Recently youtuber Coffeezilla investigated the controversial CryptoZoo project which was founded by Logan Paul and Eddie Ibanez. CryptoZoo is a Pokemon inspired animal collectable game which has not been produced. Investors were encouraged to buy CryptoZoo tokens to purchases eggs which would hatch into animals. This process is designed to breed animals and create an active secondary market ecosystem to attract interest and activity before the game was launched. Logan Paul spent a lot of time on his podcast and on social media shilling this game stating that the animal art and designs were made by 10 artists over a 6-month period. It has now been proven that the “art” was taken from google images. Furthermore, the “game” didn’t even work properly, and most investors weren’t even able to hatch their CryptoZoo animals.

It has been estimated that $2.3 million dollars was spent on eggs, and much more was spent acquiring tokens. A few people on the development team cashed out for $7 million at the height of the launch. There have been multiple instances of Logan Paul and members of the CryptoZoo saying they are working on fixing the problems, but nothing has been done yet. It is also important to note, most of the developers who worked on this work claim that they were not paid for development (not that the development worked anyway….)

“It's a really fun game that makes you money” – Logan Paul

Therdz’s Opinion:

This is a classic example of social media stars and crypto influencers like Logan Paul monetizing their audiences in an unethical and sometimes illegal way. Quite frankly, this was not about “fun” or a “game” or to “share with your friends”. It was all about money. And this is one of the problems with crypto gaming and crypto in general. Most people are fundamentally here to make money.

This is presently a dead project that Logan Paul keeps claiming he will revive and work on, but the reality is, even if he repairs some of it, the intention behind this project wasn’t making a good game. In this industry we need to be braver about calling out these rats. He is not the first and will not be the last. When the crypto gaming age comes in there will be many more projects like this. It is important to development fundamental skills to help identify clear red flags and consider solid green flags, of which the most important is a game that is genuinely fun and made to be played.