Head of strategy and partnerships, Horizon Blockchain Games

Games on Telegram present an interesting opportunity that delves into well-worn territory: social games. First, I think it’s vital that we separate Telegram-based games from TON. TON is a non-EVM blockchain that is not a prerequisite for launching a game on Telegram. Games on Telegram are viable for all. 

Now for the fun stuff: Telegram games are simply the Facebook games of today, and that’s a good thing. Rewind about 15 years, when developers recognized the distribution benefits of launching a game on a platform that had nearly one billion users, and whose networking mechanics could be leveraged by games to enable players to loop in friends and family, creating a powerful user acquisition flow. Web3 developers see Telegram as a similar destination.

Particularly in the current moment, where the traditional game and app stores are less accessible to some web3 games, Telegram has an existing audience who are there for other primary reasons, the potential for network effects, and a relatively open playing field that isn’t yet dominated by a top-heavy cadre of Supercells or Scopelys (just like the early days of Facebook). 

At the same time, I want to caution against hype. Targeting users on Telegram is near impossible, though its app store launch may help. Telegram games also gained a lot of attention through heavily botted experiences, with few – if any – sustainable, human-played games to date. Both of these are challenges that early Facebook games did not face. And, like everything in web3 game development, the rules still apply that developers need to focus on end-to-end, safe, and smooth player experiences.

That said, I see Telegram games as a valuable option for devs that fill a time-based need while iOS and Android get more comfortable with web3 titles, and where game makers can make use of a less crowded field and some potentially unique mechanics.

Quinn Kwon – Head of web3 strategy, Delabs Games

At Delabs Games, we’re very optimistic about the future of Telegram games. We quickly moved to launch GIGACHADBAT on Telegram because we recognized the significant potential in this space.

From our experience, we know that games on chat apps can experience tremendous growth. For instance, our parent company, 4:33, successfully navigated the entire cycle with Kakao, South Korea’s leading chat app. We were the top game publisher on Kakao.

Chat apps have inherent advantages in terms of marketing, virality, and accessibility. Telegram, in particular, stands out with its seamless integration of web3 elements, such as wallets and tokens, directly within the app.

So yes, we are confident in the long-term growth of games on Telegram. We believe that what we’re seeing now is just the beginning, with the potential for more sophisticated and complex game structures in the future.

Tomer Pascal – Co-founder, OwnPlay

I’m quite skeptical of the current state of Telegram-based gaming experiences. Many of these games have flimsy foundations that won’t likely support long-term growth. These “meme games” are driven more by hype and speculation rather than real substance or sustainable gameplay. That means the incentives are skewed more towards narrative storytelling to the community of players, rather than organic interest in gameplay and the game itself. 

These meme games will remain niche, as I don’t see there being much room in the market.

I’d much rather focus my efforts on developing crypto gaming experiences with real staying power – not just quick-hit, incentivized diversions. I believe there are more sustainable, meaningful ways for us to engage players in the crypto gaming space – ways that combine fun games with proper incentives built less on token speculation and more on actual gameplay.

Carlos Roldan – CEO, Elixir Games

The growth of TON/Telegram games is something undeniable, it offers a closeness to users which is very positive and generates a really interesting user acquisition. It is also good to comment on how all these projects are at the entrance to games that offer a user experience focused on the long term, with a sophisticated development and which are sustainable.

Integrating features into Telegram such as truly accessible games for users is a very positive step forward, not everyone has the facilities and access to be able to play triple A games and this allows them to stay in the industry without needing the latest hardware. These integrations can serve as a good addition to the existing ecosystem for true gamers, while also providing an excellent avenue for new user engagement. However, this trend should serve as a stepping stone rather than the ultimate goal.

Developers must continue to focus on creating experiences for their audiences. Games must always have a focus on fun, focusing on the user experience as entertainment or a method of disconnection rather than a profit calculator with incentives. Speculation, as has been demonstrated, is not acceptable in games and projects that really want to make a place in the industry in the long term.

Russell Bennett – CEO, Metacade

You have to respect TON’s product fit and market positioning. I think it’s brilliant. But in terms of the growth of the TON network, from a financial point of view and due to the size of it there could potentially be no more than a 2x left in it. However I think the long-term growth will be seen in economy growth.

I think what it has done is encourage a number of projects.

