Updated on July 18, 2025: The original version of this story erroneously stated that Ember Sword raised $203 million from its initial virtual land sale; however, that figure referred to player pledges, not actual spending. The real amount raised wasin the ballpark of $11 million.
Summary
Ember Swordhas shut down after raising more than $11 million selling virtual plots of land. Up until recently, the crypto MMORPG was playable onPCand mobile devices.
Ember Swordstarted development in 2018 at Bright Star Studios, a company based out of Aarhus, Denmark. It was envisioned as ablockchain-based game, utilizing its own $EMBER token—based on the Ethereum blockchain—for purchasing and upgrading a wide variety of items, ranging from cosmetics to equipment. The in-game economy had a fixed supply of items to maintain their value. In April 2020, Bright Star Studios raised $700,000 in pre-seed funding for the game, according to fundraising records maintained by Wellfound. By August of the following year, the developer sold $11 million worth of virtual plots of land in the Solarwood Nation, one ofEmber Sword’s four worlds. As part of the initiative, players pledged nearly $204 million in future spending upon receiving their plots.
Ember Sword’s development came to an unceremonious end in late May 2025, with Bright Star Studios announcing plans to shut down the game with immediate effect. “This isn’t the ending any of us wanted,” reads the notice onEmber Sword’s official website. Bright Star cited a lack of funding as the reason for pulling the plug on the project. The company maintains that it still believes in the potential ofblockchain technologyto improve games, providing players with “real ownership, agency, and value for their time.”
Ember Sword’s Shutdown Notice
The $11 million thatEmber Swordraised selling virtual plots of land came from 34,791 individual pledges. Apart from this open land sale and the aforementioned $700,000 in pre-seed funding, Bright Star also raised $2 million in venture capital in May 2021. The company previously employed at least 21 freelancers and permanent staff, according to publicly available data compiled from LinkedIn. It’s currently unclear whether the shutdown ofEmber Swordwill also lead to the closure of Bright Star.
Ember Sword Seemingly Won’t Be Issuing Refunds
The crypto MMORPG was available for a bit over six months in total, launching in early access on Jun 21, 2025. Prior to its shutdown,Ember Swordwas playable onmobile devicesand PC. The thousands of backers who paid for virtual plots of land in the game never actually got to use them, as the feature wasn’t implemented beforeEmber Swordshut down. The game’s end-of-service notice mentions nothing in the way of refunds.
This isn’t the ending any of us wanted.
The fate ofEmber Swordreignites questions about the long-term viability of crypto gaming and the use of blockchain technology in video games. Its abrupt closure may also further fuelskepticism about the transparency and sustainability of blockchain-integrated game economies.
