The Telegram game Hamster Kombat, which attracted 300 million users as recently as August, is now facing a massive player exodus and a 72,7% drop in its token value. Why did a project that promised "crypto wealth" fail to meet expectations?
Hamster Kombat, an ambitious click-to-earn game, exploded in popularity on Telegram, reaching 300 million users within just a few months. However, according to Protos, by early November, the game retained only 39 million active players, marking a shocking loss of 261 million users.
The game's token, HMSTR, which debuted on exchanges at a price of $0.01004 in late September, has also fallen short of expectations: today, it’s valued at $0.00237, representing an almost 73% drop. With these losses, Hamster Kombat faces a crisis of trust, as millions of users complain about the game's quality and the unfairness of its token distribution system. It later emerged that the creators distributed a large portion of tokens to influencers as rewards for referrals.
The game gained a reputation on Telegram as the "fastest-growing" service, with the potential to popularize blockchain among a broad audience. However, a monotonous gameplay filled with ads and poor-quality graphics quickly disappointed players, depriving the project of the expected stability.
Most participants were able to exchange their HMSTR tokens only for modest sums, up to $40, despite months of grinding in the game. Furthermore, repeated airdrop delays and mass account bans caused by a new anti-cheat system further eroded trust. In total, 2.3 million players were banned.
In an attempt to revive interest, the Hamster Kombat team announced the start of a second season with new features, a leveling system, and additional games. Project representatives stated they now plan to develop products within the Hamster ecosystem, attracting developers from Web2, Web3, and even the board game industry. However, these measures have not proven effective, and many players have still opted to abandon the game.
