decrypt.co 01 October 2024 19:18, UTC

Just days after a pair of prominent Telegram games launched their long-awaited tokens on The Open Network (TON), the prices of both have fallen more than 50% from their respective peak prices.

Hamster Kombat, which attracted some 300 million players to its Telegram mini app over the past few months, launched its HMSTR token last Thursday to mixed reception from players. About 129 million players were eligible for the token claim, and some complained that their allocations were “dust” and much smaller than expected.

Now, just five days after the launch, the price of HMSTR has plunged by 53% to a current price of $0.047, per data from CoinMarketCap, falling from a day-one peak of approximately $0.01. It’s down 18% today alone amid a broader market decline apparently triggered by tensions between Israel and Iran.

Note that there is some discrepancy between price sources on the all-time high mark for HMSTR, due to early volatility following the token launch. CoinGecko, for example, points to a peak price of just $0.072, resulting in a 35% dip as of the current price. However, major exchanges like Binance and Crypto.com show a peak price close to the CoinMarketCap mark.

Meanwhile, the CATI token of Telegram game Catizen has dropped even further since launching on September 20, down 58% as of this writing to a current price of $0.47. It’s down 18% on the day, and peaked at a price of $1.11 on the launch date last month. Like Hamster Kombat, many players grumbled about their Catizen airdrop allocations.

All of this year’s biggest gaming tokens are down sharply, including Notcoin (NOT), which has fallen nearly 74% from its peak value back in June. That’s true for non-Telegram games, too.

Newly launched tokens are typically volatile, but gaming tokens tend to swing wildly—much like meme coins. This may be due in part to the relatively nascent state of the crypto gaming space, or could reflect a lack of confidence from investors that the games have staying power.

Telegram crypto games have attracted huge audiences with the allure of free money, but have yet to prove that they have substantial life beyond the airdrop. Hamster Kombat and Catizen have both spelled out extensive future plans, including launching more games and offering further token rewards, but prices are still plunging in the short term.