Ubisoft’s New Ethereum Game, Ronin Hacked Again

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

Ubisoft game revealed: Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance publisher Ubisoft will make its next big step into the crypto gaming world on Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Arbitrum, as the company announced Tuesday that it is working on Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E.

It’s unclear what form the game will take with the announcement describing it as a “transmedia experience,” with the “first activation and core” of the “ambitious community-driven project” to be built on Arbitrum.

Based in the same universe as the Netflix animated series “Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix,” Ubisoft says the game will feature characters from other franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, and Beyond Good & Evil.

Ronin attack: The bridge between Ethereum and gaming-focused Ronin sidechain was halted early Tuesday following an exploit, leading to the loss of approximately $12 million worth of assets. Fortunately, all of the funds were returned by the ethical hackers.

The incident, described as a potential “MEV exploit,” was brought to light early Tuesday by ‘white hat’ hackers who then swiped $10 million worth of Ethereum and $2 million USDC. Ronin co-founder Aleksander Larsen reassured users that the bridge, which secures over $850 million in assets, remains safe. However, it will remain offline until an audit is completed.

The Open Network on Binance: The Open Network’s native currency Toncoin (TON) was listed on centralized crypto exchange Binance. The announcement of the listing alone pushed the token up 8.2% on the day.

The Open Network is the home to the largest Telegram mini-apps that have taken over the crypto gaming scene. Many of these are simplistic tap-to-earn games that incentivize players to tap the screen in order to earn virtual currency which may potentially contribute to a future airdrop. It is the home of the popular Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, PixelTap, and many more.

ICYMI

• Hit-em up game Highrise launched on Ethereum layer-3 Xai, as the first game stemming from the network’s partnership with indie game curator The MIX.
• Atari launched classic game Breakout on Ethereum layer-2 network Base, following Asteroids in late July.
• Video game actors continue to strike over AI protections.
• On-chain gaming infrastructure provider, Cartridge, raised $7.5M in Series A funding
• GameStop canned its 33 year old magazine Game Informer, laying off staff in the process.

• Apeiron‘s Season 3 open beta was announced to launch on August 22.
• Gods Unchained announced new limited-time game modes, which will make players reassess how they play the game and build their decks.
• Hamster Kombat added extra information regarding its airdrop to its app.

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