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About Proof of Play
Proof of Play is a Web3 game studio focused on building 'fully onchain games'—games where core logic, assets, and economy run entirely on the blockchain. Its flagship title, Pirate Nation, is a role-playing game where players own in-game items as NFTs and earn the PIRATE token. The studio's core narrative was that blockchain can create permanent, community-owned games, contrasting with traditional games where servers can shut down and assets vanish. It aimed to solve the pain point of digital ownership and trust in gaming, arguing that onchain infrastructure ensures transparency and longevity. However, the studio struggled with high operating costs—running Pirate Nation and its two Arbitrum L3 chains (Apex and Boss) cost about $150,000 per month—while daily active wallets fell from a peak of over 100,000 to around 10,000. In August 2026, Proof of Play announced it was ceasing operations, stating it 'couldn't build a product and sustainable business that proved out this thesis at scale.' The studio open-sourced its code and art: the Unity client and smart contracts under an MIT license, and Pirate Nation artwork, IP, and logos under a CC0 license (public domain). The PIRATE token has dropped about 99.7% from its all-time high, trading near $0.0013 with a market cap under $1 million. The Pirate Nation Foundation continues to support the token independently. Its other game, Shiba Story Go, was acquired by an undisclosed third party. The releases are archival—private SDKs, the live backend, and commercial assets were stripped out, so rebuilding a playable version requires substantial work. This closure highlights a key industry lesson: technical decentralization alone does not create a sustainable game business.
Proof of Play, founded by former Zynga executives, announced its seed round in 2023 led by a16z and Greenoaks, marking the start of its mission to build fully onchain games. Its debut title, Pirate Nation, became a flagship experiment in onchain gaming, introducing innovations such as signless-gasless gameplay, cross-chain asset mirroring, and an onchain database engine. In 2024, the studio revealed plans for a dedicated blockchain to handle game transaction volume, signaling a bet on scalable onchain infrastructure. However, in 2025, Proof of Play announced it was ceasing operations, admitting it "couldn't build a product and sustainable business that proved out this thesis at scale." The studio open-sourced the Pirate Nation Unity client, smart contracts, and an internal agent workflow tool on GitHub, and released Founder Pirates NFTs, artwork, and IP under a CC0 license, placing them in the public domain. The independent Pirate Nation Foundation continues to support the PIRATE token, while its other game, Shiba Story Go!, was acquired by a third party. This arc—from ambitious seed funding to open-source archival—highlights both the technical promise and commercial challenges of fully onchain gaming, leaving a lasting legacy of open code and community-owned assets.
Over the past six months, Proof of Play has ceased active operations. In August 2026, the studio announced it would shut down, citing the inability to build a sustainable business around its fully on-chain gaming thesis. The company open-sourced its codebase, including the Pirate Nation Unity client, smart contracts, and internal tools, under a MIT license. It also released all game artwork and intellectual property under a CC0 license, allowing the community to freely use and build upon the assets. The Pirate Nation Foundation remains independent and continues to support the PIRATE token and maintain the website, though in-game points are no longer redeemable. The PIRATE token has dropped approximately 99.7% from its all-time high. The open-sourcing marks the end of Proof of Play's direct involvement, shifting focus to community-driven preservation and development.
Amitt Mahajan (Co-founder & CEO): Previously co-created FarmVille, later founded Proof of Play, focusing on blockchain games.
Craig Woida (Co-founder & Art Director): Experienced game artist, leading the art direction at Proof of Play.
Matthew Zaborowski (Co-founder): Previously involved in projects like Smash.gg, now co-founder of Proof of Play.