Leading Telegram crypto game Hamster Kombat is gearing up for its token launch on Thursday, and over the weekend, the developers told players how many tokens they’ll be able to claim. But there’s a twist.

According to a tweet from the Hamster Kombat team, players won’t be able to claim their entire HMSTR token allocation on day one. Instead, they can claim 88.75% of the allotment, with the remaining 11.25% of tokens forced to vest for 10 months before it can be claimed—in July 2025, presumably.

This detail had not previously been communicated to players, and it’s one of many reasons why some players aren’t happy with their airdrop allocations. Granted, we won’t know the value of the HMSTR token—which will be minted on The Open Network (TON)—until it’s trading on September 26, but players are still grumbling across social media.

Hamster Kombat's Airdrop: A Closer Look

Makers of popular Telegram based crypto game ‘Hamster Kombat’ announced the final list of their Season 1 ahead of the much anticipated airdrop event on September 26 and subsequent listing of $HMSTR tokens. According to Hamster Kombat project developers, 131 Million players, across the world, have qualified for the mega airdrop event while 2.3 million players were banned for “cheating”.

With this announcement, the game developers also announced the onset of season 2 of the viral play-to-earn game. After its launch in March, 2024, over 300 million users have played the game, that has gained immense popularity in African nations, South Asia, Russia, Turkey and Iran, among several other countries. Crypto lovers are eagerly awaiting the mega airdrop event on September 26 that has been projected as one of the biggest airdrop events in crypto gaming history, as the developers intend to distribute 100 Billion $HMSTR tokens.

Controversy Surrounding the Airdrop

It’s a similar case to what happened with Catizen’s airdrop last week. In addition to the unexpected vesting in this case, players are complaining about the weight given to various factors in the airdrop allocation, including apparently substantial emphasis given to friend referrals, as well as earning keys—a relatively late addition to Hamster Kombat.

Hamster Kombat's Growth and User Engagement

The Hamster Kombat game developers also announced that out of the 100 Billion tokens, 75% will be reserved for the community i.e. users. Out of this reserved user tokens, 60% will be distributed after season 1 and every user will be able to get 88.75% immediately during the airdrop, while the remaining 11.25% will be vested and unlocked ten months after the listing.

Challenges of Tap-to-Earn Platforms

Pre-market futures for Hamster Kombat moved in a narrow range as traders awaited the company’s impending exchange listings and airdrop. The Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) token was trading at $0.011 on Sunday, September 22.

Is Hamster Kombat’s Hype Fading?

The most popular Telegram game right now is Hamster Kombat which has quickly amassed 300 million users and millions more on social media. Binance listed it at the 58th Launchpool due to the tremendous buzz created by this token’s popularity. Millions of people actively use Telegram and X accounts for Hamster Kombat.

However, recent fundamentals show the intense competition and controversy surrounding the game with its most recent improvements and the announcement of upcoming airdrops, which caused it to trend on X, its popularity may eventually fade.

Given its popularity, the trending of this Telegram game on X is nothing new. This time, though, is different due to the HMSTR Airdrop, significant listings, Season 2 improvements, and dissatisfied users.

Hamster Kombat's Anti-Cheating System

The Hamster Kombat team finalized the airdrop, scheduled on September 26. Given the popularity of Hamster Kombat, analysts predict that this will be one of the largest airdrops of the year.

Over 300 million people worldwide have used the tap-to-earn platform in the last several months. Since its May introduction, the channel has gained over 37.6 million subscribers on YouTube, demonstrating its popularity.

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, emphasized the game as a potentially significant chance to popularize blockchain technology by making it accessible to a large audience.

Since its debut, numerous posts displaying individuals utilizing AI tools and other technology to win greater rewards have been posted on social media networks. The team unveiled an anti-cheating system, already operational.

The platform’s warning that “Cheating is Bad” is an achievement award has already been received by some users in the community. Their eligibility for the following Airdrop would likewise be affected. The Hamster Kombat team stated in an X post that they want people to understand how important it is to accomplish things correctly. Additionally, the group put this procedure in place to safeguard their dedicated players.