Hamster Kombat loses nearly 260 million players in just three months

Hamster Kombat, the tap-to-earn Telegram game that boasted a massive 300-million-strong user base back in August, has reportedly shed 254 million players.

The game’s active monthly player count currently stands at almost 41 million and its token, which launched at a high of $0.009993 on September 26, has dropped by 76% to $0.002392 today.

Earlier this year, Telegram’s CEO described Hamster Kombat as “the fastest-growing digital service in the world,” and claimed it’s part of a new era of mini apps that would bring blockchain to the masses.

However, despite the promise of crypto riches, the game’s sloppily put-together AI art and tedious gameplay haven’t been enough to retain its once-strong player base.

Hamster Kombat’s chequered history 

Local media in Nigeria reported that many players were left feeling betrayed and cheated by Hamster Kombat’s token airdrop. Indeed, BeInCrypto reported that most users could only sell their HMSTR tokens for a single-digit figure despite months of grinding on the app. 

Hamster Kombat also frequently delayed this airdrop and disqualified many players unfairly caught off guard by its new anti-cheat system. In total, a reported 2.3 Million users were banned, and 6.8 billion HMSTR tokens were confiscated.  

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The game even spooked governments. Iran’s military deputy chief claimed that it was distracting voters from its election and called it a “soft tool” used by the West to challenge Iran’s religious government. The chairman of Russia’s State Duma Committee also called for a ban while branding the game a scam. 

More recently, on October 12, Hamster Kombat posted a disclaimer distancing itself from Gotbit which had just been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission and accused of offering “market manipulation as a service.”

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