This Week in Crypto Games: Sui Handheld, Saga Launch, Notcoin Airdrop Nears on 4/20

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

Sui gaming handheld: Another crypto handheld gaming console entered the arena this week. The creators of the Sui blockchain, Mysten Labs, teamed up with gaming startup Playtron to reveal the SuiPlay0x1 at the Sui Basecamp event in Paris

Slated for release sometime in 2025, the handheld gaming device will allow gamers to play both crypto and non-crypto titles, with the Sui blockchain being integrated into the device’s account system.

Sui Gaming Handheld Targets Steam Deck, Runs PC and Crypto Games

Gaming startup Playtron is trying to challenge the dominance of handhelds from existing giants like Steam and Nintendo with the launch of a low-cost, flexible operating system that can run on all kinds of devices—and it’s teaming with Mysten Labs to launch a Sui-branded model. On Wednesday, Playtron and Mysten Labs revealed the SuiPlay0x1 at the Sui Basecamp event in Paris—it’s a handheld gaming device that runs the Linux-based Playtron OS. Expected to launch in 2025, the portable console will b...

Saga launches mainnet + token: New layer-1 blockchain, Saga, successfully launched its mainnet and SAGA token early on Tuesday. Saga made its name in recent months through its airdrop competitions and a record-breaking Binance Launchpool campaign for SAGA tokens, which saw over 500,000 total Binances customers stake some $13.4 billion. 

Saga is designed so developers use it to launch their own chain or set of chains to power their apps. The rollout of the Saga mainnet enables this functionality and sees SAGA listed on major cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Saga Mainnet Launches Alongside Token on Binance—With More Airdrops Ahead

Saga, a new layer-1 blockchain network designed to let creators launch their own layer-1 chains, launched its mainnet early Tuesday, alongside its SAGA token that was first listed on major cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The rollout comes following a record-breaking Binance Launchpool campaign for SAGA, which saw more than 500,000 total Binance customers stake some $13.4 billion worth of crypto—across Binance Coin (BNB) and the FDUSD stablecoin—to earn a share of 45 million SAGA tokens, or half...

Notcoin conversion details: We finally know how many Notcoin (NOT) tokens that players will receive in exchange for their mined in-game coins. The on-chain conversion rate will be 1,000-to-1; so if you mined one million coins, then you’ll be able to claim 1,000 NOT tokens minted on The Open Network.

The Notcoin team had previously said that it would cut a few zeroes off of the tallies to make the token supply more manageable and make it easier to handle the on-chain version. Players will get their earned allotment in proportion to the total supply, just in a simplified fashion. The on-chain launch is still expected on or around April 20.

Here's How Many ‘Notcoin’ Tokens You'll Get for Your In-Game Coins

Notcoin’s planned token launch on The Open Network (TON) is just over a week away, and the team behind the viral Telegram-based game has shared some key details about how players’ earned in-game coins will be converted to on-chain tokens. Players racked up trillions upon trillions of in-game coins by tapping their phone screens, but that huge tally was sure to make trading crypto tokens a bit of a headache. The Notcoin team had previously said that it planned to knock off some zeros during the c...

Gods Unchained x Guild of Guardians: The latest expansion for Gods Unchained, called Dread Awakening, features a crossover with the upcoming mobile role-playing game Guild of Guardians. Set for release on April 23rd, the expansion follows the unleashing of the malicious Dread from Guild of Guardians with 148 new cards minted on Immutable X.

 NFT Revolution

Ethereum Card Game 'Gods Unchained' Crosses Over With 'Guild of Guardians' in New Expansion

Immutable Games, the publisher of Ethereum NFT card game Gods Unchained, announced Monday that it will release an expansion pack called Dread Awakening, which will feature a crossover with the upcoming mobile role-playing game Guild of Guardians. The Dread Awakening set, slated to drop on April 23, will include 148 cards minted on Immutable X, an Ethereum scaling network originally created by the publisher. Guild of Guardians, also from Immutable Games, is set to hold its global launch on May 15...

