More crypto gaming studios are likely to face the chopping block in 2026, according to Jeff JiHoz Zirlin, co-creator of Axie Infinity and co-founder of Ronin Network. “You’re going to see a lot of teams die,” he said during a recent interview with gaming influencer Yellow Panther. Zirlin argued that many studios have fallen into a dangerous mindset, telling themselves that crypto gaming downturns or recoveries aren’t really affecting us. “I’m not throwing shade on games on other chains too; that will also happen on games on Ronin,” he said.
Funding runways are growing short across the Web3 gaming sector. A Blockchain Gaming Alliance survey found that 32.6% of gaming developers cited cash shortages as their biggest challenge to staying in the industry.
Yield Guild Games co-founder Gabby Dizon told Magazine that “generally it’s really hard to ship a successful game and games shut down all the time.” Crypto games that shut down in 2025 include Ember Sword, Nyan Heroes, Deadrop, and Pirate Nation.
The comments follow Zirlin’s recent claim that Axie Infinity plans to take bigger swings in 2026 to revive the excitement of crypto gaming’s 2021 peak. “In 2026 we’ll take much larger risks,” Zirlin said in an X post, reflecting on 2025 when he admitted the project had been too conservative.
Crypto gaming veteran Jihoz Zirlin warns that 2026 could bring a tougher year for studios as downturns and funding pressures bite. He argues that many teams have fallen into a mindset that downturns won’t affect them, a stance he says is dangerous given shrinking capital. He added that 2025 was overly conservative and that 2026 would require bolder bets to push the ecosystem forward.
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