FTX Drags Down Web3 Game? ‘Storybook Brawl’ Announces Shutdown, Says ‘There Is No Path Forward’

“Storybook Brawl,” the free-to-play fairy tale card game developed by Good Luck Games–the team behind “Magic: The Gathering”–announced it was taking all its servers offline for good next month and noted “there is no path forward,” just 13 months after it was acquired by the now-bankrupt crypto empire FTX.

“On behalf of everyone on the SBB team, we’d like to thank you for your support. We’ve explored different options, and unfortunately, there is no path forward,” the official Twitter account of the game announced.

“We’ll be shutting down the servers on May 1st – please enjoy SBB until then, and thanks for all the memories,” it further said.

The card game had debuted in 2021.

While developer Good Luck Games did not mention the reason behind the shutdown, the widely-held assumption is that the Web3 game was caught in the chaos of FTX.

FTX acquired Goodluck Games last March with then co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried expressing his fondness for the game and sharing his vision.

“We couldn’t stop playing Storybook Brawl when it became available on Early Access in Steam last summer,” Bankman-Fried said in the press release.

“Outside of it being an incredibly fun game our whole office enjoys, with its highly engaging gameplay and free-to-play model, we saw an opportunity to be the vanguard for the ethical integration of gaming and crypto transactions in a way that hasn’t yet been done in this space,” he added.

But, following the acquisition, fans review bombed the game, which dragged the user rating of “Storybook Brawl” on Steam to mixed after getting more than 3,500 reviews.

Good Luck Games remained silent during the implosion of FTX last November, but it made a couple of indirect references to the troubles the company was facing at the time.

When the crypto empire filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the gaming studio canceled the World Championship in The Bahamas.

“Given the circumstances, we are saddened to announce that we are canceling the World Championship in The Bahamas. We are unsure about the future of Organized Play and the World Championship and will provide clarity when we know more,” the November tweet read.

In January, Good Luck Games again hinted at the uncertainty of the game’s future after thanking the community for enjoying the game.

“The Storybook Brawl team appreciates the community’s continued passion for the game. We don’t have any big news to share right now, but we will keep everyone updated as things change. Thank you and we appreciate your patience,” Good Luck Games said.

Bankman-Fried was a fan of the card-battling game, and, after the collapse of his crypto empire in November, told the New York Times that “Storybook Brawl” cleared his mind and helped “me unwind a bit.”

In a December conversation on Twitter Spaces, Bankman-Fried revealed he was playing the card-battling title just hours before authorities arrested him in The Bahamas.