Axie Infinity disappoints users with latest Land update

Users of play-to-earn game Axie Infinity have expressed anger over the firm’s unclear signals around the launch of Land, its flagship first-party game, by December 2022.

Land, also known as Project K, is a game under development that will allow digital pets called Axies to build bases, gather resources, and use crafting mechanics to compete against others for control of Lunacia – the Axie homeland owned, operated, and controlled by players.

Photo credit: Axie Infinity

The project’s demo version was launched in December 2020, allowing users to buy plots of land and populate them with Axies, harvest resources, and craft items, or operate shops.

Phil La, the product lead at Sky Mavis, in a recent livestream with Andrew Zyori Campbell, a founding member of Dota Radio,  said that one of the “big reasons” for the delay in the alpha launch of the game was the absence of a game director or an art director. He later added that the company had eventually hired people for the roles in 2021.

La added that “a handful of engineers” had channeled their efforts into building battles and were only looking to test a few concepts in Land. However, the additional demos for Land that were built in 2021 did not meet the standards required to publish an alpha version of the game.

The delay in the launch of the game has also raised concerns over the opportunity cost of holding investments in Land over the past few years.

we need @axieinfinity land staking for $axs rewards this year. there’s no room for debate.

i’ve lived through 4 iterations of the roadmap. time to pay for delays, @skymavishq.

there was zero good news. no reason to present. 2 people were in a room working my life investment. pic.twitter.com/kSecAOj5xa

— cloudwhite☁️ (@cloudwhiteNFT) April 11, 2022

“Everyone on our team empathizes with our players who have been waiting really patiently for the land now that they’ve purchased for so long and don’t have any utility yet,” La said in response. “The delay will definitely be something we’ll consider and factor in whenever we start releasing the gameplay and rewards through Land.”