One of our clients, Shockwaves, has just launched their first Telegram game, and it’s very good, far better than what we’re seeing at the moment. The main tranche of games which have hit Telegram are effectively farming activities. So people are literally going into an app and tapping, which is mind blowing to me. But if it works, it works. If hyper-casual games continue to hit Telegram, and it allows tokens to be used then I think we would definitely utilize Telegram for future games in the pipeline for Metacade. 

Games being integrated into Telegram is where we’ll see explosive growth. I think TON are going after the super-app philosophy. An app that does all – investing, gaming, viewing – and I think people fully expect to be living within one application in the not too distant future, probably 10 to 20 years. I think TON and Telegram probably have a good opportunity of completely cornering that market. 

Alexander Goldybin – Founder and chairman, iLogos

TON’s game growth is exciting but sustainability depends on:

• Engaging gameplay: Games must be fun and keep players interested.
• Strong ecosystem: A healthy developer community, tools, and player engagement are crucial.
• Long-term vision: Games need a plan for future updates and community building.

The jury’s still out on TON’s long-term sustainability, but the current growth is certainly a positive sign.  Let’s see if these games can deliver the engaging experiences and long-term commitment needed to thrive. 

As always, players will ultimately decide the fate of TON’s gaming scene.

Christina Macedo – CEO, READYgg

There’s undeniable potential in TON’s integration with Telegram. It’s exactly what we need to push gaming content to mobile users globally, which is in line with PLAY’s mission to democratize web3 gaming. Not only does it broaden access, it also changes how we think about distributing and accessing games. 

But the games that are currently available on TON remind me a lot of the very early web3 games. Most don’t have the mechanics and storytelling that draw players in and, more importantly, retain them. Many of them aren’t on-chain either.

At PLAY, we’re looking to bring our advanced technology to TON to deepen player engagement. We’re talking about enabling MMOs, PvP, and other community-centric games that can thrive in a social platform like Telegram. 

In short, I believe the growth could be sustainable – if the games evolve significantly. We need to see blockchain being leveraged to its potential, with real integration, richer game dynamics, and an improved discovery mechanism. If TON can grow along these lines, it could become a mainstay platform for web3 gaming.

With much of the blockchain game sector lacking in momentum, many studios are now looking to Telegram and its integrated TON blockchain for salvation.

If nothing else, with a quoted userbase of 950 million users, Telegram currently offers the best opportunity for rapidly scaling simple games and launching tokens; just witness the user numbers thrown around by projects such as Hamster Kombat and Catizen.

But does this playbook work for more serious blockchain game companies?

In last week’s podcast, I spoke to Mighty Bear Games’ CEO Simon Davis, which is launching its Goat Gaming PVP wagering platform on Telegram. In this week’s podcast, I continue on the theme, talking to Gamee chairman Bozena Rezeb about the company’s WAT Protocol.

One of the reasons I wanted to talk to Rezab was that Gamee was one of the original companies launching games on Telegram back in 2016. A smaller platform without blockchain, Telegram didn’t offer the same potential back then so Gamee moved on, launching its blockchain-based Arc8 app.

The new version of Telegram has seen it return to the platform, however, launching its meme-based WAT Protocol earlier in 2024.

Originally a simple point mining experience, it’s since built out more functionality, including the Watbird Racer, as well as the ability for holders of the GMEE token and various NFTs including Pudgy Penguins and Mocaverse to soft-stake them to also build up their Wat points. Of course, these will be converted into an allocation of the WAT token when it launches later in 2024.

What was particularly interesting to learn was how the new Telegram has allowed Gamee to scale. Previously, it had around 300,000 daily active users playing its mini-games. Now, however, it’s seen 55 million users of which around 4 million have interacted with the Wat Protocol using their TON wallet.

So even if the majority of activity is driven by bots, Telegram still offers the most dynamic channel in terms of onboarding games to blockchain, Rezab argues.

Check out the full interview including timestamps on YouTube.

And find out more yourself at the WAT Protocol.

In the latest episode of his Blockchain Gaming World podcast, editor-in-chief Jon Jordan talks to Mighty Bear Games’ CEO Simon Davis about its blockchain gaming ecosystem Goat Gaming.

In particular, the pair discuss the value of Telegram, which is gaining much exposure for crypto gaming in terms of simple tap-to-play games.

Questions asked include can Telegram work well for more engaging games, should we trust the audience metrics on Telegram, and how does Goat Gaming expect to leverage this audience with its 1v1 PVP wagering experiences?

