Hamster Kombat’s Layer-2 (L2) blockchain temporarily outperforms Solana in transactions per second (TPS), but is currently experiencing a dramatic decline in activity.
Just two weeks after launch, the Hamster Network saw an astonishing 99.9% drop in transaction volume, raising concerns about its long-term viability.
Hamster Network Transaction Volume Plummets
Released in February 2025, Hamster Network was originally positioned as a game-centric blockchain supporting distributed applications (DAPPS) and games within the Hamsterverse game ecosystem.
Beincrypto reported in early March that Hamster Kombat’s L2 network reached an all-time high of 34,021 TPS, reaching 3.5 times the Solana.
“34,028 TPS achieved by the Hamster Network! It’s 3.5 times faster than Solana! Big things are coming! Hamster Kombat says Hamster Network has launched an accelerator program for builders and is about to create a truly distributed application due to high gas charges and scalability issues.
However, as of March 13th, the L2 scaling solution is only processing 0.84 TPS, and only 52,516 transactions in the last 24 hours. This has dropped sharply from the peak launch date of nearly 150 million transactions.
Hamster Network TPS. Source: hamsterscan.io/transactions
Beyond the sudden drop in activity, its clicker or tap-to-earn gameplay shows a noticeable drop in player numbers. Hamster Kombat, who once had over 300 million users per month, is currently struggling to stay involved.
As of February 26, 2025, the game reported 11.5 million players each month. However, that number has now dropped to 10.3 million. This is the loss of over 1.2 million users in just two weeks. Similarly, the number of new daily accounts is minimal, with only 12 people being created to reflect the lack of appeal in the game. The game once had up to 300 million users.
Hamster Kombat account. Source: hamsterscan.io/accounts
Industry analysts suggest that much of the network’s early successes were driven by the hype surrounding crypto airdrops rather than sustaining user interest in blockchain functionality. Many Play-to-Yearn (P2E) and Tap-to-Yearn games make it difficult to hold players when the initial incentive fades, and Hamster Combat seems no exception.
Meanwhile, the recent decline follows the conclusion of “Gamedev Heroes Combo,” a recurring in-game event with player incentives. User activity is declining for players without such rewards, raising concerns about their ability to maintain long-term engagement in the game.
Despite the set-up, the Hamster Combat team claims that the L2 network is still in its early stages. They say it will take further stress tests to determine its full ability. Nevertheless, down-highlights of dramatic transaction volume and player engagement Volatility of Blockchain Game Projects.
The ability to revive the blockchain’s initial momentum remains uncertain. Similarly, it remains to be seen whether developers and gamers will continue to see value on the platform.
Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) price performance. Source: Coingecko
Coingecko data shows that Hmstr’s Powering Token, the HMSTR, was trading at $0.002144 at the time of this writing. This represents a nearly 4% decline over the last 24 hours.