Ember Sword shuts down despite raising millions, highlighting the volatile nature of Web3 gaming projects.

On May 21, 2025, the Web3 gaming community was shaken by the abrupt shutdown of Ember Sword, a highly anticipated blockchain-based MMORPG developed by Bright Star Studios.

Crypto MMORPG Ember Sword is shutting down despite raising millions and selling out land NFTs, highlighting the volatile nature of Web3 gaming projects.

Ember Sword, a blockchain-based MMORPG that had promised to combine the magic of massively multiplayer online role-playing games with the economic possibilities of Web3, is shutting down, the studio announced on Monday.

The game, which launched its token on June 13, 2024, had managed to secure approximately $7.1 million in investor funding and sold 40,000 virtual land NFTs for a realized pledge of $203 million from 35,000 gamers at an average price of $5,274.

The land NFTs were part of a broader effort to build a vibrant player-driven economy within Ember Sword. The game was initially launched in May 2023 with a successful land sale that saw technical difficulties due to overwhelming demand.

The project also rolled out its Origins Collection NFT launch and offered early access gameplay in December 2024, providing glimmers of hope to the community eagerly awaiting the game’s full release.

However, despite the early traction and community enthusiasm, Ember Sword ultimately could not secure the necessary funding to continue development amid a challenging Web3 gaming landscape.

This forced the team to make the difficult decision to shut down the game servers and officially close the Discord channel on Monday, leaving the community without any further updates or support.

At least 16 GameFi Projects Are Dead in 2025

The closure of Ember Sword is not entirely surprising given the bleak statistics surrounding Web3 game failure rates. A 2023 CoinGecko report examined 100 Web3 games launched between 2018 and 2023, finding that a staggering 75.5% failed to reach meaningful success.

Moreover, Chainplay's 2024 report examining 3,279 GameFi projects found that 93% are dead, having either dropped 95% from their all-time high or fallen below 100 daily active users. These projects had an average lifespan of just 4 months.

More specifically, at least 16 web3 games are either paused, shut down, or were set to close in 2025, including: Blade of God, Metalcore, Blast Royale, Nyan Heroes, etc.

Many users label Ember Sword a "pure scam," highlighting the rapid depletion of funds. They also criticize the tendency of Web3 projects to overpromise with "giant projects" that fail to materialize.

As a result, the price of these project tokens has no bright future. The NYAN token of Nyan Heroes has decreased by 99% in value from its ATH.

EMBER, token of Ember Sword, has crashed over 50% in the last 30 days, or down 99% from its peak on June 14, 2024.