The Citadel Browser MMO Pitched Ethereum. Its Beta Left It Out.

The Citadel, a spaceship MMO played in a web browser, ended its closed beta on the 16th of October 2026. ^[1] When it announced a $3.3 million raise on the 8th of November 2023, its studio said the game would run on Ethereum. It said all of the game’s state, assets and logic would live on blockchain smart contracts. ^[2] The game’s FAQ, its Terms and the beta’s patch notes name no wallet, blockchain or token. Players signed up through Discord. ^{[3] [4] [1] [5] [6]} On the 21st of November 2023, the studio had said it would build new features off-chain first. It said it would build them on-chain only after its playtesting phase was complete. ^[7]

Unlike both traditional games and most blockchain games to date, The Citadel will host all of its game state, assets, and logic directly on blockchain smart contracts instead of conventional server-based architecture. ^[2]

Yee-Haw Monster Trucks, The Citadel’s studio, in a press release, the 8th of November 2023

What players risk

Players do not own what they earn in the game. The Citadel’s Terms say ships, items and in-game money are licensed to players, not owned by them. They have no guaranteed monetary value, and the studio can change, reset or remove them. ^[4] The Terms also bar trading accounts or items for real-world money unless the studio allows it. ^[4] The game’s website describes it as having “a real-money economy”. ^[8]

Accounts, ships, inventory, currencies, progression, and other virtual items are licensed service features, not personal property. They have no guaranteed monetary value and may be balanced, modified, reset, or removed as part of development or enforcement. ^[4]

The Citadel’s Terms, effective the 18th of August 2026

The Terms also cover saved progress. They say stored data may be reset without notice while the game is in development. The studio does not promise to keep early-access data, or that every feature will reach a final release. ^[4] If paid products come later, the Terms say prices and refund rights will be shown before purchase. ^[4]

The studio has already changed items players held. A patch on the 11th of October 2026 cut turret and missile damage bonuses. The studio said the cut would make fights last longer. The patch also scaled down the same bonuses on items players already owned. ^[1]

Players can also lose what they bring into a fight. The FAQ says a player’s ship and unsecured cargo are at risk inside a Breach, a timed zone that many players share. When a ship is destroyed, other players can claim what it carried, except cargo kept in protected slots. ^[3]

Trading between players costs money as well. The same patch let players run their own stores. A listing cost 2.5% of the asking price. Each sale paid a hub tax of 9.5% from both sides, or 7.5% at the Greylock hub. ORE is what players mine and trade with. An item priced at 1,000 ORE cost its buyer 1,095 ORE and paid its seller 905. ^[1] The FAQ says the wider market is still being introduced during early access. ^[3]

The 2023 plan

The game’s 2023 design was built around a DAO, a group that runs a project through votes on a blockchain. On the 7th of November 2023, the team said all money from the game’s first mint would go to the DAO. The mint was to raise money from players by creating new blockchain assets. ^[9] Investors bought 20.86% of a company the team formed apart from The Citadel itself. The company raised at a $16 million post-money valuation. ^[9]

The team said it would ask the DAO for 15% of new governance assets from weekly auctions. It would also ask for 15% of the first mint’s supply and 20% of marketplace royalties, fees paid when items are resold, if there were any. It said that part was likely to change. The team and its investors could only start receiving those assets after four years. ^[9] It said ore was not for sale. None would go to the team or its investors. ^[9] There is no information yet on whether that plan still holds.

1kx, a crypto fund, led the 2023 round. Shima Capital, Hashed, Matchbox DAO and Ready Player DAO put money in too, along with several angel investors. ^[2]

Is a token coming?

There is no information yet on whether The Citadel will issue a token. Phyzix Teacher joined the core team as project manager in December 2022. ^[10] On the 20th of October 2026, he posted about web3 game economies. ^[11]

None of this is unique to web3, btw. But what’s always excited me about a truly web3 economy is that players can own a share of the value their economy creates. ^[11]

Phyzix Teacher, of The Citadel, on X, the 20th of October 2026

Under the beta’s Terms, players’ items are licensed to them, not owned. ^[4]

What people are saying

Journalists

EGamers, a site that covers blockchain games, wrote about the beta on the 27th of September 2026. It described the game’s extraction runs. In a run, players enter a Breach. They fight and gather resources, then try to escape with their ship and cargo. ^[12]

While today’s site mentions a real-money economy and open settlement, its pitch centers on extraction runs instead of on-chain infrastructure. ^[12]

EGamers, the 27th of September 2026

More on the story

The beta was first set to open on the 27th of September 2026. ^[13] It opened on the 30th of September 2026. ^{[8] [5]} It was first set to run for one week. On the 3rd of October 2026, the team stretched it to two weeks, ending on the 14th of October 2026. ^[5] On the 11th of October 2026, it pushed the end back again. ^[1] Invites went out in waves, and the fourth wave opened the same day. ^[14] The team shipped three patches during the beta. ^{[1] [5] [6]}

Phyzix Teacher said players logged 9,348 hours in the beta. ^[15] That figure is the team’s own. There is no information yet on how it was counted. On the 18th of October 2026, he said a full breakdown of the beta’s stats was coming. It had not appeared on X by the 22nd of October 2026. ^[16]

On the 17th of October 2026, he wrote about “the next beta”. ^[17] There is no date yet for a next beta or a launch. The game’s news page lists one post, from the 26th of September 2026. ^[13]

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