GameFi platform MOBOX has unfortunately announced that PancakeSwap’s official tower defense game, Pancake Protectors, which fully launched over a year ago in May 2023 as a rebranded release of MOland Defense, is closing down after its final full season, S37, and a short withdrawal period in the form of S38 are over. It looks like the MOBOX version is closing too, with both releases set to be replaced by a new game with similar gameplay: Dragon Defense, coming out at some point in November 2024.
Why Is Pancake Protectors Closing Down?
According to the Telegram announcement from the game’s studio, after “careful evaluation”, they came to the conclusion that it’s no longer sustainable to continue maintaining and developing their web3-powered mobile game. This probably means that they haven’t been generating enough revenue from in-app purchases in the past months, and that the playerbase likely wasn’t growing enough to expect a profitable resurgence. Or the development studio both platforms partnered with had some other complicated financial issues, as an admin in PancakeSwap’s Telegram group said that “unfortunately we were surprised by the decision of the partner studio that developed the game that the game would be closed.”
“While this wasn’t an easy decision, we believe now is the appropriate time to conclude this chapter and turn our attention toward new opportunities in the future,” says the game’s team in its closure announcement.
Before it officially shuts down though, the developers are commemorating the game’s lifespan by making a variety of crucial changes to its final reward-packed season, S37, in order for dedicated players to be able to “fully enjoy the culmination of their efforts”.
Play to Earn $CAKE Rewards One Last Time in Pancake Protectors S37
S37 of this $CAKE-powered title represents the final season in which you can earn $CAKE rewards. As this is the game’s swan song, the developers have made a couple of adjustments to properly reward committed players.
The first big change is that all $CAKE left in the reward pool will be completely distributed in this season. Another adjustment is related to $CAKE spending – spending $CAKE during this season will not increase the total prize pool like before, but 35% of it will go to upping leaderboard rewards instead. Lastly, all $CAKE rewards will be fully distributed to player accounts at the end of the season.
Season 37 kicked off on October 17th and runs for 14 days, just like previous seasons, meaning the play to earn game’s last reward-packed season ends on October 31st.
What Happens After S37?
After S37 concludes at the end of this month, the developers will disable staking, market transactions, and the ability to spend CAKE. All CAKE that continues to be staked is set to be automatically returned.
Alongside these post-season adjustments should come the start of S38. While the developers haven’t specifically stated if Season 38 begins straight away on November 1st or a bit later, what we do know is that this will be a completely different season from any other. S38 will be a special 7-day period during which players can completely withdraw all CAKE that they still may have left in-game, so do make sure to fully take out your hard-earned $CAKE rewards while you still can.
“We want to extend our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support, enthusiasm, and countless contributions throughout the years. The friendships formed and memories created in this community are truly invaluable, and it has been an honor to share this adventure with all of you.”
According to an update to the announcement, all players from both versions will also be rewarded with an exclusive starter pack for Dragonverse Neo, a co-created and co-governed 3D open world game that was revealed by MOBOX in December 2023, after which it underwent an alpha phase in January this year, followed by a V2 release in the same month, and the start of Beta Season 1 in May. Season 6 for it is now underway. In this anime-styled MMO, you will be able to use the starter pack in a new game coming out at some point in November: Dragon Defense. This one will replace both Pancake Protectors and MOland Defense, and as such will possibly feature similar tower defense gameplay. More details on the starter pack are planned to be revealed in the near future.
This sadly isn’t the only PancakeSwap-branded web3 game shutting down either. A closure announcement for web3 MMORPG Shadow Realms also came at the same time in the DEX’s Telegram group. They’ve also made basically the same changes to their final season that will be followed by a withdrawal season. You can find the Telegram announcement here, which comes just months after launching a Beta Season in April.
