TLDR
- Hamster Kombat, a popular Telegram-based game, has delayed its token launch and airdrop originally planned for July 2024.
- The game’s developers cite technical complexities due to the large scale of the project as the reason for the delay.
- Several cryptocurrency exchanges have begun offering pre-market trading for the future HMSTR token.
- Hamster Kombat has announced plans to revamp its Playground section, shifting focus from ad-heavy games to more relaxed gameplay.
- The game has amassed over 250 million players, making it potentially one of the largest airdrops in crypto history.
Hamster Kombat, the viral Telegram-based tap-to-earn game, has postponed its highly anticipated token launch and airdrop. Originally scheduled for July 2024, the token generation event (TGE) for the game’s HMSTR token on The Open Network (TON) blockchain is now facing delays due to technical challenges.
The game’s anonymous development team explained the situation in a recent statement:
“We are actively working to make it happen. Keep in mind that this is a very complex technical task for all the platforms involved since Hamster Kombat is one of the biggest projects in the industry and can become the biggest airdrop in history.”
With over 250 million reported players, Hamster Kombat has become a phenomenon in the crypto gaming world. The game’s simple premise – tapping on a cartoon hamster to earn in-game coins and investing these coins in a fictional crypto exchange – has attracted millions of daily active users. The promise of a token airdrop has been a significant driver of this growth.
Dear CEOs,
We've received a lot of comments about the new Playground section, and we want to address them.
First things first: Participation in various activities will impact the amount of tokens received in the upcoming airdrop, not the fact of distribution itself – all…
— Hamster Kombat (@hamster_kombat) July 29, 2024
Despite the delay, interest in the HMSTR token remains high. Several major cryptocurrency exchanges, including OKX, Bybit, KuCoin, Bitget, and Gate.io, have announced plans to offer pre-market trading for the token.
OKX, for instance, is set to launch pre-market futures trading for HMSTR on August 1, 2024.
However, these pre-market trading options come with significant risks. The Hamster Kombat team has yet to announce the conversion rate from in-game coins to on-chain tokens, making any price predictions highly speculative.
In response to community feedback, the Hamster Kombat team has also announced plans to revamp the game’s Playground section. The developers aim to shift focus from ad-heavy games to more relaxed gameplay, enhancing player enjoyment.
This move is intended to cater to a broader base of players and ensure that everyone can enjoy the game without feeling pressured to participate in specific activities.
The team has emphasized that while participation in various activities will impact the number of tokens received in the upcoming airdrop, it is not mandatory for token distribution. All players, except for bots, are guaranteed to receive tokens. The only requirement for receiving tokens is linking a TON wallet to the player’s profile.
“We want the airdrop to be carried out as smoothly as possible for every single one of you, and so that everyone can receive their tokens,” the developers stated. “Right now, we’re closely working with the TON blockchain team to develop the most efficient technical solution for our airdrop.”
The Hamster Kombat phenomenon follows in the footsteps of Notcoin, another Telegram-based game that successfully launched its token in May 2024. Notcoin’s NOT token quickly became the year’s most valuable gaming token launch by market capitalization, setting high expectations for Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR token.
While the exact date of the token launch remains uncertain, the continued expansion of pre-market trading options suggests that interest in HMSTR remains strong