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You can also listen to the podcast via the Fountain app and earn Bitcoin.

BlockchainGamer.biz: Can you explain the thinking behind Goat Gaming?

Simon Davis: We released a mode in Mighty Actions Heroes called 1 versus 1 Showdown. The way it works is that both players pay a small entry fee in hard currency to participate, and then the rewards are variable. So it can be anything from 1.3x the amount you paid in to say 10x. And with those variable rewards, players went nuts for it. We realized there’s a lot of pent-up appetite for mini-game experiences in web3 where you can play and win prizes.

In web2 we see the analog with skill gaming platforms. This has been proven out for over 20 years. Within web3, there’s a strong product market fit for a platform where players can play and win prizes. And so the vision for Goat Gaming is hundreds of mini-games, almost like the Miniclip of web3 gaming running in Telegram.

So we’re building out hundreds of these micro-experiences, as well as working with external studios. We’ve already also onboarded two external studios. There’s a game called Waifu Clash and Mighty Action Heroes is also part of that ecosystem.

Telegram is currently the big platform for crypto gaming. Why is that the case?

I don’t think there’s anything new. What we see with Telegram today is basically Facebook gaming circa 2008. You have this platform where you have nearly a billion people that have nothing better to do than send each other pictures and messages. Why not provide them with a bit of entertainment, a way to engage with each other socially? A lot of the hooks or the designs we’re using are lifted from games that were made nearly 20 years ago.

If my thesis is right, that this is essentially a Facebook gaming version two – hopefully without the platform killing it – then this is a potentially huge business. We’re building these games in WebGL and HTML5 and exporting them straight into Telegram.

This means we can run these games on iMessage or WeChat or any other platform that supports this. I think looking just at Telegram is probably a bit too narrow because if these apps within Telegram start to take off, then I expect that both Apple and WhatsApp will have to start improving their app infrastructure as well. And then we can go across multiple different messaging services.

I’m more skeptical about the very high numbers provided for Telegram gaming.

I fully understand why some people are skeptical because there naturally would be questions as to how well some of these games are going to retain when the financial incentives drop away. But if you’re streaming WebGL, HTML5 into it, you can basically build any game you want in Telegram. That means you can build something that’s comparable to any mobile game from the last few years. That’s an incredibly broad canvas to work with.

Are you worried about bots?

It’s an interesting dilemma because as a developer, on the one hand, you don’t really want bots because they’ll devalue your token in the long run. In the short term, actually, you could argue there is an incentive for developers to make botting easy, right? Because then you get these inflated numbers that you can then use to hype up your ecosystem where you start appearing higher in the onchain activity rankings. We’ve taken the opposite approach where it’s not something we really want.

There is probably a high ratio of bots on these Telegram games, but nonetheless, when you’re talking about 200 million players, even if 90% are bots, there’s still 20 million real users. It’s an order of magnitude bigger than anything we could have envisioned in web3 this year. So it’s massive numbers. And in terms of revenues, you can see via onchain data how much some of these games are making. Some of these games are making real money, like real web2 revenue money. I think any studio would be happy with those kind of figures.

What games do you think are going to work well?

We think there’s an opportunity for many different gameplay types and different themes. Not everyone is going to engage with the retro action movie vibe of Mighty Action Heroes. Some people will want … we have a Waifu battler coming out. We have a runner coming out. We’ll find different things that work for different audiences.

I think the other kind of unique angle is that the studio is based in southeast Asia so I think we can create some really interesting content, which is more localized and a better fit for the audience.

How quickly can you open up Goat Gaming for other developers?

We already have onboarded external devs to work with us but right now it’s very much hands-on. We have to help a lot because it’s running on our infrastructure. We’ve been building it for seven years, but it was never built to be used by external parties so we have work to do. Realistically it would take probably close to a year to be a point where it can be self-serve.

Why do you think it’s been so hard for blockchain games to attract sustainable players?

In web2, you have the developer and the player. And as a dev, you have to optimize for both yourself and the player, which is not easy. It’s really hard. But in web3, you throw speculators into the mix. Unfortunately, the speculators are the loudest voice. And so I think as a dev, how do you develop a compelling experience that works for you as a developer, that delivers value to speculators and is still fun to play?

I think that is fundamentally something that very few people have really solved, if really anyone, if I’m totally frank.

Where can people find out more about Goat Gaming?

Check out our website or search for GoatGamingBot in Telegram.