What’s the ultimate level of whaling? The Elemental Knight chain-game racked up losses of 1 million a month, declared bankruptcy, and yet some players even set up companies to take over directly

“Elemental Knights” declared bankruptcy after losing 8 million yen per month, but was surprisingly taken over by a player guild that established a new company! The game will suspend service at the end of April for restructuring, with plans to relaunch in fall 2026, setting a rare record of players saving a blockchain game.

After “Elemental Knights Online” announced its closure, a player started a company to take over

Launched in 2022, the blockchain game version of “Elemental Knights Online,” a collaboration between Taiwan and Japan called “Elemental Knights Online Meta World,” announced it would end operations at the end of February this year, but recently received an unexpected turnaround.

The game operation team, Metap Inc., announced that they have officially signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the future operating transfer entity, “Kabushiki Kaisha Hanabi-tei.”

It is understood that Kabushiki Kaisha Hanabi-tei was established by members of the highly active guild “Hanabi-tei” in the game, Kurokage and Alamode.

After evaluating the past performance of the takeover candidate, the operation team believes that having a dedicated community of experienced players establish the company to take over will be an extremely reliable partner for continuing the game’s life.

Image source: “Elemental Knights Online” official Twitter Elemental Knights Online announces closure after players start a company to take over

Elemental Knights loses 8 million yen per month, scheduled to close at the end of April

The blockchain version of “Elemental Knights Online” is published by Metap Inc., based on a remake of the same-named MMORPG developed in Taiwan, which has a 14-year history in the Japanese market and has been downloaded over 8 million times.

This version introduced blockchain technology, allowing players to own non-fungible token (NFT) assets such as land and items within the game. In addition to the basic dual-currency play-to-earn mechanism, it also opened features for players to stake Tether (USDT) to earn income.

Image source: “Elemental Knights Online” official website The blockchain version of “Elemental Knights Online” introduces NFTs, dual currencies, and staking services

However, after less than four years of operation, the team assessed financial difficulties and could no longer sustain the game service, leading to the full shutdown scheduled for April 30.

The operation team revealed that the fixed monthly cost for “Elemental Knights Online” is about 10 million yen, including infrastructure fees, personnel costs, listing maintenance, and token buyback expenses. Compared to the high operational costs, the game’s total monthly revenue is only about 2 million yen.

This results in an operational loss of about 8 million yen (approximately 1.58 million TWD) each month, and even phased cost reductions could not smoothly improve cash flow.

Elemental Knights plans to relaunch this fall

Fortunately, after the blockchain version of “Elemental Knights Online” announced its closure, a new operation team, Hanabi-tei, took over and plans to relaunch this year. They aim to reduce dependence on external factors like cryptocurrencies and redesign a revenue structure suitable for the scale of the service.

To ensure a smooth transition and reduce unnecessary costs, the current game service and related market mechanisms will be suspended as scheduled on April 30, and the dedicated crypto wallet and staking services will also end simultaneously. Although servers will temporarily shut down, players’ on-chain NFTs and tokens will remain stored on the blockchain.

Both parties plan to sign a formal contract after the end of Japan’s Golden Week in late April 2026, and are expected to resume development work around mid-May. If all progresses smoothly, “Elemental Knights Online” is expected to relaunch as a new service between August and September 2026.

The pinnacle of monetization?

After another cycle of bull and bear markets in the cryptocurrency space, and with the NFT market waning, the token economy of blockchain games is facing severe challenges such as significant revenue drops and mass player attrition.

In the past year or two, many blockchain games have announced closures. Including the Japanese blockchain game “CryptoSpells,” which operated for about six and a half years, and “Coin Musume” (コインムスメ), a game themed around personified cryptocurrencies, both ended services by the end of 2025. “Captain Tsubasa RIVALS” has also ceased service on all platforms, while the “MapleStory N” universe operated by Nexon’s subsidiary Nexpace is still active.

In this environment, “Elemental Knights Online” was surprisingly saved by a group of passionate players, igniting an incredible miracle in the winter of blockchain games. It also makes the author wonder if this is the highest form of monetization…

Further reading:
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