Telegram Game ‘Catizen’ Delays Airdrop Amid Blowback Over PETA Donation

The makers of Catizen, a Telegram-based puzzle game, planned to launch their CATI crypto token in July. But with the end of the month nearing, they’ve addressed the elephant in the room, admitting that the token launch has been delayed and acknowledging that the community of players has grown frustrated around recent moves.

No new launch target has been announced for the token that will launch on The Open Network (TON), but Pluto Studio—the developer behind the rising Telegram game—said that it encountered challenges during planning.

“Delaying our airdrop was a difficult decision, and we understand the community's high hopes for an earlier airdrop, the investment involved, and the emotions attached,” they wrote on Twitter. “We are doing everything we can to achieve the best possible airdrop outcome for the community, while also considering the long-term development and sustainability of the CATI token.”

“We aim to optimize the key elements of a successful listing, which includes securing leading exchanges, ensuring sufficient liquidity, providing trading options, and determining the listing price,” they added. “In addition, we must also take into account factors such as compliance and market sentiment. Unfortunately, while we can focus on elements that are within our control, there are aspects that are not entirely under our control.”

Pluto added that team members, seed round investors, and advisors will be subject to a cliff that ensures that they can’t access any tokens until 12 months after the launch, and that their tokens will then vest gradually over the 48 months that follow.

In recent weeks, Pluto Studio announced strategic funding from the likes of Binance Labs and The Open Platform (TOP), along with hitting the mark of 25 million Catizen players. The game is among the most prominent crypto games built on the messaging platform Telegram, along with Hamster Kombat, Notcoin, Yescoin, Tapswap, and W-Coin.

But Pluto isn’t facing player frustration over just its delayed token launch. The studio made a $100,000 donation to animal rights nonprofit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) earlier this month, as part of an initiative to contribute a share of the game’s profits to help charities focused on helping stray cats.

PETA has faced controversy in the past, however, and has been criticized for operating shelters that euthanize animals that it says are past the point of helping. In a tweet Monday, Pluto wrote that it “received feedback” from players regarding PETA’s practice of euthanizing animals, and that it has “temporarily suspended” the collaboration as a result.

“We have confirmed with PETA that all donations from Catizen will be used exclusively for feeding, vaccination, rescue, and adoption assistance,” it tweeted. Pluto wrote that it will monitor PETA’s use of its donated funds, and that it will seek feedback from players on alternative organizations for future donations.

Decrypt’s GG reached out to Pluto Studio for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Catizen’s token delay comes on the same day that the most prominent Telegram tap-to-earn game, Hamster Kombat, similarly shared news of an apparent token launch delay beyond its July target. The Hamster Kombat team said that it is still planning out the airdrop, with a representative sharing news of pre-market trading on OKX set to begin on August 1.