Why Jungle Dropped Web3 and Went Full Free to Play

In a move that surprised much of the blockchain gaming world, São Paulo-based game studio Jungle, known for their mobile shooter For The Win (FTW), has officially pulled the plug on all web3 plans. While the pivot was quietly announced via Discord in late April 2025, its impact has sent ripples across the NFT and blockchain gaming communities.

Let’s unpack what happened, why Jungle made this decision, and what it says about the current state of the web3 gaming ecosystem.

The Silent Fadeout

Jungle’s web3 chapter ended not with a bang but with a whisper. After months of silence on social media, community members were left guessing. Their official X (formerly Twitter) account had been dormant since February 2025. Speculation grew.

Then, on April 29th, a simple yet striking Discord post confirmed what many had feared: Jungle was abandoning blockchain development and would focus solely on FTW as a free-to-play mobile shooter. The tone was reflective, even thankful — citing community game nights, dev updates, and their 2024 Genesis NFT mint as meaningful milestones. But the message was clear: to keep the game alive, the team had to pick a side. And they chose offchain.

What Jungle Was Building — and Why It Mattered

Back in 2022, Jungle wasn’t just another indie studio jumping on the NFT bandwagon. Founded by Joao Beraldo, Giulio Ferraro, and Lucas Kertzman, they raised $6 million in seed funding from heavyweight firms like BITKRAFT Ventures and Framework Ventures. Their goal was ambitious but rooted in reality: make mobile-first games that smoothly combined free-to-play mechanics with the ownership benefits of blockchain gaming.

For The Win was their flagship. A fast-paced mobile shooter with solo and team battle modes, randomized loadouts, gacha-style unlocks, and battle royale chaos — it had the energy of Call of Duty: Mobile with a sprinkle of Apex Legends. The blockchain element was supposed to add real digital ownership: players could earn, buy, and trade characters, gear, and cosmetics as NFTs.

At one point, FTW even planned to launch on Solana, leveraging the blockchain’s speed and low fees. The studio minted Genesis NFTs, teased tournaments, and promised a hybrid gaming experience unlike any other.

So Why Did Jungle Quit Web3?

While Jungle didn’t release a formal statement, their Discord message referenced several key pain points that many blockchain games currently face:

• Shrinking investor interest in web3 gaming

• Technical complexities in integrating blockchain at scale

• Unclear market demand for NFT-based mechanics in competitive games

• Community pressure to deliver faster updates without blockchain bottlenecks

In short, blockchain became a burden — not a booster — for the core game. The developers had to make a tough call: keep pushing a web3 vision that wasn’t gaining traction or double down on what was working — a high-energy, free-to-play mobile shooter with solid engagement.

Survival won out.

The State of FTW Now

Despite cutting blockchain out of the picture, For The Win is far from dead. The game has already surpassed 500,000 downloads on the Google Play Store, with solid retention and a passionate community.

Jungle now aims to grow FTW the old-school way: consistent updates, community events, competitive play, and gacha-style unlocks. The NFT layer might be gone, but the spirit of live service, community-driven content remains strong.

From a gameplay perspective, it’s now competing head-to-head with other F2P shooters like PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, and Call of Duty: Mobile. What makes FTW unique is its hero-based combat and randomized loadouts — mechanics that offer a fresh spin in a saturated genre.

What Happens to NFT Holders and Web3 Backers?

That’s the big question — and unfortunately, it remains unanswered. There’s been no official word on what Jungle plans to do (if anything) for the holders of their Genesis NFTs or the web3 investors who bought into the project under different assumptions.

This lack of closure will sting for early supporters. It also raises a broader issue for blockchain gaming projects: how do you protect and respect the players who invest in your game world with real digital assets?

Whether Jungle will offer some form of compensation, asset conversion, or future NFT integration is still unclear.

What This Means for Blockchain Gaming as a Whole

Jungle’s exit isn’t a death knell for web3 gaming, but it’s a wake-up call. The dream of merging NFT ownership with accessible, high-quality gameplay is still alive — but it’s proving much harder to execute than many expected.

Here are a few key takeaways:

• Web3 is not a silver bullet: Even well-funded studios with strong concepts can struggle to integrate blockchain in a way that feels natural to players.

• Focus on fun first: Jungle’s success with FTW (minus NFTs) shows that fun gameplay still matters more than tokenomics.

• Transparency matters: Quiet exits can erode trust in the space. Future projects should learn from this and communicate more clearly with their communities.

As always, the blockchain games space is evolving rapidly. Studios that can balance innovation with practicality — and treat players as partners — will have the best shot at shaping the next era of gaming.

Final Thoughts

Jungle’s decision to go offchain isn’t a failure — it’s a strategic pivot. While their original web3 vision didn’t pan out, For The Win is still alive and kicking, now aiming to make a mark in the competitive mobile shooter space. For those watching the blockchain gaming scene, it's another important data point in an ongoing experiment.

As web3 gaming matures, stories like this will become more common — and more instructive. The challenge isn’t just building a fun blockchain game. It’s building a fun game, period — and knowing when blockchain helps or hurts that goal.