why users are boycotting one of the most-hyped crypto games

Hamster Kombat finally allocated HMSTR to users a few days before the official airdrop, but the token allocation details left many players upset.

Whether you’re one of the millions of passionate players of the Telegram-based tap-to-earn money game Hamster Kombat or have managed to ignore it entirely, the excitement surrounding the game since its launch this spring is very real.

Most of the news surrounding the game has focused on teasing the highly anticipated launch and estimated price of the game’s native token, HMSTR. Now, as the game wraps up its first season since launching in March, the team behind it is gaining traction for a very different reason. Players are criticizing the team, accusing them of unfair treatment and false promises.

We take a look at what’s happening and what to expect in the days leading up to this weekend’s token launch.

As of this weekend, as part of the game’s promised rewards system, the resources players have accumulated have been converted into allocated HMSTR tokens, which should be sent to them as actual tokens at launch. In an X post , the team behind the game explained more about the token supply and allocation. The team noted that 75% of the designated supply of 100 billion HMSTR tokens to be minted will be set aside for the community. After the end of the first season — which is now — 60% of that amount will be made available to the game’s users.

✍️ HAMSTER MATHEMATICS ✍️

🔥 Season 1 results are out:

🚀 Since March 26, 2024, over 300 million people have joined Hamster Kombat, 131 million people qualified for the September 26 airdrop, and approximately 2.3 million people were banned for cheating.

📤 30.6 million qualified… pic.twitter.com/LH5eD3i8al

— Hamster Kombat (@hamster_kombat) September 22, 2024

As the team noted in the X post, the “hamster math” continues: Of the 60% of the HMSTR token supply allocated to users, 88.75% will be distributed during the token airdrop and listing this week, with the remainder rolling out and becoming available just ten months after listing on exchanges. The team also promised to airdrop an additional 15% of the 100 billion tokens in the upcoming second season of the Hamster Kombat game.

According to the Hamster Kombat team, a total of 300 million people have registered for the game since March. Of these, approximately half (131 million in total) are eligible to receive HMSTR tokens in the highly anticipated airdrop scheduled for September 26. An additional 2.3 million people have been deemed cheaters and banned from the token distribution altogether.

Token distribution disappointed many

Since the Hamster Kombat team made their announcement on Sunday, many users have reached out to X to voice their dissatisfaction with the token distribution process and criteria, stating that they have received less tokens than they expected for their time and effort. Clearly, the results have been particularly disappointing in dollar terms, based on HMSTR’s supposed pre-market trading price.

The token will be listed on exchanges and ready to trade following this weekend’s airdrop. However, with spot and futures contracts for the unlisted HMSTR token currently trading on several major exchanges, its price is fluctuating between 0.01 USDT and 0.1 USDT across platforms, leaving players with little idea of ​​the value of their allocated tokens.

Judging by the comments in the community, it seems that the average user earns less than $50 for hundreds of hours of play, based on the highest USDT price on exchanges.

One of the users of the Telegram community, nicknamed Timbo, told crypto.news that he started playing the game almost from the beginning. Timbo said that he played for about 4-5 hours a day for two months and earned around 500 tokens. As time went on, the excitement around the game and the upcoming token launch continued to grow, which meant that the number of players who were promised token allocations at the launch increased.

“Over time, my interest faded. The game itself is not that interesting. As for potential earnings, I thought I shouldn’t expect too much – the number of players has become incredibly large, and everyone needs to be rewarded.”

Timbo, a Hamster Kombat player

Ban on “cheaters” raises questions

An even bigger wave of negativity came with the announcement that a large group of players (2.3 million to be exact) would be excluded from the token distribution. According to the project, the ban was put in place to address users who were reportedly trying to cheat the game, for example by using multiple devices to tap or play from different accounts or by cheating with referrals.

Some of the criteria for cheating were more controversial. For example, the most shocking reported punishment was for buying keys. According to the rules, users were required to complete a mini-game in order to get keys in the game. However, some purchased keys instead of completing the mini-game. The game’s system allowed users to purchase keys without warning or explaining that it was against the rules. The action was later apparently deemed “cheating,” and reportedly resulted in them being banned from receiving tokens. Several members of a Hamster Kombat Telegram chat posted a message that read:

“Some of my friends who had committed no crime were mistakenly included in the list of scammers. This injustice has seriously damaged public trust and created a climate of mistrust.”

Players who the project deemed to have violated the game rules—which were not explicitly stated—were given a status that simply said “cheating is bad” at the end of Season 1. The Hamster Kombat community’s Telegram chats were immediately flooded with complaints, saying the distribution criteria were unfair and asking the admins to reconsider and distribute the tokens. Users on Telegram expressed their displeasure that the “cheating” status was only given at the very end of the season, after a lot of time was spent:

“When the project started, it was not known what kind of violations could occur, and at the end of the project, bans were imposed with ridiculous excuses to ensure that fewer people would be given coins.”

Additionally, a player identifying himself as X complained that he had been playing for four months, collected over 200 keys, earned 8.36 million per hour (apparently HMSTR), set alarms, and tracked “card up times.”

“Now you’re telling me I don’t deserve this. The hamster is a cheater.”

Meanwhile, the hashtag #boycotthamsterkombat is trending on X; at the time of writing, the number of tweets carrying the hashtag has exceeded 22,000.

How is token allocation determined?

According to community reports, the amount of tokens awarded was determined by the following criteria:

The number of coins the user has collected over the entire period The number of friends the user has invited to the game The number of coins the user has earned through passive income The number of keys the user has earned in mini-games The number of daily tasks the user has completed

Tokens earned in Hamster Kombat are divided into several categories: Total HMSTR, Claimed, Next Unlocked, and Unclaimed. However, the game does not provide any explanation about the different categories.

Screenshot from Hamster Kombat min app | Source: X

Apparently, the most important task in determining the number of tokens to be distributed to each player was not the HMSTER tokens earned as passive income for playing the game, but the number of friends invited through the referral link. Judging by the comments on social media, the ones who were most bothered by the token distribution logic were the casual users, since they were the ones who actually spent time playing, trying to get into the top 100 players, completing tasks, etc. These players, who make up the core of the “community,” probably did not have the social reach of a YouTube influencer, for example, who could invite their “friends” by sharing the referral link widely and thus earn more tokens.

Did Hamster Kombat fool everyone?

With its large-scale token distribution plan and reported usage statistics, the Hamster Kombat airdrop is expected to be one of the largest in the crypto space. Players who link their wallets to their Hamster Kombat accounts are expected to receive their allocated tokens in the airdrop this week, which will then be available to trade on major exchanges like Binance and OKX.

Considering the sheer number of users reportedly playing Hamster Kombat, it’s perhaps not surprising that players received fewer tokens than expected. With a total token supply capped at 100 billion and a reported user base in the hundreds of millions, the math is at least somewhat clear, albeit disappointing for many players.

In any case, the value users get in fiat currency will not be clear until HMSTR opens for spot trading on September 26 and players receive their long-awaited tokens.