Fishing Frenzy Confirms Shutdown

Web3 studio Uncharted has announced that it is closing both the company and its flagship onchain RPG, Fishing Frenzy. The team shared the news today, stating that it could not prove its thesis on crypto gaming or reach what it called "product-market-business fit."

The game's servers will shut down on June 25, 2026, at 2am UTC. Until that moment, the cozy fishing title remains playable. Players keep access to their accounts and progress through the final stretch, but several economy features have already been switched off.

The studio said it spent the past year testing different directions and audiences. Despite those efforts, the results did not give the team enough conviction in a viable business ahead. Uncharted thanked its community and investors and apologized for not being able to deliver on its plans.

What Changes Before Servers Close

A handful of changes took effect immediately as part of the wind-down. USDC packages are no longer available for purchase inside the game. The FISH token, which runs on the Ronin network, has been made spend-only and untradable. Players can still use FISH for in-game actions until the shutdown, but the token can no longer be traded or transferred.

The team also open sourced its Karma scores, making the data available for other studios and partners to use. Karma is the reputation metric the game used to track player activity and contribution, and it now sits in a public repository.

How Funds Will Be Returned

Uncharted is trying to return remaining value to its player base before closing. All USDC held in the FISH/USDC liquidity pool will be withdrawn and redistributed to players and stakers. The split is based on Karma scores, with a snapshot taken today, June 15, 2026. Activity after that point will not increase any user's payout.

Each player's share is calculated proportionally, based on their Karma score as a percentage of the total Karma recorded at snapshot time. There is no minimum threshold to qualify. Any account with more than zero Karma will receive something. The USDC payouts will be sent by airdrop to the Ronin wallet linked to each account.

On top of that, all non-diving USDC spending since the launch of Chapter 3 on May 14, 2026, will be refunded automatically. Diving purchases are excluded from this refund. Proof of Distribution rewards will also be handed out by Sky Mavis directly to the Fishing Frenzy community, again weighted by Karma scores.

The studio pointed players to a wiki FAQ for further questions and said the team would remain available in its Discord to respond to the community during the closing period.

Inside Fishing Frenzy

Fishing Frenzy is a cozy onchain RPG built by Uncharted and powered by Ronin. The play-to-earn title drew its design from Stardew Valley, Dave the Diver, and Runescape, blending relaxed fishing loops with a deeper player-driven economy. Players could cast a line, hook a catch, reel it in, then cook, trade, and upgrade their way through the world.

The gameplay leaned on timing. Holding a button cast the line, bubbles signaled a bite, and a mini-game handled the reel-in. Longer casts consumed more energy but pulled in rarer and more valuable fish. Players sold their catch for gold, spent gold on sushi to refill energy, and completed daily and special quests for extra rewards. The web3 title ran free in a browser, with sign-in options ranging from email and Google to Ronin Wallet and MetaMask.

The future-of-play title launched in late 2024 and migrated from Telegram to Ronin, where it grew quickly. Reported figures put the game at around 9 million installs, with daily active users measured in the tens of thousands. Earlier metrics showed a peak of 50,000 daily active users, roughly 130,000 USD in in-app purchases, and about 600,000 USD in trading volume across its four NFT collections. The studio later cited around 1 million USD in revenue. Its Founders Collection capped at 888 NFTs, minted through Ronin's Mavis Launchpad.

Chapter 3, the game's most recent major update, arrived on May 14, 2026, adding boss fish and Guild Wars to the experience. That content drop is also the cutoff point for the USDC refund tied to the shutdown.

The Sky Mavis Connection

Sky Mavis, the developer of Axie Infinity and core contributor to the Ronin network, served as Fishing Frenzy's publishing and advisory partner. The relationship was announced in April 2025, marking Sky Mavis' first game studio alliance after Ronin opened to outside teams. Fishing Frenzy became the first permissionless Ronin game to receive official Sky Mavis support, and the first to upgrade from the permissionless zkEVM version of Ronin to the main chain.

That backing brought deeper publishing, marketing, and technical support to Uncharted's fishing RPG. Sky Mavis said at the time that it partnered with teams showing real traction and a long-term commitment to Ronin. Fishing Frenzy sat alongside titles like Axie Infinity and Pixels as one of the network's actively shipping games through early 2026.

Sky Mavis stays involved through the shutdown, handling the direct distribution of Proof of Distribution rewards to the community based on Karma scores.

A Wider Look at Uncharted

Uncharted was led by founder Derek Lau and built more than just its fishing title. The studio previously shipped Gangster Arena and Blast the Balloon, both deployed on the Blast chain. Fishing Frenzy became its most visible product after the move to Ronin, where it leaned into onchain features and a high-stakes economy layer on top of casual gameplay.

The closure lands during an active period for the Ronin ecosystem. The network completed its Ethereum Layer 2 migration in May 2026, using the OP Stack, and pushed RON inflation from over 20 percent down to under 1 percent. Marketplace fees flowing to the Ronin treasury rose from 0.5 percent to 1.25 percent. Ronin also scheduled the shutdown of Axie Infinity Classic for June 24, 2026, placing two notable closures within days of each other.

Why This Matters for Web3 Gaming

The shutdown is a clear signal of how hard sustainable economics remain for play-to-earn games, even with strong early numbers and a major partner. Fishing Frenzy posted millions of installs, real revenue, and a peak of 50,000 daily users, yet Uncharted concluded those signs did not point to a lasting business.

The decision to refund recent spending and redistribute pooled USDC sets a community-first tone for the wind-down, rather than a silent disappearance. Players keep access until June 25, 2026, and Karma scores now live in the open for other teams to study or reuse.

In its closing notice, the team thanked everyone who supported the project and said it remains grateful to the community and investors who gave their time and trust.