MARBLEX (MBX): Netmarble's Blockchain Bet That Burned 67% of Its Tokens and Still Couldn't Save the Price
By BCGamer —
Tags: marblex, mbx, netmarble
Let me tell you about MARBLEX – the blockchain gaming arm of Netmarble, one of Asia's biggest mobile game publishers. They had Studio Ghibli-quality games, 6,000+ employees, actual working games... and a token that dropped 99% from its all-time high.
Now they're migrating to Immutable, rebranding around "Fun Comes First," and pretending the last three years didn't happen.
This is the story of a gaming giant trying to figure out Web3. Spoiler: it's messy.
The Pedigree: Actually One of the Biggest Game Publishers
Before we get into the blockchain carnage, let's establish what Netmarble actually is.
Netmarble was founded in 2000 by Bang Jun-hyuk. This isn't some random crypto startup – they're a $3+ billion publicly traded company on the Korea Exchange. They employ over 6,000 people. They're a major shareholder in HYBE (BTS's company). They own Kabam and SpinX Games.
Their games portfolio includes:
Lineage 2: Revolution – generated $924+ million in its first 11 months
Marvel Future Fight – 100+ million downloads
Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds – collaboration with Studio Ghibli and Level-5
Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross
Solo Leveling: Arise – 2024 hit
When Netmarble announced blockchain gaming in January 2022, this wasn't vaporware. They had the games. They had the users. They had the money.
And then... they launched right into the 2022 crypto crash.
Act 1: MBX Launch and Immediate Pain (March 2022)
At the 5th Netmarble Together with Press (NTP) in January 2022, they unveiled their blockchain strategy. Big ambitions. 20 game lineups. Metaverse talk.
March 7, 2022: MARBLEX officially launched the MBX token and MARBLEX Wallet on the Klaytn blockchain (Kakao's chain).
The setup was actually sophisticated:
MBX as the ecosystem's main token
Game-specific tokens for each game (like NKT/NKA for Ni no Kuni)
MBXL as a bridge token
50% of ecosystem fees burned
Formula-based exchange rates to prevent speculation
A3: Still Alive was first to get blockchain integration. Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds followed in May 2022.
The token hit its all-time high of $20-72 (sources vary wildly) in the weeks after launch.
Then reality hit.
The Crash: From $72 to... Yeah
Crypto winter 2022 was brutal for everyone, but MARBLEX got hit extra hard.
The token cratered throughout 2022. By late year, it was trading under $1. But here's the thing – Netmarble kept building:
October 2022: Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds integration expanded
November 2022: King of Fighters ARENA launched with 2 million pre-registrations
2023: Meta World: My City launched (sequel to Let's Get Rich)
The games existed. The NFTs worked. The marketplace functioned.
But nobody cared. GameFi was dead. The token kept bleeding.
The Tokenomics "Optimization" (July 2023)
In July 2023, MARBLEX did something drastic.
They burned 673.6 million tokens – 67.36% of the original 1 billion supply.
This wasn't some small burn event. They nuked two-thirds of the token supply in a single move:
25 million MBX from marketing allocation: burned
85 million from locked reserves: burned
265 million from development fund: burned
223 million from other allocations: burned
Total supply dropped from 1 billion to about 326 million MBX.
The official explanation: "eliminate potential risks of circulation pressure and value depreciation."
The real translation: "We printed way too many tokens and nobody wants them."
Did it save the token price? Not really. MBX kept sliding through 2024.
The Multichain Wandering Period (2023-2024)
With Klaytn not exactly setting the world on fire, MARBLEX went on a multichain adventure:
June 2023: BNB Chain integration
Late 2023: NEAR Protocol partnership announced
August 2023: Aptos partnership
December 2023: Aptos WARP bridge goes live
January 2024: Saga partnership announced
Each announcement came with its own hype. Each partnership promised to bring new users.
None of it moved the needle.
The reality was that MARBLEX had good games on a chain nobody used, and adding more chains didn't solve the fundamental problem: GameFi was out of fashion.
The Immutable Migration (June 2024)
In June 2024, MARBLEX announced they were abandoning the multichain approach and migrating everything to Immutable zkEVM.
This was actually a smart move:
Immutable is the actual leader in gaming NFTs
zkEVM tech solves gas fee problems
Immutable Passport handles onboarding
Real infrastructure, real games, real volume
Three games came along:
Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds – Studio Ghibli MMORPG
A3: Still Alive – dark fantasy battle royale RPG
Meta World: My City – Monopoly-style board game metaverse
Combined, these games have 1+ million monthly active users and generated $80+ million in revenue in 2024.
