After seven years of development, the blockchain-based MMORPG (Ember Sword), developed and operated by Bright Star Studios, officially announced its closure on May 21.
This game, which aimed to combine traditional MMORPG gameplay with blockchain technology, experienced at least three different blockchains and five game engines during its development. Despite raising over $18 million from investors and additional millions through virtual land sales and digital assets, the studio could not secure the sustainable funding needed to continue operations and ultimately announced its 'closure'.
(Ember Sword) first released its Closed Beta test in mid-July last year, promising a player-driven economy with NFTs and the native token $EMBER, which launched in June 2024. The game's vision includes a classless combat system where abilities are determined by the equipped weapon rather than a fixed character, along with a vast world shaped by players' actions and ownership of virtual land. (Ember Sword) attracted support from industry figures such as Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and YouTuber Dr Disrespect, building a large and active community over the years.
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After two rounds of beta testing, the game finally launched its 'early access' version in December 2024.
Official: Inability to raise sufficient funds was the main reason for the closure.
However, the project faced significant financial instability. The value of the $EMBER token plummeted by 99%, reflecting broader market challenges and the reality that the project could not maintain momentum.
According to Bright Star Studios in its final statement, the inability to raise sufficient funds was the main reason for the closure in a challenging Web3 and gaming market. In the official announcement, the studio stated: 'We explored every possible direction forward, but the current web3 and gaming market made this impossible. Our journey and servers are officially offline today.'
Ember Sword originally garnered widespread attention for its ambitious vision of a player-driven economy powered by blockchain technology. The game promised to integrate NFTs and the native token EMBER, allowing players to earn rewards through in-game activities.
The project raised approximately $7.1 million in investor funding and sold up to 40,000 virtual land NFTs to 35,000 gamers, achieving $11 million in sales. The game also launched the Origins Collection NFT and offered early access gameplay in December 2024, which sparked optimism in the community.
This sudden closure left thousands of players holding virtual land and digital assets feeling disappointed without a clear compensation route.
Blockchain games don't last long
The closure of (Ember Sword) is not an isolated event, as 2025 witnessed a series of blockchain game closures, highlighting the high failure rate and financial volatility in the Web3 gaming space.
As early as 2023, CoinGecko highlighted in its report that 75.5% of Web3 games launched from 2018 to 2023 failed, with an average annual failure rate of 80.8%.
And in a 2024 report, Chainplay analyzed 3,279 GameFi projects, revealing that 93% of the projects had died, either with their token prices falling 95% from their all-time highs or with daily active user counts dropping below 100, averaging only four months of lifespan.
By 2025, 16 Web3 games had announced suspensions or closures, including: Blade of God, Metalcore, Blast Royale, Nyan Heroes, among others. Some users referred to (Ember Sword) as a 'pure scam', pointing out its rapid depletion of funds; others criticized Web3 projects for over-promising 'giant projects' without delivering functional games.
The decline of (Ember Sword) serves as a warning for the crypto gaming industry, highlighting that despite significant funding and strong community interest, maintaining large-scale blockchain-based games still faces huge challenges.
Related Reading: The Collective Death of Blockchain Games: From Capital Frenzy to the Death Spiral of Ponzi Liquidation
"The blockchain game (Ember Sword) announces closure, unable to escape funding chain break after seven years of development" was first published on (Blockcast).