Gala Games is currently navigating a turbulent period. Its native token, GALA, has plummeted by 75%, exacerbated by the announcement of the shutdown of The Walking Dead: Empires set for July 2025. The gaming community is left wondering if GALA can rebound.
Gaming enthusiasts seek engaging experiences complemented by impressive visuals and opportunities to earn from their gameplay. To this end, Gala Games pioneered a platform designed to reward players through smart contracts.
By integrating NFTs and the native GALA tokens, players initially saw substantial returns from in-game NFTs during the bullish market of 2021.
Gala Games Challenges
Despite its ambitious vision and strategic market positioning, Gala Games has been in a steady decline recently. Presently, GALA stands as a top gaming token, trailing only FLOKI and Immutable (IMX), which operates on the Ethereum layer-2 environment tailored for NFT decentralized apps.
However, GALA has experienced a sell-off, dropping 15% within a week, reflecting a broader trend among cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin that are also facing declines. Once thriving, it is now down 75% from its peak in 2024, and 2025 has largely been characterized by significant losses.
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The Walking Dead: Empires Shut Down Announcement
The questions arise: what led to this predicament for Gala Games, considering its popularity and value? A spate of unfortunate events with damaging consequences has surfaced over recent months. Gala Games entered the market scene with anticipation through its announcement of The Walking Dead: Empires in 2021. This launch coincided with the NFT and DeFi boom, which subsequently inflated crypto valuations dramatically.
After persevering through the downturn of 2022, Gala Games shocked its audience by announcing the upcoming termination of the game in July 2025, dealing a heavy blow to its reputation. The Walking Dead: Empires, a survival MMORPG based on NFTs, permitted players to acquire Ethereum-based assets like land deeds, weapons, and characters—some prized at over $65,000.
Promising a free-to-play structure with optional NFT purchases aimed at both traditional gamers and NFT enthusiasts, it quickly gained traction during the hype of 2021. However, by April 2025, Gala Games revealed the project had not met expectations, leading to critiques from players concerning subpar gameplay and a heavy dependence on volatile NFT valuations.
The turmoil of the NFT market collapse in 2022, which dramatically affected prices, has particularly harmed players who heavily invested in NFTs or received Gala Games’ “Mystery Boxes”.
In response, Gala Games has announced plans to distribute NFTs from its gaming ecosystem to substitute for their previous The Walking Dead: Empires NFTs, pledging “equal functionality”. Critics have likened this move to a potential “rug pull”.
The Walking Dead: Empires officially rugs on $GALA
People paid upwards of $10K+ for lands & are now getting $2 mystery boxes — Jesus Martinez (@JesusMartinezEZ) April 30, 2025
Gamedia Legal Success
Tensions worsened following a 2024 lawsuit in favor of Gamedia, a previous development collaborator for Spider Tanks. A California court decision indicated that Gala Games fell short on provisions, such as revenue shares and development support.
This ruling followed a dispute between co-founders Eric Schiermeyer and Wright Thurston, alleging mishandling of $130 million in GALA tokens, a scenario that further depressed market prices as some token holders diversified into other investments, looking for exposure in high-potential 1000X cryptos.
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- GALA is down 75% from 2024 highs
- The Walking Dead: Empires will shut down in July 2025
- The 2022 NFT crash proved detrimental to Gala Games
- Gamedia wins despite Gala Games litigation
