OpenSeason Ceases Operations Amid Funding Challenges, Team Shifts Focus to Explicit Crypto Game
Developers behind the battle royale game OpenSeason, published on the Epic Games Store, have halted its operations due to significant funding shortfalls and prohibitive server costs. Having struggled to sustain the Ethereum-powered title, the studio, Fractional Uprising Studios, has pivoted its efforts to a newly launched, nudity-centric crypto gambling game called Booby Bot.
About OpenSeason
OpenSeason was a battle royale shooter game conceptualized as a crypto-native title, incorporating meme assets like Bored Ape and Milady NFT access passes into its PC release. The project utilized a FU token to enhance its ecosystem.
What Led to OpenSeason’s Shutdown?
Funding difficulties, exacerbated by the high operational costs associated with running the game’s servers and maintaining its blockchain infrastructure, ultimately led to the cessation of operations. The resource demands proved unsustainable, forcing Fractional Uprising Studios to temporarily suspend development.
Enter Booby Bot: A Nudity-Focused Crypto Gambling Game
In a strategic shift, the developers unveiled Booby Bot, a new puzzle game demanding players to wager cryptocurrency to locate supposedly hidden bodily features on AI-generated images of women presented across 100-square grids. The game marks a notably different direction, inspired by the informal web game “Battle Nips.”
Booby Bot Game Mechanics
Players initiate each guess with a minimum cost of $0.50 (in USDC), with subsequent attempts incurring a 10% fee increase. Correctly guessing the location on a single attempt wins the player the game pot and a jackpot alongside it. Incorrect guesses distribute the wager across the pot, jackpot, and studio development fees. Competition occurs independently on each AI image until the grid is fully solved.
Funding Issues & The Crypto Token’s Role
Co-founder Krypticrooks cited the immense pressure brought by managing the FU token as a primary factor in OpenSeason’s challenges. He explained the daunting task of balancing game development with creating utility and maintaining value for an independently issued cryptocurrency token.
Fractional Uprising attempted to support the token’s value by burning 82% of its supply, yet the FU token’s market cap dramatically collapsed from nearly $17.44 million to just $934,000, while facing community pressure. The studio’s focus on providing development and pushing token value was ultimately detrimental.
Krypticrooks suggested OpenSeason’s initial attempt aimed for a non-traditionally VC-backed model but failed because cryptocurrency interest often prioritized pure value extraction over genuine gameplay enhancement or market sustainability.
Future Focus: Simpler Crypto Gambling
Moving forward, the core team from Fractional Uprising leverages its experience, pushing Booby Bot with a model devoid of previous complexities. This approach involves managing the game’s infrastructure alongside the inherent volatility of crypto wagering, hoping to attract internet players drawn to its explicit nature and gambling mechanics. These games, Krypticrooks anticipates, might represent a more viable niche market for the studio within the current economic landscape.
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John Doe
