Animoca Brands recently announced in a tweet that their F1 licensed NFT game F1 Delta Time will be shutting down on March 16, 2022. This is due to them being unable to renew their license with Formula 1 which expires this week.
It is with deep regret that we announce that F1® Delta Time will cease operations on 16 March 2022. While we have not been able to renew our license, we will ensure that current owners of F1® Delta Time assets are rewarded for their loyalty and support.https://t.co/q8EspaC0Iv
— REVV Motorsport (@REVVMotorsport) March 15, 2022
This news comes unexpectedly with the game ending abruptly. It is currently unclear how many have been affected by the sudden cancellation of the game but OpenSea suggests that only about 1,800 wallets owned NFTs from the F1 game.
F1 Delta Time was an Ethereum-based game that launched back in 2019 and is built around NFT collectibles of Formula 1. Delta Time was considered as one of the first sports leagues to enter the blockchain space. In fact, one of its digital cars became one of the most valuable NFTs of that year.
Animoca Brands is one of the most successful companies in the NFT gaming space with several titles under their belt including their REVV Motorsport ecosystem that have MotoGP Ignition, Formula E: High Voltage, Revv Racing, and Torque Drift.
Despite the game developer’s experience and the game’s initial success, F1 Delta Time saw a decrease in sales and overall activity with only $7 million in trading. For perspective, The Sandbox, another Animoca Brand game, saw $366 million in trading.
The closure of an NFT game is unprecedented and creates an interesting problem. What happens now with the NFTs sold to users when a licensed crypto game suddenly closes? Do they lose value and become worthless? Or do they suddenly increase in value because they are now collectibles?
Animoca has promised players that hold NFTs in F1 Delta Time that their tokens will replaced with NFTs in another racing crypto game, REVV Racing. Animoca will also impart additional benefits and rewards to ensure a smooth transition for players.
The move to REVV Racing was done to appease the player base but many of its users have expressed concern on whether they are getting their money back. Animoca Brands assures that they will compensate everyone who invested in the game.
It’s been a crazy month of Animoca, earlier this month, the company has been on a tear partnering up with a wide swath of organizations but has also restricted access to Russian users in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine.