Blockchain-based horse racing games, Derby Race and Derby Stars, will permanently shut down on April 7, marking the end of all operations by South Korean game studio Hypedream.
The company announced the closure after several years of financial instability, tracing the roots of its decline to the 2022 collapse of the Terra blockchain.
Players have been advised to take immediate action to preserve access to their digital wallets and any remaining in-game assets. Hypedream has published instructions for exporting private keys, as in-game wallet functions will be disabled after the closure.
Why is Hypedream shutting down?
Hypedream launched in 2021 and secured early-stage investment in early 2022. However, the company’s financial position was quickly undermined by the collapse of the Terra blockchain ecosystem. According to the company, the event resulted in the loss of a significant portion of its NFT revenue and roughly one-third of its seed funding.
In response, Hypedream migrated development to Polygon and later to Immutable, where it relaunched its core project, Derby Stars. However, planned features such as land ownership and building systems were excluded due to budget constraints, and the final product failed to meet user expectations.
The company also faced personnel and leadership challenges when 75% of its staff were laid off in the months following the initial financial setback. During this period, the CEO experienced a medical issue that impacted his ability to lead daily operations.
Attempts to generate renewed interest through alternative formats—including a Telegram-based version of Derby Race and Twitter-integrated mini-games—did not yield sustainable revenue or attract new investors. With no viable path to profitability, the remaining members of the team made the decision to cease all activities.
What’s next for Derby Race and Derby Stars?
Access to Derby Race will be terminated on April 7 and players will no longer be able to mint tokens, exchange in-game currencies, or access reward systems. In-game wallets will also be deactivated, and any unclaimed assets will become inaccessible.
To maintain control of their wallets, players must export their private keys before the shutdown. Hypedream has issued a guide instructing users how to complete this process using the PK Export function available in the game interface.
No further development or support is planned for Derby Stars, which has been inactive in terms of updates since its migration to Immutable. Hypedream confirmed that no future roadmap will be published and that all related services will be discontinued.
In a closing statement, the company thanked its users for their support and acknowledged the difficulties that had led to the decision. The CEO expressed regret that the original vision for the games could not be realised but stated that all available options had been exhausted.
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