Proof of Play told its community today that it is ceasing operations. The studio behind Pirate Nation said it could not build a product and sustainable business that proved its founding thesis, that blockchain-based games could help create a new, decentralized internet, at scale.
Proof of Play will be ceasing operations.
When we started out, we believed games using blockchain tech had the potential to usher in a new, decentralized internet. Ultimately, we couldn’t build a product and sustainable business that proved out this thesis at scale.
We are…
— Proof of Play (@ProofOfPlay) August 4, 2026
The announcement covers assets now available in public repositories, as well as plans for Pirate Nation’s token, Foundation and remaining game.
Proof of Play, the blockchain gaming studio behind Pirate Nation, raised $33 million in a seed round co-led by a16z crypto and Greenoaks Capital in September 2023. The company was founded by FarmVille co-creator Amitt Mahajan to build fully onchain games and decentralized gaming infrastructure.
The GitHub repos and the CC0 license are real
Proof of Play has made several Pirate Nation assets publicly available. The Pirate Nation Unity client and the game’s smart contracts are now on GitHub. The Founder’s Pirates NFT artwork, along with Pirate Nation’s broader IP and logos, has been released under a CC0 license.
The company has also made public popbot, an internal agent workflow tool designed to help small teams build software products quickly. These code repositories and the CC0 release are publicly accessible and can be checked directly. Proof of Play also said its points will not be redeemable for anything.
What remains undisclosed
Proof of Play said the Pirate Nation Foundation will remain independent and support $PIRATE. The company also said Shiba Story Go has been acquired and will continue independently, but did not name the buyer or disclose the deal terms.
| Publicly verifiable | Not disclosed |
|---|---|
| Pirate Nation’s Unity client and smart contracts are public on GitHub | How the Pirate Nation Foundation’s independence is structured |
| Founder’s Pirates artwork and Pirate Nation IP are released under CC0 | The identity of Shiba Story Go’s buyer |
| Proof of Play’s code and artwork are available in public repositories | The terms of Shiba Story Go’s acquisition |
The emissions freeze that came first
Proof of Play’s closure follows earlier changes to Pirate Nation. In July 2025, BlockchainGamerBiz and GGChronicles reported that the company had halted $PIRATE emissions tied to the game. The outlets later reported that Proof of Play planned to shut down Pirate Nation and its Apex and Boss chains, citing a decline in daily active users and high infrastructure costs.
Daily active users had fallen from more than 100,000 at their peak to about 10,000, while infrastructure costs had reached roughly $150,000 a month. The outlets also reported that the chains closed in September 2025.
If accurate, the timeline places today’s shutdown roughly 11 months after the chain closures.
- Late July 2025: $PIRATE emissions tied to Pirate Nation were reported to have halted
- August 2025: Pirate Nation and its Apex and Boss chains were reported to be scheduled for closure
- September 2025: The chains were reported to have closed
- August 2026: Proof of Play announced that it is ceasing operations
AI Disclosure: Cryip uses AI-assisted tools to help refine language — correcting spelling and grammar and simplifying complex terms for readability.
We do this to make crypto topics easier to understand for readers at all experience levels. AI does not draft facts, sources, or conclusions. Every article is reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. Read our full AI Use & Content Policy.
