This Week in Crypto Games: Sui Handheld, Saga Launch, Notcoin Airdrop Nears on 4/20

The crypto and NFT gaming space is busier than ever lately, what with prominent games starting to release, token airdrops piling up, and a seemingly constant array of other things happening at all times. It’s a lot to take in!

Luckily, Decrypt’s GG is all over it. And if you need a quick way to get caught up on the latest moves around crypto video games, we’re happy to present This Week in Crypto Games.

Our weekend roundup serves up the biggest news from the past week, along with a few other tidbits you might have missed. We also showcase a few of our original stories from the week.

Biggest news

Sui gaming handheld: Another crypto handheld gaming console entered the arena this week. The creators of the Sui blockchain, Mysten Labs, teamed up with gaming startup Playtron to reveal the SuiPlay0x1 at the Sui Basecamp event in Paris

Slated for release sometime in 2025, the handheld gaming device will allow gamers to play both crypto and non-crypto titles, with the Sui blockchain being integrated into the device’s account system.

Saga launches mainnet + token: New layer-1 blockchain, Saga, successfully launched its mainnet and SAGA token early on Tuesday. Saga made its name in recent months through its airdrop competitions and a record-breaking Binance Launchpool campaign for SAGA tokens, which saw over 500,000 total Binances customers stake some $13.4 billion. 

Saga is designed so developers use it to launch their own chain or set of chains to power their apps. The rollout of the Saga mainnet enables this functionality and sees SAGA listed on major cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Notcoin conversion details: We finally know how many Notcoin (NOT) tokens that players will receive in exchange for their mined in-game coins. The on-chain conversion rate will be 1,000-to-1; so if you mined one million coins, then you’ll be able to claim 1,000 NOT tokens minted on The Open Network.

The Notcoin team had previously said that it would cut a few zeroes off of the tallies to make the token supply more manageable and make it easier to handle the on-chain version. Players will get their earned allotment in proportion to the total supply, just in a simplified fashion. The on-chain launch is still expected on or around April 20.

Gods Unchained x Guild of Guardians: The latest expansion for Gods Unchained, called Dread Awakening, features a crossover with the upcoming mobile role-playing game Guild of Guardians. Set for release on April 23rd, the expansion follows the unleashing of the malicious Dread from Guild of Guardians with 148 new cards minted on Immutable X.

ICYMI

Space Nation Online, an Ethereum-based sci-fi MMORPG built on the Immutable zkEVM scaling network, has announced a 10-week airdrop rewards event while the game is in closed beta.
Ethereum-based battle royale game OpenSeason has announced that it will soon feature a custom Doge-themed biome. “A realm where every nook and cranny barks the tale of Kabosu, the Doge, our beloved Shiba Inu,” a blog post said.
Adidas have stepped into crypto gaming with a partnership with Crypto: The Game, the Survivor-inspired  The collaboration saw 10 one-of-one Adidas tracksuit-skins auctioned.
Parallel announced a global tournament series with a whooping $500,000 prize pool. Dates and details to be announced soon.

Solana move-to-earn game Stepn held a $30 million airdrop that concluded last week.
MetalCore, the upcoming mech game on Immutable zkEVM, launched a closed beta with built-in token rewards ahead of a planned open beta in May.
OpenSea added support for GUNZ, the Avalanche subnet-based network that will support the battle royale shooter Off the Grid and other future games.
Apeiron hosted a tournament from April 11-13, with a prize pool of $15,000. It’s available to watch on Twitch. 
Auto-battler Mojo Melee brought its characters to life as adorable plushie toys, in a collaboration with award-winning toy company, WowWee. 

GG spotlight

Here are a few of our original stories from this past week that we think are well worth a weekend read:

Edited by Andrew Hayward