Gala Games to shut down The Walking Dead NFT game after July 31

Gala Games has announced plans to shut down The Walking Dead NFT game by July 31. According to the publisher, the role-playing NFT game, dubbed after the popular TV show, will be shuttered and users will no longer be able to play it after the date.

The Walking Dead: Empires is a multiplayer survival game that was built around Ethereum NFTs. The game was opened to players in its beta version last year after the developers initially announced its creation in 2021.

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to sunset The Walking Dead: Empires, with the last playable date set for July 31, 2025,” wrote Gala Games in a statement this week.

Gala Games to halt The Walking Dead NFT game

The Walking Dead NFT game was available for playtests in early 2023, with the game mandating players to craft weapons, build bases, and fight for survival. The players were charged to keep a safe distance from the zombies or “walkers.” To enhance the gaming experience, users were allowed to buy NFTs in the form of supplies, weapons, or deeds to build a safe base.

Unlike some in-game items that disappear from a player’s inventory, The Walking Dead: Empires made sure that their NFT-based items were indestructible. While prices have dropped drastically from the bull market period, some in-game items saw their price shoot up over the last few years. According to data from the OpenSea marketplace, legendary land deed claims, for example, sold for as much as $67,000 in 2021.

In 2023, when the game was still available for playtests, users were still asking for top dollars on some items. For example, the NFT-based handgun sold for about $30,000 at the time, with some lower-level items also costing around $1,000.

Now, most of these items are being rendered useless after the developers announced plans to shut things down.

Users show displeasure at the development

As compensation to the players, Gala Games has plans to distribute other NFTs from its gaming ecosystem to users.