Aavegotchi Leaves Polygon: Migrate to Base and Close Geist Layer-3 Network

Bittime - Crypto game Aavegotchi announced it is leaving Polygon and migrate to Base. Apart from that, they will also close the Layer-3 Geist network. Check out the reasons in this article.

Please note, crypto game Aavegotchi is known as a pioneer of virtual pet based games NFT which has been present since 2020. 

This major decision was announced after voting by the Aavegotchi DAO community succeeded in reaching a quorum. The migration proposal was submitted directly by the game developer, Pixelcraft Studios.

About Aavegotchi

Aavegotchi is one of the oldest projects in the crypto gaming sector. This game combines the concepts of virtual pets, NFTs, and DeFi (Decentralized Finance) in one ecosystem. 

First launched in 2020, this crypto game is known for its utility token, GHST, which was launched in the same year. Meanwhile, game character NFTs were released in early 2021.

Amid the ups and downs of play-to-earn trends such as Axie Infinity, which boomed and then plummeted in 2021-2022, Aavegotchi continues to survive. However, increasing market pressures and changing player tastes meant the game had to take some pretty extreme adaptive steps—including moving away from Polygon.

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Reason Aavegotchi Migrate to Base

The main reason for crypto game Aavegotchi's migration to Base is due to the lack of development of the gaming sector on the Polygon network. 

In a statement, Aavegotchi founder CoderDan revealed that the stagnation of DeFi activity and the lack of gamer traction on Polygon made the team reconsider their long-term strategy.

"While in concept, the Geist network is great for the Aavegotchi ecosystem, reality shows that the benefits of running your own Layer-3 network are currently not worth the costs and challenges," said CoderDan.

He also added that running your own network requires large costs, developing special tools, and complicated onboarding of new users.

What Happened to Geist?

Geist is a Layer-3 network launched last year as a new experiment by Aavegotchi. This network was built with the help of technology from Arbitrum and Base. 

The concept is a "members only" system, where players pay a certain fee but can then earn special rewards from the game.

However, after a thorough evaluation and seeing the reality on the ground, Geist will finally be discontinued. This closure process occurred simultaneously with Aavegotchi's migration to Base.

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Aavegotchi Migration And The Impact on Players

Migration to the Base network is expected to take approximately 4-6 weeks. This is because most of the technical preparations were done beforehand when Geist was launched. 

All existing NFT assets on Polygon will be cloned and retained on the Base network. Legacy assets residing on the Polygon network will be “frozen” and cannot be reused, as the full transition to the new network continues.

For players and collectors, this means following a migration process to maintain access to the NFT characters and items they own. 

Additionally, GHST, the main token in the Aavegotchi ecosystem, also experienced price pressure with a drop of 4% in a day and 28% in a week. Currently, the price of GHST is recorded at around IDR 7,055, according to data from Coinmarketcap.

Crypto Gaming Network Closing Trend

Aavegotchi is not the only crypto gaming project to take major restructuring steps. In 2024, several gaming networks will also close their books. 

For example, Hytopia—a game similar to Minecraft—announced plans to close Hychain last February. The Treasure Project will also close Treasure Chain due to the budget crisis, and Xterio Chain officially ceases operations, with all assets moved to BNB Chain.

However, on the other hand, innovation still continues. For example, iCandy Interactive together with ZKsync maker, Matter Labs, launched a new network called ZKcandy that focuses on Ethereum-based mobile games.

FAQ

1. What is Aavegotchi?

Aavegotchi is an NFT collection game equipped with DeFi (Decentralized Finance) features. This crypto game allows players to stake their NFT avatars using interest-earning tokens, as well as interact within the Aavegotchi metaverse world.

2. Who is the founder of Aavegotchi?

Aavegotchi was founded by Jesse Johnson and his co-founder who uses the pseudonym, Coder Dan. Both are key figures behind Pixelcraft Studios and the Aavegotchi platform.

3. Is Aavegotchi part of the Aave project?

Although Aavegotchi received a grant from the Aave Ecosystem Grant, Aavegotchi is not an official Aave project. However, the relationship between the two is quite close. Aave founder Stani Kulechov was even Aavegotchi's first advisor.

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Reference 

Decrypt, Ethereum Game 'Aavegotchi' Will Dump Polygon for Base, Shutter Layer-3 Network, accessed April 9, 2025.

Author: Y