ICYMI

• Space Nation Online, an Ethereum-based sci-fi MMORPG built on the Immutable zkEVM scaling network, has announced a 10-week airdrop rewards event while the game is in closed beta.
• Ethereum-based battle royale game OpenSeason has announced that it will soon feature a custom Doge-themed biome. “A realm where every nook and cranny barks the tale of Kabosu, the Doge, our beloved Shiba Inu,” a blog post said.
• Adidas have stepped into crypto gaming with a partnership with Crypto: The Game, the Survivor-inspired  The collaboration saw 10 one-of-one Adidas tracksuit-skins auctioned.
• Parallel announced a global tournament series with a whooping $500,000 prize pool. Dates and details to be announced soon.

• Solana move-to-earn game Stepn held a $30 million airdrop that concluded last week.
• MetalCore, the upcoming mech game on Immutable zkEVM, launched a closed beta with built-in token rewards ahead of a planned open beta in May.
• OpenSea added support for GUNZ, the Avalanche subnet-based network that will support the battle royale shooter Off the Grid and other future games.
• Apeiron hosted a tournament from April 11-13, with a prize pool of $15,000. It’s available to watch on Twitch. 
• Auto-battler Mojo Melee brought its characters to life as adorable plushie toys, in a collaboration with award-winning toy company, WowWee. 

GG spotlight

Here are a few of our original stories from this past week that we think are well worth a weekend read:

 NFT Revolution

'Hearthstone' and 'Parallel' Card Game Fans Have Beef—Here's Why

Take a card from your opponent's deck and watch the world burn. Controversy has circled rising NFT card game Parallel since announcing last week that it has added one of the best-known Hearthstone streamers as an ambassador and spokesperson for the game. Parallel announced on Friday that Thijs "Thijs" Molendijk, an esports pro and the third-largest Hearthstone streamer by average views, would support the crypto trading card game. Both games revolve around building decks of digital cards and comp...

Bitcoin, Sui and Solana Gaming Handhelds: Here's How They Stack Up

Suddenly, crypto gaming handhelds are a thing. Last week, the Bitcoin-centric BitBoy One gaming handheld and hardware wallet was revealed—and that was followed on Wednesday by the announcement of the SuiPlay0x1, a Steam Deck-like portable PC gaming device built for crypto games on Sui and beyond. Add last year’s Solana Saga smartphone to the list—and next year’s “Chapter 2” successor—and you’ve got options if you want a portable device that plays games while also playing nice with crypto. But wh...

 NFT Revolution

'Match Made in Heaven': Why Ethereum RPG Kaidro Migrated to Ronin

Anime-inspired role-playing game Kaidro has already made waves on Ethereum scaling network Ronin since announcing its plans to migrate in February. A buzzy free mint in March saw nearly 350,000 free NFTs claimed by Ronin wallets, while Kaidro’s first premium mint on Ronin this week sold out some 9,999 Spark Suit NFTs—with 2,400 of those going in a public sale in just 10 seconds—generating $2 million in the process and pushing Kaidro to become the third most-traded collection on the Mavis Market....

'Provocative, Expansive, and Uncompromising': How Saga Origins Aims to Shake Up Crypto Gaming

Layer-1 blockchain Saga announced back in March that it was launching an in-house video game publishing division called Saga Origins. Now with the mainnet and SAGA token live, we have a clearer sense of what to expect from the upstart publisher. Saga CEO and co-founder Rebecca Liao set out the vision for the publishing arm in a recent interview with Decrypt’s GG, claiming that it is looking to publish games that are “provocative, expansive, [and] uncompromising.” This is a divergence from the ty...

Play Games, Earn Bitcoin: The Best iOS and Android Games That Pay You BTC

Did you know that there are mobile games that pay real Bitcoin for playing? These are legit games that you can download from the iOS App Store or Android Play Store, and as you play the game and watch ads between rounds or levels, you’ll stack up satoshis (aka the smallest denomination of a Bitcoin). Granted, you’ll need to keep your expectations in check—most of these games pay out something in the ballpark of a few cents worth of Bitcoin per hour of play. Nobody’s going to get rich playing a B...

Edited by Andrew Hayward