Solana Meme Coin Bonk Launches ‘Kill-to-Earn’ Shooter Game

Solana meme coin Bonk launched its very own video game on Monday: Bonk Arena, developed by studio Bravo Ready, known for the Solana extraction shooter, BR1: Infinite. This marks the first officially licensed game for the popular Solana meme coin, after the project has dipped its toes in countless other crypto ventures. 

Bonk Arena is a fast-paced, top-down arcade shooter, playable via web browsers and the official Phantom wallet mobile app. It will also be released on the upcoming handheld PSG1 gaming device once it is released. 

Gamers must pay 10,000 BONK to spawn, just shy of $0.17 at today’s price, and will inherit the stake of players they kill—with a variable service fee from 0% to 10% applied. This model has been branded as “pay-to-spawn, win-to-earn” by its creators.

“Bonk has had previous success being an asset, skin, or currency for games, but we haven’t yet had a partner ready to fully brand a mobile experience like the folks at Bravo Ready,” Nom, pseudonymous core contributor at Bonk, told Decrypt. “We’re excited to see the community reception to it and look for areas to expand the Bonk presence.”

Bravo Ready is best known for creating the BR1: Infinite extraction shooter, which also uses the pay-to-spawn, win-to-earn model, licensed from a separate company called Ready. The game has varying risk modes ranging from $0.10 to $1 per life.

For Bonk Arena, the meme coin team has provided $10,000 in BONK, which will be used for additional rewards. As a result, every now and then during the launch campaign, players will be sprinkled with extra BONK tokens for their kills. Plus, some of this BONK will be allocated to a prize pool for those creating social media content for the game.

Bonk Arena is a Phantom exclusive, meaning that you can only play the game by using a Phantom wallet. By doing this, it allows for the game to be playable in the Phantom mobile app immediately on launch.

Now live, Bravo Ready told Decrypt that it plans to continue rolling out updates including unlockable characters, in-game level-based rewards, and loot crates.

“This is about giving additional utility to a meme token through highly engaging, competitive gameplay,” Evan Ryer, co-founder and CEO of Bravo Ready, told Decrypt. “All player spawns [and] kills are recorded on-chain, [so] this game will generate substantial on-chain Bonk volume.”

Half of the revenue generated from the service will go towards BONK burns, rewards, and donations to the Bonk for Paws charity. The other half will be used to buy back the READY token.

The company Ready created the pay-to-spawn, win-to-earn model that Bonk Arena is set to utilize. In order to use the model, branded as Real Money Gaming, Bravo Ready has struck a licensing deal that requires 50% of revenue generated to go to buybacks for its token of the same name.

Bravo Ready’s PC shooter BR1: Infinite has the same deal with Ready. The READY token launched in November 2024, and is currently sitting at a $6.3 million market cap.

“We believe this Real Money Gaming model is the future of token-driven gaming,” Ryer said.

Bonk is a dog-themed meme coin that spawned from the ashes of the FTX collapse. With Solana sentiment at an all-time low, the BONK token was created and airdropped to network developers and community members, done in an attempt to unite Solana natives.

Whatever role Bonk played in that, Solana has indeed seen a resurgence in the years since and reestablished itself as a major player. As a result, Bonk has become a mascot of hope for Solana—and the token has seen notable price surges over time, as well, leaving some of those early recipients with sizable windfalls if they held their tokens.

Since then, the Bonk core team has continued to support builders on the network by creating a Telegram trading bot in BONKbot, automatic market maker BONK Swap, and even a token launchpad in Bonk.fun.

Bonk! Arena is the project’s first proper foray into gaming following earlier collaborations, but just the latest in a long line of moves designed to benefit the Solana ecosystem.

Edited by Andrew Hayward