Token distribution caused controversy, and the game Hamster Kombat, which once popularized massage guns, has still offended players

Author: Anna Kharton, Olivia Capozzalo

Compiled by: Zen, PANews

Whether you are one of the loyal players of the Telegram-based click-to-earn game "Hamster Kombat" or completely indifferent to it, the buzz surrounding this game has been real since its launch this spring.

With "Notcoin" as a precedent, most of the news about "Hamster Kombat" has begun to focus on the release and price predictions of its native token HMSTR, following the game's registration of over ten million accounts. Now, as the first season of the game has concluded since its launch in March, players have started accusing the team of unfair treatment and alleging false promises.

As of last weekend, the resources accumulated by players as part of the game's promised reward system have been converted into HMSTR tokens, which are expected to be sent out in the form of airdropped tokens during the TGE. The game team also revealed more information about token supply and distribution in a post on the X platform. The team stated that of the planned supply of 100 billion HMSTR tokens, 75% will be reserved for the community, and 60% of the tokens will be distributed to the game's users at the end of the first season.

According to the team's post on the X platform, this kind of "hamster math" continues: of the 60% HMSTR token supply allocated to users, 88.75% will be distributed during this week's token airdrop and listing, while the remaining portion will be locked and can only be unlocked 10 months after the token goes live on exchanges. The team also promised an additional airdrop of 15% of 100 billion tokens during the upcoming second season of "Hamster Kombat."

Since March, according to the "Hamster Kombat" team, the game has had up to 300 million users. Among these users, only a little over half, or 131 million players, are eligible to receive token rewards in the highly anticipated airdrop, which is officially scheduled for September 26. Additionally, 2.3 million players have been identified as cheating users and are completely banned from participating in the token distribution.

Disappointing Token Distribution

Since the "Hamster Kombat" team released an announcement on Sunday, many users have expressed their dissatisfaction with the token distribution process and criteria on the X platform, believing that the number of tokens they received is far below the time and effort they invested.

The HMSTR token is set to be listed and open for trading on exchanges later this week after the airdrop, but several mainstream exchanges have already conducted pre-market trading for HMSTR tokens in both spot and futures contracts. Its price varies from 0.01 USDT to 0.1 USDT across different platforms, leaving players confused about the actual value of the tokens they received.

From comments in the community, based on the highest USDT prices across exchanges, ordinary users have earned less than $50 for hundreds of hours of gameplay.

A player in the Telegram community nicknamed Timbo stated that he has been playing the game almost from the beginning, spending about 4-5 hours a day for two months, and earned around 500 tokens. As time went on, the buzz around the game and the upcoming token release grew, meaning more and more players were promised token allocations upon release. "Over time, my interest gradually faded. The game itself isn't that fun. As for potential earnings, I didn't expect much— the number of players has become very large, and everyone needs to be rewarded," Timbo said.

"Cheater" Determination Raises Questions

Another wave of negative sentiment arose when "Hamster Kombat" announced that 2.3 million players would be excluded from the token distribution. According to the project team, the ban was to address those allegedly attempting to gain game rewards through improper means, such as clicking from multiple devices, playing from different accounts, or cheating through referrals. The project team cited examples: "One person connected over 400 accounts to the same Binance address, while another invited nearly 2,000 'friends,' all of whom were flagged by our anti-cheat system."

However, some of the criteria for determining cheating seem quite controversial, with one of the most shocking penalties being the purchase of keys. Keys are important game items introduced later, which also carry significant weight in the airdrop. According to the game rules, users need to complete a mini-game to obtain keys, but some players chose to spend money to buy them directly, skipping the mini-game. The "Hamster Kombat" game system allows users to purchase keys without any warning or indication that this behavior is against the rules. However, this action was clearly deemed "cheating" in the airdrop, allegedly resulting in players being banned from receiving tokens.

Several members of the "Hamster Kombat" Telegram chat group posted a message that included the following:

"Some of my friends did nothing wrong but were mistakenly listed as cheaters. This injustice severely damages the trust within the community and creates an atmosphere of distrust."

