If you are conversant with NFT, Web3, and the entire crypto or blockchain space, then you must have heard – at some point – about Northern Guild, one of the most promising Viking NFT games you can find at the time. However, the game is no more the action, fun, thrills, emotions, challenges, and escapism from reality that it promised. Sh0cking, right? Unfortunately, that’s how the situation is.
Game developing company, Pixie Interactive, is reportedly “dead” and so is its long-awaited NFT game, Northern Guild. Although the reason behind the company’s bust is not clear enough, sources claim that it is linked to its leadership.
Northern Guilds: The Bust
The Viking game, first announced in September 2021, is now gone bust, according to recent reports. The update came through via a former employee at Pixie Interactive, Martijn Van Wezel, who reported the situation on the project’s Discord handle. In his report, he claimed that the company’s leadership team turned the whole idea to shit by spending their money on a lot of things ranging from “excessive business travel” to crypto investments.
Expressing his disappointment, Martijn explained that Northern Guild had secured enough funding which could keep it running for about two years. However, he said that CEO Thomas Konig and CTO Wesley Peeters – who are key members of Pixie’s management team – spent their time sourcing more funds. He later referred to the last few months as “a nightmare, a tragedy, a dumpster fire.”
The Main Accusations
Konig and Peeters were also accused of setting up another project called ‘NFTVault’. The main issue was that the ‘NFTVault’ project was initiated without the consent of the rest of the team. The project did not take much time before falling through, causing them to shift “their attention away from Pixie for a while.” This brought the company into a tight and unexplainable situation. The one which Martijn described in a statement:
“when our upper management and leadership climate started to change, and we all felt it.”
In addition, the two key members of Pixie’s management team were accused of diverting the company’s tax fund into a crypto investment (LUNA) – that also ended up crashing. This left the company wallowing in its inability to pay an $800,000 tax bill, bringing about its bankruptcy. However, Konig has pleaded not guilty to the accusations.
“Tax money was not used to invest in crypto, to my knowledge. I never had access to the company financials,” said Thomas Konig, CEO of Pixie Interactive.
Martijn went forward to say that CEO Konig became unavailable in January and February. Due to this, he was unable to sit with the team and proffer solutions to the problems at hand.
“Excessive business travel was taking place in March, April, and May that seemed unnecessary. Justified by the need to find investors,” said Martijn. “But no doubt it was costly and contributed to the financial ruin of Pixie Interactive. Something that many of us found frustrating to watch or understand.”
A Glimmer of Hope
Although it is reportedly true that Pixie Interactive and Northern Guild are dead, Martijn says that there is still a little hope left. The ex-employee said that some passionate team members still do not want the Northern Guild dream to die.
According to him, members who still believe in the dream can wait as they mean a lot to them – Martijn and other passionate developers. The Viking dream can still be brought to life, and it is still as good as ever. True? – time will tell!
The Northern Guild Story
Prelude to the crisis, Pixie Interactive’s plan was to design Northern Guild into a retro-style, fun-first, cooperative blockchain massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG). The game will bring back the concept of traditional childhood games while giving more life, creativity, and style to it.
The story of Northern Guild is based on the Icelandic sagas and Nordic myths relating to the prophecy of the end of the world referred to as Ragnarok. In the myths, the final war broke out between the gods and the giants.
As the war claims more realms like Jotunheim and Asgard, the mortal realms are left at risk of invasion. However, humanity has long been preparing guilds of brilliant and smart warriors for the event. As the ages passed, most of these warriors trained endlessly without seeing battles in their lifetime. As a result, they could not put their skills to the use for which they were trained.
Finally, the elders have called on them to fulfill their purpose. While the war will be the end of the reign of gods, the fate of humanity is unknown. And great responsibility lies on the shoulders of the guilds. There are four classes of guilds in the game, including the guild of Heindalr, guild of Loke, guild of Thor, and guild of Odinn. These guilds have special qualities ranging from swordsmanship, brutal combat, and legendary strength to magical energies.
Gameplay
The game was planned to be a fast-paced, action MMORPG with lots of combat. Its locations are realistic, ranging from thick forests to prison catacombs, with players fighting giants and gods in every adventure. Players can either go solo or team up with others before embarking on treasure hunting, dungeon adventures, and epic battles. Rare and legendary items are also available in the game, making it an avenue to trade and get rich. With every game detail inspired by Norse myths, Northern Guild was meant to give players every possible gaming experience except boredom.
