Catizens’ Token Turmoil Intensifies: Players Outraged Over Airdrop

Catizen’s upcoming token launch on September 20 has been anything but smooth. Players are up in arms after the recent revelation of airdrop allocations, with developer Pluto Studio admitting to undisclosed changes in the criteria. This has led to widespread dissatisfaction and accusations of unfairness within the gaming community.

Players Voice Disappointment

Pluto Studio informed players on Saturday about the number of CATI tokens they are set to receive when the Telegram game’s token launches on The Open Network. While the token isn’t live yet, and its market value remains unknown until September 20, many players expected a larger share.

Expectations vs. Reality

Players took to Twitter to express their frustration. One player claimed, “Rank 6,054 out of 36 million players but got only 39 CATI. How can someone call this fair distribution? We need transparency about the token allocation.” The sentiment was echoed by others who, despite investing significant time in the game, received minimal allocations. The hashtag #catizenscam began trending as the community demanded answers.

Changes in Allocation Criteria

The discontent isn’t just about the number of tokens but also the changes to the token distribution model. Initially, Pluto had announced that 43% of the token supply would be given to the community. However, Friday’s announcement revealed that only about 30% would be circulating at launch, raising eyebrows among players.

Undisclosed Adjustments

Over the weekend, developers clarified that 43% of the supply is allocated to “airdrop and ecosystem,” including 90 million tokens (9% of total supply) offered to Binance customers through a Launchpool rewards campaign announced on Friday. Only 15% of the total supply (150 million tokens) is designated for the initial airdrop to players, with more to be granted as play-to-earn rewards in future seasons.

Accusations of Unfair Practices

Previously, the team stated that players’ in-game vKitty earning rate—boosted by playing the cat-matching puzzle game—would primarily determine airdrop allocations. But after revealing the allocations, Pluto admitted to changing the airdrop design upon discovering that some players used methods to artificially inflate their earnings.

Shift in Criteria

Pluto explained, “During the data review for this CATI airdrop, we discovered that numerous bot accounts exploited this public rule by using scripts to boost their vKitty profit speed, attempting to gain a disproportionate amount of CATI tokens.” To protect genuine players, they shifted the criteria to focus on factors like on-chain interactions, task completions, and in-game purchases.

Community Reacts Strongly

This change didn’t sit well with many players. Since some new criteria are based on spending money in the game—and Pluto recently reported earning around $27 million from paying players—those unhappy with their allocations felt the team prioritized monetary investment over time and effort.

Calls for Transparency

Players accused Catizen’s team of a bait-and-switch tactic. They argued that instead of altering the criteria for everyone, Pluto should have banned the accounts that cheated. The lack of prior communication about these changes has only intensified the community’s mistrust.

The Catizens’ Token Turmoil highlights the challenges of launching a token in a gaming ecosystem. Transparency and fair practices are paramount to maintain player trust. As September 20 approaches, all eyes are on Pluto Studio to see how they address these concerns and whether they’ll take steps to mend the fractured relationship with their player base.