This Week In Gaming | Avalanche $1M Builder Contest, Pixels Gameplay Expansion, FAR Labs Moves to BNB Chain

Web3 Game Development

Avalanche Launches $1M Build Games Builder Competition Read More

Avalanche has launched Build Games, a six-week online builder competition with a $1 million prize pool aimed at developers building web3 games, applications, and tools on Avalanche. Open to builders at all stages, the program focuses on sustained development from concept to working prototype, supported by mentors, workshops, and office hours. Applications open on January 20, 2026, with top teams eligible for prizes, grants, and long-term ecosystem support beyond the competition.

FAR Labs Advances AI Gaming Strategy with BNB Chain Migration Read More

FAR Labs has outlined its vision for the future of AI and gaming, positioning itself as a core AI gaming infrastructure platform while maintaining Farcana as a standalone competitive third-person shooter. By migrating to BNB Chain, FAR Labs aims to deliver faster performance, lower transaction costs, and broader access through Binance Wallet, enabling scalable AI compute, token utilities, and backend services. This separation allows Farcana to focus on gameplay quality and competitive depth, while FAR Labs develops decentralized AI infrastructure to support multiple games and applications. The move reflects a shift toward treating blockchain and AI as underlying infrastructure rather than front-facing features, aligning web3 gaming more closely with traditional, player-first design principles.

Pixels Rolls Out Major Animal Care Gameplay Expansion Read More

Pixels has released a major Animal Care update, significantly expanding progression, crafting, and land-based gameplay across its ecosystem. The update introduces new animal types, a reworked feeding and gathering loop, offspring incubation mechanics, and baby animals, turning animals into active, strategic resources rather than passive assets. Crafting systems have been expanded with over 150 new recipes and the addition of the Alchemic Forge for high-tier tools and potions, while NFT Land mechanics and economic balances have been reworked. New quests guide players through the updated systems, and VIP players gain streamlined taskboard access directly from the HUD. Overall, the update deepens long-term gameplay loops and strengthens the role of Animal Care within Pixels’ web3 economy.

Solana-Based “Prison Simulator” Ponzi-Style Game Opens Registration Read More

A new experimental on-chain game, “The Most Unhinged Prison Simulator,” has opened registration on Solana via jailed.fun, with sign-ups closing in 48 hours. Created by @pndmdotorg, the project is described as a prison-themed simulation with Ponzi-like mechanics, positioning itself as a satirical on-chain economic experiment rather than a traditional game. Built on Solana, it leverages fast, low-cost transactions and is set to launch soon, drawing early attention from crypto-native and Solana ecosystem communities.

Corners Launches Onchain Curation Economy on Base Read More

Corners has officially launched on Base with support from The Sandbox, introducing a market-driven approach to internet content curation. The platform allows users to create “Corners,” topic-based collections of links that function as onchain markets where relevance is determined by community participation rather than algorithms. Each Corner has an associated coin that enables stake-weighted voting, rewarding users for discovering, contextualizing, and surfacing high-signal content. By turning curation into an incentivized activity, Corners positions discovery as an economic layer within the creator economy, expanding onchain participation beyond content creation into relevance signaling at internet scale.

Football.Fun Updates Final NFL Season Tournaments and Rewards Read More

Football.Fun has announced key updates ahead of the final two tournaments before the NFL season ends. Tournament 1 runs from Jan 19 to Jan 26 with lowered eligibility requirements of two active players and five points, a boosted TP reward pool, and unchanged reward splits by position; due to low participation, only 83% of the pool is expected to be distributed, with the remaining 17% rolling into the final tournament. Tournament 2, coinciding with the NFL season finale, will maintain the lower eligibility threshold and feature another boosted reward pool. Additionally, Football.Fun has introduced an MVP Bonus, awarding the top three highest-scoring players 6%, 3%, and 1% of the TP pool respectively, excluding off-season TP calculations.

Airdrop & Free Mints & Launchpad

Parallel TCG Prime League Major III Swiss Rounds Underway Jan 24-25 with $75K Pool Read More

Parallel TCG, a sci-fi trading card game on Epic Games Store integrated with the Echelon ecosystem for PRI 0.00%↑ ME token gameplay rewards, has started Prime League Major III—the final regular season major—for top 128 ladder players. Swiss rounds (3 decks from 3 Parallels, best-of-3 conquest with one ban) run through January 25, advancing top 13 to the Top 16 single-elim bracket (4 decks from 4 Parallels, best-of-5) on January 31-February 1, for a $75,000 prize pool where top cuts take the majority plus league points and a Prime Championship seat

Moonbirds $BIRB TGE Launches Jan 28 on Solana Read More

Moonbirds, the Ethereum-based owl PFP NFT collection launched in 2022 with over 10,000 items and a peak floor price above 30 ETH, has announced its $BIRB token generation event on Solana for January 28, 2026; pre-market trading is live on MEXC around $0.20, while around 255,000 wallets have claimed Soulbound Tokens via partner protocols like Jupiter, Aster, and Byreal for airdrop eligibility at minting.moonbirds.com/landingpage.