A U.S. court ruled that Apple violated a 2021 injunction by continuing to block app developers from linking to external payment methods. This marks a major victory for Epic Games and could significantly benefit crypto and blockchain-based apps. Developers can now direct users to alternative payment systems without paying Apple’s commission. The ruling may force Apple to rethink its global strategy and opens the door for the return of Fortnite to the U.S. App Store. 

Alright, Web3 fitness fans, it’s happening again—Sweat Wallet (yes, the move-to-earn app that pays you for walking while the token price does the opposite) is leveling up. They’re officially going multichain, expanding from NEAR to Base, Ethereum, Arbitrum, and BNB. That’s right, now you can earn your sweet, sweet $SWEAT across more chains than a DeFi summer Ponzi. But wait—there’s AI now. Meet Mia, your new chain-abstracting, reward-managing, gas-smoothing AI chat buddy. She’s here to “hide” the blockchain part of blockchain, because apparently pressing buttons on a wallet is too much cardio for the average user. Mia helps you bridge tokens, swap assets, and manage rewards across all those chains without ever seeing a MetaMask popup. Gas fees? Just pay with $SWEAT. (Finally, utility!) Co-founder Oleg is calling it a game-changer, and NEAR's CEO is hyping this as some kind of holy union between AI and Web3 that’s going to revolutionize everyday life. Bold words for a pedometer with GPT. Also: new brand, new website (swe.at—yes, they really did that), and a demo coming live from Dubai E-Sports Festival on May 9. So what do we think—next step in mainstream adoption or just another AI-on-the-blockchain buzzword salad? Either way, I’m walking. For yield. Who's still stacking $SWEAT?

Well, the Arbitrum Gaming Catalyst Program—sorry, Arbitrum Gaming Ventures (because branding solves everything)—just dropped the first $10M from its $200M war chest. And surprise: the money's going to a bunch of already-successful projects backed by big names. Shocking, I know. Backed by Paradigm, Bitkraft, Framework, and a healthy dose of "please don't shut us down in 2025," AGV says it’s all about building a “vibrant gaming ecosystem.” Apparently, that starts by not giving a dime to smaller startups or riskier indie devs. Gotta love that "decentralization." Here’s the first lucky batch getting their bags: 🎮 Wildcard – Paul Bettner’s Playful Studios (yes, that Bettner). Launching on Steam, minted NFTs on Ethereum, and somehow ended up on Arbitrum. They're calling it a "Web2 MOBA." Sounds like a branding speedrun. Bonus: they're also launching a web3-native streaming platform called Thousands. You know, for all the web3 Twitch killers we totally needed. 🏴‍☠️ Proof of Play – The folks behind Pirate Nation, plus infrastructure projects like Apex and Boss Chain. Clearly going for the full-stack gamer/chainlord combo. 🕹️ Xai Network – An L3 “optimized for indie gaming,” which sounds like marketing code for “we’re gonna throw some Unity games on-chain and call it innovation.” 🧪 Hyve Labs – Distributing games across Twitter, Telegram, Farcaster, web browsers... basically everywhere except where people are actually playing games. 🦖 T-Rex – A consumer app chain picked mainly because the team is in Southeast Asia. Because nothing screams ecosystem growth like geo-based VC bingo. According to AGV’s Rick Johanson, they’re “supporting high-quality experiences” and “meaningful engagement.” Translation: If you don’t already have traction, a VC buddy, or a Steam deal, maybe try again next cycle. So yeah, $10M down, $190M to go. Place your bets: next cohort will feature more shiny names, or will they finally throw a bone to the garage devs actually experimenting with Web3? Thoughts? Copium or actual catalyst?

Mattel has paused its flagship NFT initiative, Hot Wheels Virtual Garage, announcing no further releases or features "for the foreseeable future" as it reevaluates its digital collectibles strategy. Launched in 2021, the project saw ten series in partnership with WAX. While existing redemptions will be honored, no new content is planned beyond 2024. The company says its NFT marketplace, collection portal, and Discord will remain active through 2025. The move reflects a wider trend of legacy brands retreating from NFT ventures, as legal scrutiny and waning hype take their toll—mirrored recently by Nike facing a $5 million lawsuit over its RTFKT project. Despite the pause, Mattel maintains it is exploring long-term Web3 opportunities across its brands.

Alright, remember when people said Web3 gaming is dead? Yeah, well, MapleStory Universe just casually minted 300,000 NFTs in half a day. No hype? No problem. MSU Scrolls dropped on Avalanche (because of course they did) and went full free-to-mint on OpenSea. One per wallet, so don’t even try to multi-wallet your way to glory, degen. What do these magical scrolls actually do? You get some shiny in-game goodies in MapleStory N, Nexon’s new PC MMORPG launching May 15. Will the loot be actually useful? No idea. But you’re telling me I can mint it for free and flex on Twitter? Done. The mint runs till May 12, but with numbers like these, better act before your grandma claims one. Some alpha from Nexpace (Nexon’s Web3 division): 972K unique wallets registered during the testnet 🤯 506K actual players touched the testnet 76% of in-game tokens were actually spent (unheard of) Half the people kept coming back to play TL;DR: Free mint + big IP + actual utility = Web3 gamer’s wet dream Nexon might actually get Web3 Avalanche getting some action that isn’t just on-chain ponzis Is this the turning point for real Web2 IPs entering Web3 with a clue? Or are we all just getting scroll-rugged with digital cosmetics? Time will tell, but I’m minted, I’m logged in, and I’m coping. Who's in?

