a16z-Backed Pirate Nation Studio Walks the Plank, Open-Sources the Loot 🏴‍☠️

Proof of Play, the a16z-backed blockchain game developer behind Pirate Nation, will cease operations after concluding that its decentralized gaming thesis could not scale into a sustainable business. The studio announced Tuesday that it could not build a product capable of proving blockchain-based games could help usher in a decentralized internet at scale.

The company will open-source much of its code and artwork, including the Pirate Nation game, smart contracts and internal software-development tools. The studio also released the artwork and intellectual property associated with the Founder Pirates non-fungible tokens and Pirate Nation under a CC0 license.

Proof of Play said the independent Pirate Nation Foundation will continue supporting the PIRATE token and keep its website operational. Proof of Play points, however, will not be redeemable for anything. The studio's Shiba Story Go! game was acquired by an unnamed third party and will continue operating independently.

At their peak, Proof of Play's Apex and Boss networks ranked as the two largest gas consumers tracked across Ethereum's rollup ecosystem. The closure comes amid broader contraction in the blockchain gaming sector, with Yield Guild Games announcing in October it would cut 35 staff and shut its game publisher to focus on AI.