In Brief
- Game Hibernation: The ICP blockchain game Dragginz, created by Neopets co-founders Adam and Donna Powell, has entered a phase of hibernation.
- Funding Challenges: The decision comes amid financial strains exacerbated by a 63% decrease in the ICP token price in 2025.
- Project Continuation: The development team remains committed to Dragginz, stating the project is a passion and they plan to resume work in the future.
Game Development Paused
The ICP blockchain MMORPG Dragginz, which has been under development for several years, is entering a period of hibernation. This decision affects the game’s world builder and 3D development team, who have been formally notified to conclude their current operations. The project, started by Adam Powell and Donna Powell, the minds behind the popular Neopets, is temporarily paused but not cancelled.
Shift of Focus and Funding Issues
Initially, the Powell team had diverted some attention from Dragginz to focus on an NFT creation and marketplace platform, Toko, which is in its alpha phase. The functionalities of Toko were expected to play a crucial role in Dragginz by handling sophisticated NFT interactions that are crucial for the game. “We reached a point in development where we needed NFTs that could actually do things. Hold state, have function, and exist fully on-chain, not just be images on AWS. That’s why we have been building Toko,” the team explained.
However, the overarching reason for hibernation can be attributed to financial difficulties, particularly the significant decline in the ICP token’s value. The token has seen a 63% fall in price throughout 2025, raising economic challenges for the continuation of expensive creative projects like Dragginz.
Future Outlook
Despite these setbacks, the creation team is optimistic about the future of Dragginz. They assure their commitment to the game, emphasizing that this is not the end of their journey. “This isn’t the end of Dragginz — far from it. Dragginz is our passion project, and we will make it the best game we possibly can. It’s just going to take a little longer,” they stated, signaling hope that the project will eventually resume once conditions improve.
