Aavegotchi Confirms Full Migration to Base After DAO Vote

Aavegotchi, the pixel ghost-themed NFT game with DeFi roots, is changing networks. Following a community vote, the game is ditching Polygon and moving to Base, the Ethereum L2 backed by Coinbase. Here's what it means for players—and why the change could be a big win.

Aavegotchi Community Votes to Go "Based"

On April 8th, the Aavegotchi community voted in favor of a major proposal: "Make Aavegotchi Based Again." The vote saw a whopping 93.5% approval rate. The decision will see Aavegotchi's smart contracts on Polygon deprecated and the entire ecosystem re-deployed on Base.

This proposal wasn't a surprise. It came straight from the top—Pixelcraft Studios co-founder Daniel Mathews (aka Coder Dan) laid out the plan back in February. After years of building on Polygon and even spinning up their own layer-3 called Geist, the dev team felt it was time to simplify, streamline, and scale.

Why Aavegotchi Is Leaving Polygon

The decision came after months of internal discussion and market analysis. In his proposal, Mathews pointed to several key reasons for the move. First, Polygon had failed to ship meaningful updates for gaming, and its total value locked (TVL) had been trending sideways since 2022. Meanwhile, Base had grown stronger, backed by Coinbase integrations and activity on Farcaster. The Aavegotchi team had also built Geist, their own layer-3 network using Arbitrum Orbit, but adoption remained low. Geist was meant to be a members-only chain with special access and rewards. But maintaining an L3 proved costly, and the lack of user traction made it hard to justify continuing.

What Was Geist?

Geist officially launched in October 2024 and offered a fast and low-cost experience. It used Base as a settlement layer and came with its own access system called Geist IDs. These IDs gave players entry to exclusive airdrops, game content, and giveaways. While the idea was promising, Geist ended up being too isolated. Pixelcraft Studios found itself having to manage not only the games but also the chain's tooling and infrastructure. As the proposal explained, the L3 "dappchain" thesis didn't take off this cycle, and mindshare for L3s dropped to historic lows. With user flow and liquidity concentrating on L2s like Base, the team decided it was time to cut their losses.

Full Migration to Base

Now, the Aavegotchi platform is set to fully migrate to Base. This won't just be a partial move. The dev team plans to freeze all smart contracts on Polygon, making them unchangeable and inactive. Every Aavegotchi, wearable, land parcel, Forge item, and FAKE Gotchi NFT will be cloned 1:1 and re-minted on Base. Players won't need to take any action other than reconnecting their wallets to the new chain. The migration process is now well underway, thanks to preparations made during Geist's development. The estimated timeline for the full move is 4 to 6 weeks.

A big part of this migration is making things easier for players. Base offers smoother transactions, better integration with Coinbase Wallet, and faster performance. GHST, Aavegotchi's native token, is already listed on Coinbase and available on liquidity pools like Aerodrome and Uniswap. To prevent scam listings during marketplace trading, Aavegotchi will also use wrapper contracts that lock assets while they're listed on places like OpenSea and Magic Eden. This protects against last-minute changes and keeps players safe.

Aavegotchi Rewards and Gameplay After Geist

With Geist shutting down by mid-August, Aavegotchi's games and reward systems will also be updated. The current season of GOTCHI Points will finish as planned, but the team has decided not to mint the $GOTCHI token. Instead, rewards will be distributed in GHST. The DAO controls a large GHST reserve specifically for Gotchiverse rewards, and a new proposal will decide how to distribute these to players who burned Alchemica. From Season 2 onward, all reward mechanics will live on Base. These include burning Alchemica to earn points and converting them to GHST. New features like Parcel Burning and early burn multipliers will also launch with Season 2.

Geist IDs won't carry over to Base, but players who renewed their Geist memberships will be refunded in GHST or USDC. While the ID system is being retired, Pixelcraft has done the backend work to bring it back if botting becomes a problem. In the meantime, the Aavegotchi Player Profile and badge system will continue off-chain. The GOTCHI Wheel is being removed, and in-game badges will now unlock Alchemica directly.

The Future of Aavegotchi and Pixelcraft on Base

Pixelcraft Studios is also adjusting its business model. With Geist going offline, they're cutting costs and focusing on fresh revenue streams. Gotchi Guardians will soon roll out across desktop and browser platforms with in-game purchases using a new currency called Gbucks. The studio is also planning new sales for 2025, including lootboxes and the "Glitch Key." Future trading activity on Base could drive more volume through the Baazaar and other NFT markets, with Pixelcraft taking a small cut. Twenty percent of all revenue earned by Pixelcraft will continue to go back to Aavegotchi DAO.

No doubt, the move to Base is a big shift for Aavegotchi. While Geist was ambitious, the market seems to now favor simplicity, speed, and strong onboarding. With Base, Aavegotchi hopes to regain momentum and make life easier for both newcomers and long-time fans.