- Two Web3 game studios, ChronoForge and Aether Games, closed this week.
- ChronoForge cites financial difficulties, indigent player interest and failed takeover talks.
- Aether Games blames the collapse of token liquidity, high security costs and imminent delisting.
Two more video game studios shut down their projects this week. ChronoForge AND Aether Games both announced their discontinuation. These closures add to a series of outages across the Web3 gaming industry this year.
ChronoForge plans to end all services on December 30, 2025. The studio announced the players’ decision on the X social media platform. The developers stated that they ran the project in arduous conditions. Since July, they have been using the founders’ personal funds and working with a team reduced by eighty percent.
The game launched in early access on September 10. It received a rating of 4.2 on the Epic Games Store. The team released updates and novel features with no promotional budget. ChronoForge as contributing factors to delicate overall interest in Web3 games and lack of developer support.
The studio was looking for a novel investment or company that would take over the project. These efforts were unsuccessful. The final decision to close was preceded by discussions with the Rift Foundation. ChronoForge has stated that it can no longer maintain the game or the functionality of its token. The user responded to the ad with a comment about losing the seed investment.
Aether Games attributes the shutdown to token liquidity and security costs
Aether Games also published confirmation of the closure of X. The studio wrote that it had officially ceased operations after trying to keep the project afloat. The work focused on a digital card game and required several changes in direction. The game never attracted enough players to keep going.
It reported financial losses resulting from contracts with promoters and partners who acted in bad faith. Marketing expenses and costs of maintaining resources exhausted by token liquidity. The token’s value continued to decline.
The largest exchanges have notified Aether Games about the potential removal of their token. The studio specifically named KuCoin and Gate and referred to Bybit’s earlier notification. The company stated that the token cannot survive without a stable stock market listing and a larger player base.
Operational spending continued on security reviews, legal compliance and software tools. In recent weeks, the team has reported several attempts to break into the system, one of which was successful. The announcement advised users to avoid suspicious links. The studio will also close its Discord server to protect users from fraud.
According to collection data, among others: Aether Games raised $12.62 million. Of this total, the public sale amount was $8.12 million. The studio has created a licensed digital card game titled Cards of Eternity: The Wheel of Time.
These two closures expand the list of play-to-earn and cryptocurrency gaming closures in 2025. Other titles such as Tokyo Beast, Age of Dino, and Eldarune have already ceased operations or announced plans to migrate. Studios have consistently cited high operating costs, insufficient player numbers, and arduous token economics as reasons for terminating the deal.