These players, deemed by the project team to have violated the so-called "game rules," received only a simple status at the end of the first season: "Cheating is bad." The Telegram chat of the "Hamster Kombat" community was immediately flooded with complaints, with members arguing that the distribution criteria were unfair and demanding that the administrators reconsider and redistribute the tokens. Users on Telegram expressed dissatisfaction at being labeled as cheaters suddenly at the end of the season, pointing out that they had spent a significant amount of time on the game.

"When the project started, no one knew what violations would occur, and suddenly at the end of the project, there was a ban, using ridiculous excuses to distribute tokens to fewer people." A self-identified player complained on the X platform that he had played for four months, collected over 200 keys, earned 8.36 million HMSTR per hour, set alarms, and tracked the "rise time" of cards. "Now you tell me I don't deserve it. Hamster (Hamster Kombat) is a scam."

Meanwhile, the hashtag #boycotthamsterkombat is trending on the X platform— as of the writing of this article, the number of tweets under this hashtag has exceeded 22,000.

How is Token Distribution Determined?

According to community reports, the number of tokens players receive is determined based on the following criteria:

• The total number of coins collected by the user throughout the period
• The number of friends invited by the user to join the game
• The number of coins earned by the user through passive income
• The number of keys won by the user in mini-games
• The number of daily tasks completed by the user

Tokens in "Hamster Kombat" are divided into several categories: total HMSTR, claimed, next unlock, and unclaimed. However, the game does not provide explanations for these different categories.

It turns out that the most significant factor determining the number of tokens each player receives is not the passive income HMSTR tokens earned through playing the game, but rather the number of friends invited through referral links. From comments on social media, ordinary users are most dissatisfied with the logic of token distribution, as they have spent a lot of time actually playing the game, trying to break into the top 100 players, completing tasks, etc. These players are the core of the community and may not have extensive social networks like YouTube influencers to invite "friends" through sharing referral links to earn more tokens.

Did "Hamster Kombat" deceive everyone? With a large-scale token distribution plan and reported user statistics, the game still hopes to achieve one of the largest airdrops in the crypto space. Players who have linked their wallets to "Hamster Kombat" accounts are expected to receive their allocated tokens during this week's airdrop event, which can then be traded on major exchanges like Binance and OKX.

Given the reportedly large number of users playing "Hamster Kombat," it may not be surprising that the tokens players receive are less than expected. Considering the total token supply is capped at 100 billion, and there are hundreds of millions of reported users, the math becomes at least somewhat clear, although this is disappointing for most players.

In any case, the value of the earnings calculated by users in fiat currency will only become truly clear once the HMSTR token goes live for spot trading on September 26 and players actually receive the tokens they have been eagerly awaiting.

Russian Experts Warn of Selling Pressure on Tokens

According to RTVI, independent experts in the crypto field combating financial crime, Viktor Pershikov stated that those "hoping to get rich by playing 'Hamster Kombat'" are "finding their expectations unmet." The media noted that many were disappointed to learn that "after playing the game for several months," their efforts "could only yield $5 to $15" in returns. Pershikov also stated that the game and its team "never promised to make anyone rich," and that when players eventually start trading their HMSTR tokens for fiat currency, the token price "will face pressure."

Telegram is the preferred messaging app for most citizens in Russia, and the wildly popular "Hamster Kombat" naturally enjoys high popularity in the country. Some players even purchased massage guns to enhance their tapping abilities. Many e-commerce sellers have also promoted the use of their massage guns for "hitting hamsters," driving sales growth of these massage guns on Russian e-commerce platforms.

The Russian information and socio-political electronic newspaper "Fontanka.ru" reported on "Hamster Kombat" on September 22, stating that one of its employees' "eight-year-old son" had "mined" for a total of 120 days of "Bitcoin." Ultimately, the boy's "earnings amounted to about 4.3 rubles ($0.046)."

Some commenters expressed their dissatisfaction in the comments section of the Fontanka Ru article, with one Russian social media user lamenting, "How did we go from being the most educated and literate country in the world to this?"