''Ember Sword'' was a planned massively multiplayer online role-playing

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blockchain game Video games can include elements that use blockchain technologies, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), often as a form of monetization. These elements typically allow players to trade in-game items for cryptocurrency, or re ...

developed by Bright Star Studios for

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and

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. Presented from a

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isometric perspective, ''Ember Sword'' had players battle against each other or non-player characters, enhancing their character's abilities by equipping different weapons and armor. Players were able to trade with each other for resources or loot them from slain foes. The game integrated the

Ethereum Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-s ...

blockchain, which allowed for players to use

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s to acquire items. The game entered

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...

on December 2, 2024, with browser accessibility. Its servers were shut down on May 21, 2025, accompanied by a farewell announcement.

Gameplay

Players could control a character

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from a 3D isometric perspective. Characters were factionless; with combat with hostile non-player characters (NPCs) called "mobs" or other players in designated

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arena spaces. Abilities were tied directly to the types of weapons that were equipped, with better weapons and armor provided as a reward for defeating enemies. The game intended to offer non-combat activities, such as farming crops. Rare cosmetic items and land were to be stored via

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

. ''Ember Sword'' would follow a play-to-earn business model; currency earned by slaying mobs, selling items and trading with players would be exchanged for tokens that convert to

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership record ...

. Players were able to acquire land, intended to eventually be available for real estate development.

Development

Production of ''Ember Sword'' began in 2018, under the Danish developer So Couch Studios, led by

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Mark Laursen. It was announced in October of that year. Initially developed on the Unity game engine, ''Ember Sword'' was intended designed for

and Android operating systems. The Ethereum blockchain was intended to be integrated into the game, which will allow for players to acquire tokenized cosmetics through gameplay, tradable for the in-game currency called "PIXEL". In April 2020, the

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firm Galaxy Interactive announced a $700,000 pre-seed investment alongside Play Ventures in the game's developer, renamed Bright Star Studios. An initial virtual sale of in-game land was held in May 2021; the four thousand available plots sold out within six hours. In July 2021, Bright Star held a subsequent virtual land sale, resulting in over $203 million being pledged from approximately 35,000 applications for plots. Shortly after the conclusion of the initial land sale, a $2 million investment deal from the previous May was announced. ''Ember Sword'' initially was to rely upon Polygon (MATIC) as the platform for handling Ethereum, but with the establishment of

Immutable Pty Ltd Immutable Pty Ltd (formerly Fuel Games) is an Australian cryptocurrency company which develops blockchain games and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The company was founded in 2018 and headquartered in Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Overview Robbie F ...

's Immutable X platform, Bright Star announced in March 2022 that it would migrate to the newer platform, alongside a $100 million partnership with

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. Bright Star decided in 2021 to abandon Unity as the game engine and develop a proprietary engine that would favor browser accessibility and

streaming media Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a Computer network, network for playback using a Media player (disambiguation), media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of Network packet, packets from a Server (computing), ...

. Bright Star initially contracted with a third-party engine developer, but decided to develop a proprietary engine in-house. Five game engines were attempted before Bright Star created the final iteration called Project SERIUS. The game's token, rebranded as "$Ember", was launched on June 13, 2024. In August 2024, the game was announced to be migrating layer 2 protocols, from Immutable X to Mantle.

Early access release and cancellation

In April 2022, virtual land owners and VIP badge holders were given access to a pre-alpha technical test of the game. A year later, an alpha test was held, focused on a new area and demonstrating rudimentary core mechanics. A subsequent

vertical slice A vertical slice (VS) is a type of milestone, benchmark, or deadline, with emphasis on demonstrating progress across all components of a project. It may have originated in the video game industry. Overview The term ''vertical slice'' refers to ...

alpha demo was released in October 23, allowing players to participate in

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s. The game's

closed beta The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

, dubbed the "Prologue", began on July 12, 2024. The game began

testing on December 2, 2024. In a December 18 review for ''MMORPG.com'', Steven Wilber negatively compared the early access version to previous beta and preview versions, saying "even at this early stage, it was clear that ''Ember Sword'' still has a long way to go in nearly every facet of its gameplay." On May 21, 2025, Bright Star Studios announced that development and server support for ''Ember Sword'' would end due to insufficient funding.

External links

References

{{reflist Cancelled Windows games Alternate history video games Blockchain games Construction and management simulation games Crowdfunded video games Early access video games Fiction set on Jupiter's moons Free-to-play video games Inactive massively multiplayer online games Indie games Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Post-apocalyptic video games Products and services discontinued in 2025 Role-playing video games Science fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing games Video games developed in Denmark Video games set in the 4th millennium Video games with user-generated gameplay content Virtual economies Virtual world communities Windows games Sandbox games