2024 · MMORPG · Role-playing

Ember Sword

Ember Sword, a modern rewrite of the games industry business model in favor of the user, and a love letter to MMORPG (Massively Online Role Playing Game) gamers.

Released: 2 December 2024
Platforms: Browser Windows macOS
Genres: MMORPG Role-playing
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Modes: Multiplayer
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action Fantasy Science fiction Sandbox Open world
Country: Denmark

About

Ember Sword was a planned massively multiplayer online role-playing sandbox blockchain game developed by Bright Star Studios for macOS and Windows. Presented from a three-dimensional isometric perspective, Ember Sword had players battle against each other or non-player characters, enhancing their character's abilities by equipping different weapons and armor. Players were able to trade with each other for resources or loot them from slain foes. The game integrated the Ethereum blockchain, which allowed for players to use non-fungible tokens to acquire items.

The game entered early access on December 2, 2024, with browser accessibility. Its servers were shut down on May 21, 2025.

›Story

Thanabus is a world of unknown origin, unlike anything found around the seven planets that orbit the Sun. Tidally locked and in an everlasting binary orbit with Ganymede, this strange moon of Jupiter bares a rich ecosystem, filled with vibrant locations and an exotic bestiary, foreign to our understanding. Devastated hundreds of years ago by an apocalyptic event, the world has since been quartered into four glorious regions, ripe for heroes to lay claim to. The path to adventure winds everywhere, from the lowest dungeon to the highest peak. Where will you make your mark?

Keywords

free-to-play
collectibles
classless mmo
blockchain
online game
nft

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Players could control a character avatar from a 3D isometric perspective. Characters were factionless; with combat with hostile non-player characters (NPCs) called "mobs" or other players in designated player versus player arena spaces. Abilities were tied directly to the types of weapons that were equipped, with better weapons and armor provided as a reward for defeating enemies. The game intended to offer non-combat activities, such as farming crops.

Rare cosmetic items and land were to be stored via blockchain. Ember Sword would follow a play-to-earn business model; currency earned by slaying mobs, selling items and trading with players would be exchanged for tokens that convert to Ethereum cryptocurrency. Players were able to acquire land, intended to eventually be available for real estate development.

Development

Production of Ember Sword began in 2018, under the Danish developer So Couch Studios, led by chief executive officer Mark Laursen. It was announced in October of that year. Initially developed on the Unity game engine, Ember Sword was intended designed for Windows and Android operating systems. The Ethereum blockchain was intended to be integrated into the game, which will allow for players to acquire tokenized cosmetics through gameplay, tradable for the in-game currency called "PIXEL".

In April 2020, the venture capitalist firm Galaxy Interactive announced a $700,000 pre-seed investment alongside Play Ventures in the game's developer, renamed Bright Star Studios. An initial virtual sale of in-game land was held in May 2021; the four thousand available plots sold out within six hours.