The partnership included a $20 million Ecosystem Boost Program to attract developers.
But here's the catch – by migrating to Immutable, MARBLEX essentially admitted their original Klaytn strategy failed. The token was already down 97% from ATH at this point.
2025: The Rebrand and What Actually Happened
In February 2025, MARBLEX unveiled their new direction with the slogan: "Fun Comes First"
Key changes:
Semi-Publishing Model – instead of just onboarding Netmarble games, they started actively publishing third-party games
Seven new games announced with a Q2-Q4 2025 rollout schedule
The games that launched or entered development:
Self-Made Billionaire: Stock Game (Biz Sim) – Q2 2025
Mercenary Children (Collection RPG) – Q2 2025
Dice Go! (Real-time Monopoly PvP) – H2 2025
Meta Toy DragonZ Saga (Pixel RPG) – hit 500k pre-registrations by August 2025
Kritika (ARPG) – added to H2 2025 lineup
Project MINE (Farming Sim)
Age of Chaos: Mad Island (Dark MMORPG)
MBX/HACK the FUN hackathon ran with Dracoon Ventures in April 2025 – $1 million prize pool, showcase at Token2049 Dubai. The program was designed to fast-track Web3 game development on the MARBLEX ecosystem.
They also expanded the Creator M influencer program that worked well for Solo Leveling: Arise (12+ million views across 300+ videos).
Did it work? Mixed results. The Semi-Publishing Model brought more games to the platform than the old Netmarble-only approach. Meta Toy DragonZ Saga showed decent traction. But the token price... still hovering around $0.07-0.08 as of January 2026.
The Current State
Token Price:
Platform Stats:
24 million registered users (claimed)
1+ million monthly active users across core games
Operating on: Klaytn (now KAIA), BNB Chain, Aptos, Immutable zkEVM
The Games:
Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds – still active, real players
A3: Still Alive – working blockchain integration
Meta World: My City – board game metaverse
King of Fighters ARENA – fighting game with NFTs
Multiple new games launched throughout 2025
The Honest Assessment
What's Actually Good:
Real Company – Netmarble is a $3+ billion public company. They're not disappearing.
Real Games – These aren't vaporware. Ni no Kuni has Ghibli animation. The games have actual players.
Working Infrastructure – The wallet, swap, marketplace, NFT systems all function.
Survival – They've burned tokens, migrated chains, pivoted strategy multiple times. They're still here.
2025 Momentum – New games launched, hackathon completed, Immutable integration working, Semi-Publishing Model showed adaptation.
What's Concerning:
99% Token Decline – Even after burning 67% of supply, the token kept falling.
Chain Hopping – Klaytn → BNB → NEAR → Aptos → Saga → Immutable. That's a lot of pivots.
Parent Company Struggles – Com2uS Holdings has had layoffs and losses. Metaverse subsidiary shut down in 2024.
Execution Questions – Summoners War: Chronicles blockchain integration was half-baked. Good game, weak Web3.
Timing – They launched in the worst possible moment (2022 crash) and are rebuilding as GameFi might be recovering.
Gaming Relevance
For bcgamer.org readers, here's what matters:
MARBLEX is legitimate blockchain gaming – not a yield farm pretending to be a game.
The games:
If you're interested in AAA-quality mobile games with NFT integration, MARBLEX has actual products. Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is genuinely good. A3: Still Alive has real depth.
The question is whether the token has any recovery potential or if it's permanently damaged goods.
The Bottom Line
MARBLEX represents everything frustrating about blockchain gaming:
Great games
Real company
Working technology
Terrible timing
Token destruction
Constant pivoting
If you're playing the games, the blockchain stuff works. NFTs trade. Items have value. The ecosystem functions.
If you're looking at MBX as an investment... the 99% decline speaks for itself. The burn didn't save it. The multichain strategy didn't save it. The Immutable migration didn't save it. The 2025 rebrand and new games didn't save it.
The Semi-Publishing Model was smarter than just porting Netmarble games. The hackathon showed commitment to ecosystem growth. They executed on most of their 2025 roadmap. And yet... the token is still at $0.07.
Maybe 2026 brings a GameFi recovery that lifts all boats. Maybe the new games gain traction.
Or maybe this is another chapter in a project that can't quite find product-market fit despite having all the ingredients.
Either way, MARBLEX proves that even gaming giants with unlimited resources can struggle with Web3. The technology works. The games work. Making tokens go up? That's the hard part.
Not financial advice. The author may hold positions in projects discussed. When a token drops 99% and the company burns 67% of supply and it still keeps falling... that tells you something about crypto markets. DYOR.