The Tokyo Games Foundation has officially released the whitepaper for Project U, revealing a full pivot away from Tokyo Beast and signaling a new direction centered on betting and racing. The announcement, made on October 19, confirms that the team will no longer continue development on its earlier title and is now focused on building a "deflationary" web3 economy powered by the $TGT token.

Goodbye Tokyo Beast, Hello Project U

When Tokyo Games first announced its comeback last week, many thought that it would involve the revival of Tokyo Beast, the studio's first and only launched game. But the newly published whitepaper tells a different story. While Tokyo Beast is still mentioned in a separate section, all the focus has now shifted to Project U. The new game introduces a system built around "betting fandom" rather than the strategic combat of Tokyo Beast.

Project U is described as a new type of web3 game designed to attract betting fans, character collectors, and those interested in NFT-based systems. The team claims this project is the result of deep reflection on the failures of their first title and their experience in the GameFi space.

Betting Fandom: A New Core Philosophy

At the center of Project U is a concept the team calls "Betting Fandom." This theme reflects 3 main goals: building a passionate betting community, forming emotional ties with their character NFTs, and creating power through fandom scale. This isn't just about gambling. It's also about character stories, visual appeal, and collectible value.

Still, the betting angle is taking center stage. The game will feature multiple races per day where players can place bets with $TGT, the platform's main token. The interface is said to be simple and easy to use. Rewards are given to successful bettors, while character owners earn a cut of all wagers placed on their NFTs.

Legal Betting at the Core

One of the biggest shifts is the focus on legal betting. According to the whitepaper, betting will be the main mechanic in Project U. Players can win $TGT by accurately predicting race outcomes, and each race includes payout systems, rankings, and grade levels. From Pre-OP open-entry races to top-tier G1 matches, higher levels can be unlocked through race performance and fan growth.

There are also auto and manual entry systems that allow players to automate their race entries or choose matches manually. Every bet placed will burn a small amount of $TGT. 

Total Shift in Tokenomics: $TGT Will be Deflationary

Project U also brings a strict no-mint policy for $TGT. There will be no new issuance, no airdrops, and no traditional "play to earn." 

Every major in-game action now consumes $TGT. These include betting (1% burn), breeding (100% burn), race entry fees (100% burn), breeding rentals (10% burn), and auctions (100% burn). This approach seeks to create a deflationary economy by destroying token supply every time a player interacts with the system.

Breeding Without Inflation

Breeding is another area where the team is trying to avoid past mistakes. In many GameFi projects, breeding often leads to inflation as player-owned NFTs multiply unchecked. But in Project U, character NFTs have a tightly controlled supply model.

Each character can only be bred twice. After the first breeding, parents lose racing eligibility within a week. New characters must wait a week before they can breed. This is to ensure the overall number of race-eligible characters doesn't grow over time. Skills and traits are inherited through a mix of random outcomes, earned points, and special NFTs. Even visual appearance is inherited, with players given the exclusive right to name new characters.

No Scholarships, No Delegation

The game also doesn't include a scholarship system. In Project U, only NFT owners can perform key game actions such as training or racing their characters. There is no support for delegated play or copy NFTs. The only alternative to ownership is betting.

Characters can still be rented out for breeding in exchange for a fee. When a character is rented, one breeding count is consumed from that NFT, and 10% of the rental fee in $TGT will be burned.

NFT Auctions in Project U

Character NFTs also won't be given away for free. They can only be obtained through auctions or secondary markets. Every auction will accept only $TGT, and all tokens used in those auctions will be permanently burned. 

Community Reaction: Mixed and Concerned

While the whitepaper offers more structure than past Tokyo Games announcements, the community response has been mixed. On X, multiple web3 figures questioned the new direction.

Ryan Ever, CEO of Bravo Ready, said the project gave off "big promises, low delivery" vibes and questioned the complexity of building legal betting features. "Where is the years of development? Is this a white label?" he asked, pointing to the team's vague claim that Project U will be using a "big IP".

Ronin ambassador Tr3vor posted: "horse racing? what is this, pegaxy?", referencing the once-hyped horse racing title that fell off due to unsustainable systems.

Other responses were more neutral but skeptical. One user asked if the TGT VIP Card NFT now hold any value. Another told the team to "keep building, but more importantly please ship."

Still, a few voices remained optimistic. One supporter called the no-new-token rule "bullish," while another urged others to "trust in the vision."

Tokyo Beast: A Costly Lesson

This shift to betting comes just 2 months after the shutdown of Tokyo Beast. First launched worldwide in June 2025, Tokyo Beast was a 3D web3 game with real-time 4v4 battles and breeding mechanics. It drew over 300,000 downloads in its first week and generated over $1 million in revenue. But by July, the team confirmed the game would close down due to high costs.

Part of the failure came from giving out too many rewards, including large cash prizes during promotions, and not having a token model that supported long-term value. While the platform gave out refunds in USDC, one of the few structured refund plans in web3 gaming, the project shut down fully in August, and communication ended for weeks.

Then on October 15, the team returned with a surprise comeback post, saying they had "analyzed every failure" and were rebuilding with legal betting as the core feature.

Questions Remain About Execution

While the Project U whitepaper provides new insights, many details are still missing. There's no release date, no early access timeline, and no clarity on the IP they say they will use. The whitepaper says the project is "leveraging BIG IP" to build a stronger web3 experience, but doesn't name any franchises or brands.

There's also very little info about character visuals, game style, or platform availability. Players don't yet know if Project U will be browser-based, mobile, or downloadable.

At this stage, Project U remains in the pre-release phase. The whitepaper promises more updates to come and hints at continued refinement.