The NFT project gave notice to its gaming team and will take its titles offline, while a smaller group searches for a non-gaming business model.
By:The Defiant Team•
NFTs & Web3
Pixelmon has ended all game development and cut its gaming team after a roughly three-week publisher test failed to produce a long-term commercial offer, abandoning further work on the titles built around its NFT franchise.
The project said in its official Discord that outside publishers used their own marketing budgets and tools to test player acquisition and retention. The publishers did not reject the games outright, but the results were too weak to prompt an extended deal, according to the announcement.
Pixelmon gave notice to all members of its gaming team and said the games will be taken offline and their supporting systems dismantled. The account of the announcement did not state a headcount. For token and NFT holders, Pixelmon said community refunds are not an option; its stated continuing commitments are a smaller team and the use of remaining funds to search for a non-gaming business model.
“We think we have been in this ‘not too bad but not good enough’ territory now for over 2 years,” Pixelmon said. Publishers proposed further polishing followed by another test within weeks, but management declined after previously deciding that the publisher exercise would be the final test.
Employees will receive severance and other benefits required in their jurisdictions. Pixelmon said they will enter garden leave — serving their notice periods from home — once the games have been taken offline and the related systems dismantled.
A Smaller Team Will Seek a Non-Gaming Pivot
A smaller group of senior and multidisciplinary employees will remain to explore businesses that do not depend on game development. Pixelmon plans to provide more detail at a Thursday town hall, including its work on possible AI tools and how the remaining team will interact with the community.
Pixelmon’s website lists MON as “the token that powers the Pixelmon universe” and links to the Pixelmon Gen1 NFT collection on OpenSea. The available account of the Discord announcement did not describe what future technical or commercial support, if any, the token or NFT collections will receive.
Pixelmon said a refund is structurally unavailable because the company has equity shareholders, including funds and financial investors that provided capital connected with acquiring the intellectual property and moving funds from the project’s original New Zealand entity.
The company said its remaining non-tax escrowed funds will finance another attempt to find product-market fit. If that effort fails, Pixelmon said the alternative is to close the company.
The decision ends a gaming push that survived Pixelmon’s troubled 2022 NFT debut. Pixelmon raised more than $70 million by selling 10,000 NFTs, whose revealed artwork bore little resemblance to promotional animations, according to The Defiant’s coverage at the time. The project later changed leadership and continued developing multiple titles.
Pixelmon’s remaining team is due to present its proposed non-gaming direction at Thursday’s town hall. Separately, the company has said its existing games will be taken offline and their systems dismantled.
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