NFT
MechaFightClub, an NFT game from Irreverent Labs on Solana, is stopping development indefinitely as its creators believe the future of crypto in the United States is currently too uncertain amid regulatory challenges.
“We don’t see a clear path forward to launch the economy from the US,” Irreverent Labs CEO and co-founder Rahul Sood said. Decrypt of the decision to stop development.
“If it were to be moved to other jurisdictions, much of the senior team would have to move out of the US for a period of time,” he added.
It’s time for Sol 4 Cocks: We’re buying back your Mechabots and hibernating MFC indefinitely. This was a difficult decision.
For more information, visit our official announcement here: https://t.co/TPfb1VP2C7 pic.twitter.com/6YnO4g50T4
— MechaFightClub (@mechafightclub) May 11, 2023
MechaFightClub (MFC) was a planned cockfighting video game that used artificial intelligence and in which mechanical roosters battle it out in the ‘Cocktagon’. Sod told Decrypt that the closure was Irreverent’s own decision, but that it will not sell the MFC brand because it is “too close to the soul of our company”.
He added that the game has reached “alpha” status, which generally means the game is playable and complete, but may still lack significant content and finishing touches. Sood said that MechFightClub may “resurface in a different form in the future”, but the team has not yet decided that.
The company shared the news of MechaFightClub’s closure Thursday night along with a promise that it will buy back all mechabot NFTs for 18 SOL each — about $365 each — from May 15 to June 29.
Prior to the announcement, the NFTs were selling for about 7 SOL, less than half that price, on the Magic Eden NFT marketplace. The MFC NFTs have since been hidden from sale on Magic Eden.
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Irreverent Labs claimed in a open letter that the game was “stuck in a regulatory limbo”.
“The regulatory and operational environment surrounding blockchain in the US has changed dramatically over the past two years,” Irreverent Labs wrote in its letter.
“We are a US company and a lack of clarity makes it difficult for blockchain companies to operate here,” Irreverent Labs added. regulatory implications.”
On Irreverent’s One Hundred Years Podcast this week, just days before news of MFC’s shutdown, Sood said he believes SEC Chairman Gary Gensler “owes his job to Elizabeth Warren” and argued that Gensler and U.S. Senator Warren “want crypto kill because they think it’s all a scam”. .”
With MFC shutting down, Sood Irreverent Labs is focusing more on artificial intelligence. Sod told Decrypt in a direct message that Irreverent has made a “significant breakthrough” in its AI model, which it says can create short videos from images. The studio plans to release it under a new brand name later this year.
Hopes for MFC were short-lived, but fervent – just a year ago, the company announced a hefty sum $40 million funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with Solana Ventures, CAA founder Michael Ovitz, Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, Infinity Ventures founder Brian Lu and others investing.
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Decrypt contacted Andreessen Horowitz for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
The general partner of the VC firm, Arianna Simpson wrote last year, she thought the game “sounded weird” at first, but then invested because she believed the team was “serious,” “skillful,” and had a good sense of humor, along with a thriving Discord server community.
Now that community is winding down – but at least rooster keepers can say goodbye to their robo hens and try to find fun elsewhere.