Just when you thought Web3 gaming couldn’t get more on-brand, Adidas decided to lace up and jump into a third-person shooter. South Korean dev NDUS Interactive just announced a partnership with Adidas for their upcoming shooter-RPG hybrid, Xociety. Yep, you read that right—Adidas is dropping exclusive digital drip from their ALTS collection inside a Web3 shooter. Tactical sneakers confirmed? The whole thing was teased on X (where else), with a mysterious countdown to May 8 on a joint site. Because nothing screams mass adoption like a vague teaser and a ticking clock. What we do know: The collab is part of the Xociety Corporations (XCS) system, which lets you own, stake, and earn from in-game corporations. So now you’re not just fragging noobs—you’re a shareholder too. Exact utility of the Adidas gear? Still a mystery. Maybe boost your movement speed by 5% if you wear digital Yeezys. Maybe not. Xociety is launching on the SuiPlay0X1 handheld, because apparently Sui wants in on the crypto-Steam Deck race now too. Adidas has already danced with the usual suspects—BAYC, Doodles, Stepn—so this isn't their first rodeo. Still, it’s wild seeing them double down on in-game fashion with weapons flying around. So what’s next? Gucci-branded grenades in Illuvium? Lululemon power-leggings in Pixels? Either way, Web3 gaming continues to be the most entertaining mix of chaos, hype, and... haute couture. Bullish or just branded hopium?

Mattel has paused its flagship Hot Wheels Virtual Garage NFT project, stating there will be no new series or features "for the foreseeable future" as it reassesses its long-term digital collectibles strategy. Launched in 2021 with ten total series, the program partnered with WAX and allowed users to redeem digital collectibles for physical cars. Existing redemptions will still be honored, and the marketplace, collection portal, and Discord will remain active through at least 2025. The move reflects a broader industry trend, as traditional brands like Nike also face legal and strategic challenges with their NFT ventures. Mattel maintains it is developing a new Web3 approach and continues exploring future NFT options.

Alright, buckle up—GOAT Gaming just launched Amy, their first AlphaGOAT Pro AI agent, and she’s not just here to play games. She’s here to take your lunch money, send you a pity ticket for losing, and then flex her earnings wallet on you in public. Amy is being rolled out as a "tech preview" (read: soft launch hype machine) for the Q3 release of GOAT’s full AlphaGOAT Pro lineup. According to the team, Amy is a “fully autonomous gaming and earning engine”—because apparently NPCs were getting too passive for 2025. So what can Amy do?🎮 Play high-stakes games in real time (yes, against humans)📱 Roam the streets of X and Telegraph like a degenerate crypto degen💸 Hand out pity raffle tickets to the losers she demolishes🎁 Drop partner-exclusive prizes just because she feels generous🧠 Track her earnings publicly, because transparency = marketing gold Simon Davis (GOAT CEO) went full visionary mode, saying we haven’t had a real gameplay evolution in 10-15 years (RIP mobile gaming), but Amy’s the start of a new paradigm. "She’s an autonomous competitor, content creator, and social presence." So basically... Amy is the AI girlfriend your trading bot warned you about. Is this the future of gaming, or just Web3 trying to cosplay as Black Mirror again? I’ll let Amy decide—assuming she hasn’t blocked me yet. Anyone else lowkey terrified of losing to an AI and getting consoled with a “better luck next time” NFT?

In case you thought Web3 gaming couldn’t get more meta, Playtron just said “hold my controller.” The same team building the Windows-based GameOS (you know, the one powering Sui’s now-sold-out SuiPlay0X1 handheld flex toy) just announced their very own stablecoin for gamers — Game Dollar — dropping Q4 2025. Yes, they really called it that. Here’s the TL;DR:🎮 Built by Playtron + M0 Foundation💵 1:1 dollar-pegged stablecoin🏦 Backed by the M token → backed by U.S. Treasuries (TradFi but make it gaming)🔗 Launching first on Sui, then going multi-chain💸 Meant for subscriptions, purchases, rewards, and probably flexing your in-game bag📈 Oh — and it earns yield too (because of course it does) In Playtron’s words: “Gamers don’t just play anymore. They mint and trade.”Translation: "Sweaty 14-year-olds are now market participants." Meanwhile, M0’s architect chimed in saying: “Builders don’t care about licensing, they just want programmable dollars and fair profits.”Respect for the honesty — this is definitely about destiny and definitely not about squeezing transaction fees like it’s Candy Crush on hard mode. Honestly, though? A programmable stablecoin for gaming that actually holds value and earns yield sounds... kinda inevitable. If your Fortnite V-Bucks don’t pay you 5% APY by 2026, what are we even doing? With stablecoins moving $1.9 trillion on-chain in April alone, it’s clear this isn’t just another gimmick — it’s the financialization of fun, baby. What do you think? Next-gen infrastructure for gaming economies or just another stablecoin-shaped LARP until someone ragequits the market?

Gala Games has announced that its blockchain-based RPG The Walking Dead: Empires will shut down permanently by July 31, 2025. The game, which was built around Ethereum NFTs and inspired by the popular TV series, had been in beta since 2023. Despite players investing tens of thousands of dollars in NFT items such as land and weapons, these assets will soon lose their utility. Gala Games plans to compensate users with NFTs of "equal functionality" from other titles in its ecosystem. Many players have expressed disappointment, calling the move a "rug pull."