Hamster Kombat “Messy” Controversy: Are Players Being Cheated?

Many cryptocurrency projects struggle to survive beyond their initial airdrops, as participants often cash out immediately. Hamster Kombat may soon face a similar challenge.

$10 Earning Cap?

According to various predictions, most Hamster Kombat players are expected to earn a maximum of $10 each when the HMSTR token begins trading on exchanges like Binance and OKX on Thursday, September 26, at 12:00 PM UTC.

This forecast follows a controversial airdrop earlier this week, where the project was accused of unfair distribution. Hamster Kombat disqualified 2.3 million users in September, issuing a notice with the message, “Cheating is bad.” This action aimed to safeguard the rewards of legitimate gamers ahead of the token launch on the TON network.

Players Excluded!

Interestingly, only 43% of the 131 million users who have played the game since its March 26 launch on Telegram received the HMSTR airdrop. Approximately 2.3 million users were banned for cheating, though many did not meet the stated criteria. Hamster Kombat, which claims to have 300 million players, has now become the largest “clicker game” in the space.

Token Lock-Up Frustrates Community

In a last-minute announcement, the team revealed that 11.25% of the 60 billion HMSTR tokens allocated to community members for Season 1 will be locked for 10 months. This means users cannot sell those tokens until the lock-up period ends, further frustrating many players.

Several points of contention have emerged, including the small allocation to regular players, the banning of legitimate gamers, and reports of influencers receiving larger airdrops than regular users.

Backlash Erupts

Following the publication of the airdrop allocation results on September 21, users took to social media with hashtags like #BoycottHamster and #HamsterIsScammer, accusing the project of unfair treatment. With these mounting complaints, many predict high volatility for the HMSTR token when it hits the market.

Early forecasts estimate the token’s price will fall between $0.001 and $0.005 per token, based on previous Binance Launchpool listings and the hype surrounding its play-to-earn (P2E) features.

HMSTR vs Other TON Projects

Crypto analyst Gautamgg compared Hamster Kombat to Notcoin, the first tap-to-earn project on the TON blockchain. Notcoin’s native token, NOT, debuted at $0.0075 and achieved a market cap of $700 million.

Gautamgg expects HMSTR to launch between $0.008 and $0.009 per token, in line with Notcoin’s performance. Based on a circulating supply of 60 billion tokens, the HMSTR token’s initial market cap is projected to be between $504 million and $567 million.

For players holding 1,000 HMSTR tokens, Gautamgg’s predictions suggest an initial value of around $8—though he anticipates a rapid price drop soon after listing.

Criticism Increases – Where’s the Transparency?

In an X post, the analyst criticized the Hamster Kombat team for “lacking experience”. He said that “they’re making crazy money from YouTube (views & ads) by doing this. It’s pretty clear their focus is on profiting from content”. He noted that “the Project doesn’t have any actual use case or utility. There’s no impressive roadmap for the future.”

Gautamgg also labeled the team as “unprofessional,” claiming they acted like social media influencers by encouraging sign-ups on exchanges through referral codes, likely to fulfill undisclosed deals. The lack of transparency around the project’s founders and core team members, he noted, is a major red flag.

Community Calls for Boycott

As the controversy grows, many users are calling for a boycott of the game and urging others to unfollow the influencers associated with Hamster Kombat. Numerous videos of YouTubers promising significant airdrop earnings have emerged, with some now turning against the project while pretending to support the community. These actions are being seen as deliberate deception.

The Hamster Kombat team has yet to address these viral complaints directly, except to maintain a defensive stance regarding claims of wrongful player restrictions.

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The HMSTR saga raises important questions about the future of play-to-earn games and the potential for scams in the crypto world.