In Brief:
- MetaKing Studios released “The Approaching Storm,” Chapter 1 of a BLOCKLORDS (official site) animated series, on the project’s YouTube channel.
- The episode was made inside BLOCKLORE, the node-based AI generation canvas the studio pivoted to after announcing it was closing the game.
- BLOCKLORDS launched on Steam on March 31, 2026, after more than seven years of development and a $15 million raise. The shutdown surfaced Aug. 6.
MetaKing Studios released the first chapter of a BLOCKLORDS animated series, weeks after telling players it was closing the game the series is set in.
The episode is called “The Approaching Storm.” It follows Sela, who on her Blessing Day steps outside the borders of her village alone for the very first time. The full chapter is on the project’s YouTube channel.
A first look at The Approaching Storm, Chapter 1 of the BLOCKLORDS animated series.
On her Blessing Day, Sela steps outside the borders of her village alone for the very first time.
Built shot by shot inside BLOCKLORE.
Watch the full episode in our Youtube Channel. Link in the@BLOCKLOREView on X ↗
The studio said the episode was “Built shot by shot inside BLOCKLORE,” the AI product it turned to after shutting the game down.
What BLOCKLORE is
BLOCKLORE is a node-based canvas for AI generation that puts concept art, character consistency, video and editing in one workspace. The company calls it a multimodal AI creation infinite canvas that brings ideas, assets, models and storyboards onto a single executable canvas.
Users upload assets, connect nodes and click to generate. Every intermediate step lands on the canvas, where it can be adjusted, reused and exported. A unified model layer lets one workflow call multiple models.
It’s a paid product, sold monthly or yearly and operated by Metaking Studios OU. Credits pay for image, video and audio generation. Free accounts get 20 daily credits, subscription credits reset every 31 days and every plan includes all models. Team plans are available.
The game closed first
The shutdown surfaced Aug. 6, when the account that had run as BLOCKLORDS began posting as BLOCKLORE and said the medieval strategy MMO was ending. No shutdown date came with it. The post didn’t say when servers switch off, what happens to player-held assets or what becomes of LRDS.
BLOCKLORDS launched on Steam on March 31, 2026, with MetaKing as both developer and publisher. Its Steam reviews sit at “Mostly Negative,” with 35% of 65 user reviews positive. The closure came roughly four months after launch.
LRDS had a market capitalization of about $1.15 million at the time of the announcement. Exchanges had already started backing away. Coinsavi said it was delisting LRDS along with MAIGA, TRN, PLU and DATA, cutting off withdrawals at 8:00 UTC on July 20.
Background
MetaKing raised $15 million in seed funding led by Makers Fund and BITKRAFT. Other backers included Delphi Digital, Spartan Group, Square Enix, Krafton, SevenX, Funplus and Animoca Brands. David Johansson, CEO, co-founder and creative director, began work on BLOCKLORDS in 2018. Nicky Li is COO. The team grew to span 20 countries.
But the AI turn wasn’t sudden. The studio unveiled an AI agent named Elisa Revard in late 2024, then published an AI roadmap in February 2025 titled “Age of Intelligent Heroes,” under which players would build in-game agents to manage trading and farms alongside autonomous AI heroes and generals. The studio had also acknowledged using AI-assisted tools for some 2D art in the game’s narrative segments, with developers reviewing the results.
Johansson didn’t start in games. He studied film in the United States and worked in Hollywood for a few years with production companies on higher-end indie films, before ending up in China and moving into game development.
